Every day with Gulliver is an adventure. You never know how he's going to feel. Is this a good day or a not-so-good day? Will he make a teeny-tiny baby step forward, maintain, or seem to have a setback? It's all part of rehabilitating a fearful dog.
Gulliver is full of little surprises. Some big, some not-so-much. I had been told he hated confined spaces and was terrified of crates. Well, I'd already figured out that he doesn't mind, in fact, seems to enjoy, confined spaces. He likes to ride in the car, and his very favorite spot is a corner under a countertop where he feels nice and safe.
I hadn't tried crating him because if he truly was afraid, I didn't want to traumatize him. This weekend I had him in the dog room after our walk, which is when he seems to enjoy getting some attention the most. A few feet away was a plastic airline crate with its door open. Usually I keep crate doors closed, but in this case I'd washed it out, put some new bedding inside, and had forgotten to close the door. Gulliver, all on his own, walked over, went inside, and curled up. Happy as a clam. I left him there for awhile, since he seemed to enjoy it, but it's a little on the small side for a dog his size. Eventually I asked him to come out, it took a few minutes, but out he came.
This is an excellent discovery, since it means that if, for some reason, Gulliver needs to be somewhere else for a little while, other than on his bed in the corner, he has a portable place he feels safe. It also means, if he feels comfortable enough in it, that I can put it in the house and give him a place where he feels secure but can still watch the activity going on around him, maybe eventually feeling safe enough to come out and join me and the other dogs.
I've ordered a crate big enough for a Gulliver to be comfortable in, and also gotten some new bedding to put in his corner so that when the crate arrives I can put the quilts he's been sleeping on inside it. Then I'll keep the crate around, door open, to see if he uses it. If not, I'll try tossing some treats inside. Whether or not he goes in is a decision he'll have to make. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.
I've also been playing around with the baby gate that goes into the office doorway. I've found that Gulliver likes it up during the day, down at night (mostly, I think, so that he can go poop by the door. Gulliver won't poop when it's dark outside and for the foreseeable future, that's the way it's going to be. It's easy enough to clean up, so I'm not worried about it now. He's housebroken, so when he's not so afraid, it won't be an issue). It gives him a way, in his mind, to control contact. With the gate up, he'll come to it, tail wagging a little, for some pets. When he's had enough attention, he walks away. It makes him feel secure. That's a pretty big deal for him.
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