Bringing out Teddy..

It is interesting to observe this boy up close and personal. It is easy to see the past year of life on the run lingering. Of course, what can any one expect, he spent more than a year running in fear and trying to survive, so naturally there are concerns for his adjustment, and it will take time. It took time for him to develop his previous fears and life on the run certainly instilled more fears and survival instincts. He’s a dog and needs to learn to trust and feel secure (hopefully). It’s true he does do pretty well at the shelter amidst the workers he knows and sees for hours most days and his bunk mates, but it is a whole other world outside those doors and here is where I have the opportunity to see and watch Teddy’s behavior. I get to study his body language and look in his eyes and while I do see gentleness and acceptance from the things that are becoming familiar to him, I still see a pensive, some times silently anxious fellow, unsure about what’s to come.

After all he’s just returning to the sound of human language, so that in itself is an adjustment. He has to learn what language is. While he’s very accepting of pats, he often turns a “side eye” if it is someone he is unfamiliar with. This is not to say that he is looking to be aggressive, I don’t get that take at all, but he does show some stress and uncertainty-these are observations made in a one to one situation.

I’ve observed in his quiet nervousness with new people or certain situations (ex. walking too far away from the shelter.) He exhibits the following; he often becomes quiet (not that he’s loud and demonstrative, but his body language changes). I can almost visualize him in the wild when he sensed danger or uncertainty-he slows down in movement, turns his eyes to the side to look, his head is slightly lowered, and he perspires from his mouth. (I say he perspires from his mouth (don’t meant to be gross) because the liquid is not like the thickened saliva when hunger overcomes, it is more fluid and thin. He sits in a straight up manner but his head and eye movements say he is experiencing some stress. One only need to look in his eyes to see.

I do believe in time he will feel less stress but it will take time and a lot of positive secure experiences for this guy to learn all over and perhaps for the first time in his life that fear doesn’t have to rule. He needs gradual exposure to a world that perhaps wasn’t so kind to him-he’s not going to lose “the mountain” in one week or two or perhaps more. I think he just starting to feel a little secure at the shelter and would think that this a good first step to develop a life of security, but it has to go slow and gradual, no quick changes for this fellow any more (just my opinion and perhaps my behavioral work with emotional challenges of children coming into play here). Developing security in animals and humans who have lead a life of fear and mistrust can be complicated to overcome, but I believe that in both, it can be learned with time, patience, experience, and exposure. But with all behavioral challenges there always needs to be a stabilizing factor, a sole attachment built and developed on trust that can guide the journey through other experiences. But any one or thing needs to develop complete trust on at least one to ensure success. He or she needs someone to rely on.

This boy has not had any human positive human contact for more than a year-except for those of us who fed him and tried to talk him down. Consider the most basic survival instinct is to eat, right? So if after four months of him seeing the same person bringing him food he still could not trust enough to come close, doesn’t that tell us that he needs time, and lots of it? I have wildlife that trust me more from feeding that he ever did. I brought him food for four months, he often watched me from afar, and he STILL didn’t trust enough to come close to the one who fed him. He was so scared that even a meal wouldn’t bring him in.

I only want the best chance for this guy, as we ALL do, including the shelter. I know there is a home out there for him, and it will be a good home, but I just believe that he needs time right now, to learn to see the world one step at a time, and with as minimal stress and anxiety producing as possible. If some of his issues can be overcome, his adjustment to his new forever family will be pleasurable and enjoyable for all concerned, especially Teddy. And he of course…is our main concern.

(We had severe thunder storms last night, I wonder how he did. Remember he has a tremendous fear of storms and often it would be after a storm or fireworks when I wouldn’t see him for a day or two leaving me worrying at the base of the mountain.)

My husband and I have decided that the total sales of the first fifty “Friends of Teddy” tees will be donated to his fund. After the first fifty all net proceeds will go to his fund. We want him to have all the best opportunities for a wonderful, secure, and healthy life. Please consider purchasing a tee, or donating in his honor to the Hillside SPCA, mark your donation, “Friends of Teddy.” Their address is PO Box 233, Pottsville, PA 17901 Thank you.