Luna

Mar 12

Written By Sam .

Background

Luna is a shelter dog at a local shelter in Lebanon that I worked with. She is insecure and does not like being too close to people or in confined spaces with them. She might approach a person but then she escapes quickly not letting anyone be close to her or touch her long enough to give her a scratch or put on a collar. She also never left the shelter’s yard because she runs away when she sees a person holding a collar or leash.

Luna had a travel deadline as the local shelter was sending her to a Canadian shelter with high hopes that she would be adopted into a forever home. The problem was trying to get her to go into her travel crate which she did not tolerate at all. So, I was tasked with getting her to accept going into the crate.

Training & Conditioning

As a first step, I needed Luna to feel comfortable around; so I sat down in her yard and stayed still, waiting for her to approach me and smell me when she wanted to. She took a lot of time to muster up the courage to get close to me (days). Eventually, she started to get close to me and then runaway. She would go back and forth multiple times, sniffing me a little each time and then scrambling back to safety.

As days passed, and Luna grew in confidence, I tried playing more games with her and engaging her as much as possible. I rewarded her courage with treats and toys.

My next step was to put a leash on her to be able to desensitize her to the crate. At this point she was still being elusive and was not willing to please or do work for me. I lured Luna with treats and had to do a lot of coaxing to get her to stay in one place while I put a collar on her. She was extremely reluctant to stay still, especially when she felt the collar on her neck. She ran away dozens of times while I patiently attempted (and failed) to put the collar on her. The yard is big and she seems to be afraid of being captured by human hands so the task was not easy. One day my patience paid off as I finally secured the collar around her neck. She did not like the sensation but quickly got used to it. I gave her lots of scratches while tugging on the collar gently to simulate leash tugs.

The feel of the collar and tugs on the collar were not enough to prepare Luna for the leash because when it was attached and she felt the slightest bit of tension on the leash, she went crazy (crying, jumping, yelping, squirming, and tumbling). I gave her a break after that initial experience but then carried on with desensitizing her to the leash. The next time, I held her collar and gradually made my way to holding the leash to let her realize slowly that I have control over her even from a distance (something she was not comfortable with).

Eventually (days later), I was able to get her to be completely comfortable with the leash on, and she learned to follow me around the yard. She was very grateful when I took her on her first walk outside the shelter on the streets (after practicing in the hallway for days of course).

Having Luna on leash was very rewarding for me because I was able to see her leave her shell and enjoy the new smells and stimuli that the city outside had to offer. It was also very empowering for her as she learned that the leash can be associated with very positive and fun experiences. Having control over Luna with the leash helped me in my next and final step which was getting her to go into her crate. I used the leash to guide her into her crate with the top removed (at first) and she learned to wait for treats inside the half crate. By the time her travel date came by, she had already practiced sitting in the crate calmly and without panicking.

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It is always a happy ending when a dog is given a second chance at life in a new home! <3