Mistreated Nervous Dog Kabul

[neilwill1979]

Hi, it's not when she goes to the toilet but to my room at night see pic I don't want to leave her in the office by herself.

I have also been looking everywhere for a harness however nowhere in Kabul can I find, also without a postal address, however this evening I did not put the leash on her collar but under her belly and through the top of the collar and voila she walked, was still a bit stubborn but with a little tug she kept going, I also took her out around the grounds with it. Thanks for the advice, I'm going to get some strapping and buckles which will enable me to make my own harness.

Today I was watching a youtube clip of a roller coaster and for the first time she barked at the people screaming, was nice to hear that, to include I sat with her outside and started running my fingers like a spider on the floor then she started playing and nibling, she is getting better everyday even though I know we have a long way to go as it's been such a short period.

She likes the soft pillow I think this was taken last night and she is in exact same position tonight.

[gwd]

also without a postal address,

you can't receive mail or packages? if you can, i'm happy to get one and send it to you. .....

[neilwill1979]

also without a postal address,

you can't receive mail or packages? if you can, i'm happy to get one and send it to you. .....

I Sincerely appreciate the offer but unfortunately not, I live in the public sector of Kabul not Military therefore no address or I would have been ordering everything I could online for her.

[gwd]

also without a postal address,

you can't receive mail or packages? if you can, i'm happy to get one and send it to you. .....

I Sincerely appreciate the offer but unfortunately not, I live in the public sector of Kabul not Military therefore no address or I would have been ordering everything I could online for her.

well if find a military buddy that can receive a package, let me know.......i'm happy to make a contribution (harness and shipping) to your efforts to help dusty... just let me know if an address becomes available to you

[Alex_8701]

Can i put my opinion here I think 1st of all you said that she is about 6 months old, if she has been badly treated, it would need some time to recover because you know that dogs should be given attention and training at least till they become 1 year old, this period is the most important for the future dog behavior , also i know that the German Shepard is the 2nd or 3rd smartest dog in the world, so i can guarantee you that with some attention she will be much better very soon , if not already , I have a pitbull which im trying to recover now and train she has some problems with other dogs, but also before 2 years i have adopted a samoyed dog and she was like your german shepard, very scared and didnt want to move or play she was just hiding , now im not a dog trainer or something like that but i had dogs all of my life and i know one thing for sure if you spend time with it and showing the dog your good attention for him(her) youll be rewarded for that , remember that she is extremely smart and and dont fall for all training and other things you found in Internet , just give her some time and be with here i can guarantee that will help a lot , I dont know if i was helpful but i really hope so
all the best

[emmabeth]

I think you are doing really well here - as others have touched on though, time is going to be the big deal here.

Its REALLY tempting to try really hard and take positive steps towards proving to her that you ARE safe and you CAN be trusted - the problem is that many of those things we do to demonstrate this, actually end up being too much and too fast, and can scare a dog.

So, I don't think you are doing that now but be aware of it, less IS more in this case, it really is!

For example, if you are using food to lure her to get her to walk on a leash, try luring her and rewarding her for a few paces ... then lure her BACK to your start position, put the food away and quit for 10 minutes.

You may think 'argh but I just want to go to bed...' but in fact if you repeat that a few times (not just at bed time, do it during the day, in quiet places she currently feels ok in) you are going to leave her thinking 'well, hey, I got rewarded for just going a few paces then back to where we started, THAT wasn't scary and BOY I wish we could do a bit MORE of that, because those treats were NICE...'

And that is the attitude you want to leave her with at the end of every training session.. its always gotta be 'boy I want MORE..' and NEVER 'oh DOG am I glad thats OVER..'

Try to incorporate that in everything you do with her so that shes really keen for your training sessions and interactions, and shes saying to you 'more more more'.


Another thing to bear in mind - this dog has likely never lived in a house and never interacted with a human the way she is doing now at all, and probably shes never interacted with a human for more than a few minutes at a time. So what you are doing, even when it seems REALLY low grade easy stuff, is actually really mentally HARD work for her.

Thats not a bad thing at all but keep it in mind that shes a baby at kindergarten, so its all done in baby steps, small chunks, lots of time to rest and play and relax.

[neilwill1979]

Dusty Update,

She is doing really well and turned around 99.999% she follows me wherever I go now so no more need for luring, one night I thought I am not going to do anything but turn my office light off and go upstairs see if she follows and 10 seconds later she is right behind me, she is extremely smart and already learnt Hi 5, Sit, Lie down, kisses and now working on roll over, You are correct about the house I even had to show her how to push the door open when it was ajar as she did not know what to do to include slightly afraid, 2 door showings later she now pushes it up to include scratches when she wants to go out, She no longer submissive pees although potty training is taking a while some mornings I wake up and she has been a good girl other mornings not so, but this is something we will just overcome, she is very playful now and getting used to my Co Workers who secretly feed her I'm sure hmmmm. She is off for her booster jabs today.

She also stole my couch.

[gwd]

She also stole my couch.

awwwwww.........

that is wonderful news. what a resilient girl. .......keep the updates coming!

[Louisehg]

I'm so glad to hear that things are going well. Dogs have an amazing resilience, and even after terrible abuse they can still be able to move forward. You are doing such a good thing-thank you

[jacksdad]

She also stole my couch.

as well she should. you do realize couches are not for people, they are for dogs

that update made my morning. thanks for sharing.

[emmabeth]

Awwwwww that has given me the warm fuzzy feelings, reminding me that somewhere, some dogs ARE getting a new chance in life and a better deal. I might go all soppy and girly now, tsk!

[OnceInAWeil]

Wonderful. And adorable pic.

[neilwill1979]

Small Update Dusty is being Spayed today, did not want to leave her but I know it's for best. She is also getting her blood tests done so hopefully she can fly back to the UK in Novemeber. Had a heavy gun a bomb fight a few days ago in Kabul, only dog I know who was not scared one little bit of the noise and just wanted to play whilst I was bricking it , although I had her for company that helped me.

Just wanted to also give a shout out to the charity whom is assisting me with all the veterinary and flying services, please check out there FB page and donate where you can.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/nowzad/1 ... 46?fref=ts

More updates and pics to follow shortly.

[jacksdad]

thanks for the update. I am really happy to hear things are progressing toward getting her out when you leave too.

Be safe

[emmabeth]

Yep, great to hear from you and do stay safe - just focus on the fact that you will have THE most firework proof dog in the country when you get back!