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Posted by faustcorpus on October 04, 2002 at 22:22:43:

In Reply to: Re: possible history of abuse? posted by Deerhounds on October 04, 2002 at 12:19:11:

::Tonight while he was in down next to me at the side of my chair I pulled out a back scratcher and he FLINCHED and cowered. I assume that this may mean a history of abuse.

:Cindy, many, many people who adopt rescue dogs believe they have been abused, and in many cases they are most likely right. But there are dogs who act just as you describe, whose histories were known and who were NOT abused.

:When dogs are growing up, they go through two very strong stages of fear imprinting. If they are not exposed to certain stimuli at the right ages, or if they are exposed to certain stimuli during their fearful stages, they can develop odd fears or behaviors as a result. In most cases, it will just be a "quirk," such as a dog who is scared of something odd like umbrellas or backscratchers. In others, you'll have a dog who is a mess of fears and insecurities and anxieties.

:With most rescued dogs, we cannot ever really know. But regardless, the "cure" is the same: Confidence building, boundary setting, consistency.

:I'll post a link to this discussion for Kathy Diamond Davis and see what she thinks!

:Christie Keith
:Caber Feidh Scottish Deerhounds
:Holistic Husbandry since 1986
:http://www.caberfeidh.com

My PERSONAL opinion is that the majority of dogs in shelters are abused to an extent. Lack of physical contact for a dog or cat I think is abuse. Its just the flinch that he had was one of such pure fear he began trembling. Everyone who has come in extended contact with him all agree that the physical contact was minimal. But the flinch was troubling.. I had to cuddle him for a while to stop trembling. Im just glad it can be associated to something other than him be hit with something...

Cindy

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