Answer: A First Class Behavior Makeover.
Many different modalities fall under the category of behavioral makeover. The whole package that will be helpful for each dog will vary according to the type of baggage and the temperament and age of the dog. The idea that all these rescues need is TLC ignores the fact that healing from fear, trauma, neglect, confusion, and abandonment is a complex process needing a multi-faceted approach that works to recondition the dog’s emotional responses to life’s events. Love alone can’t do that.

But love can motivate a wise and caring owner to provide opportunities for a rescue to face life through different eyes. We’ll take a look at the major ways to help end a rescue’s fears and bring out the trusting, relaxed dog who enjoys life.   

Training is the number one remedy for confusion and fear of corrections. It is the single most important thing you can do to help your rescue dog’s self confidence and speed of adjustment. If you think of training as the old fashioned ritual of walking around in a circle yanking on your dog’s collar, think again. The new styles of training focus first on rewarding the dog for the desired behavior. This kind of training is fun and rewarding. It allows you to delight in your dog’s abilities and your dog delights in the praise and clarity he gets through rewards for consistent behavior. 

Imagine that you are the rescue dog and your life lately, or maybe forever, has been bewildering and somewhat frightening. Once you had an owner who yelled at you all the time and now you have an owner who hugs you all the time, but you never really know what anyone wants. It’s so hard to figure out with all the mumbo-jumbo sounds people make. And worse, everyone you know makes different sounds and uses different body language so just when you think you understood something, it changes. You try to do the natural thing to greet them so you jump up on them and they push you away, so you think they are playing and you jump some more. Then they get angry and you don’t know what you’ve done wrong. Then, after they are angry, they suddenly get affectionate and you don’t understand that either. 

The cycle of showering a rescue dog with love and then scolding for something they do wrong and then feeling guilty for scolding and apologizing by more affection is very confusing to the dog. Unsure what to do to get a predictable response, the stressed animal either gets more hyper, trying out all kinds of behaviors, or becomes withdrawn, inhibited about trying out behaviors. Imagine yourself at a new job. Your supervisor explains your job and you think you understand, so you work hard for hours but then you’re told that you’ve done the whole thing wrong. So the supervisor explains it again but not very clearly. You try harder and again you are wrong. It is not long before you either get angry or get depressed. Just like you, your dog is trying to understand but unless you provide him with the clear and consistent training he needs, he will be caught in a stressful, no-win situation.   

Chris Redenbach - about the author