Madrid had been with us for several months now, and we finally feel like he’s truly ready to start the search for his forever home. He wound up at MCACC and was quickly e-listed for his extreme level of fear. Madrid was so shut down that he was hiding, terrified underneath a bed in the shelter and would not come out. He needed to be picked up, placed in a bucket and wheeled to a play yard for his evaluation with our team, and even then he wouldn’t even leave the bucket he was so terrified and shut down.
Initially in his foster home, Madrid was still very shut down. It took his fosters a while to really get to know him, but they have seen a lot of wonderful progress. He went from hiding in a corner that was his “safe space” to picking a chosen corner of the couch to regularly hang out where he could be a part of everything – he still had a safe space, but it was a safe space where he could observe his foster family! His fosters worked with him on his fears of leash-walking, and he now goes for regular walks with them and absolutely LOVES them!
He has absolutely no aggression at all with humans – he can be picked up and hugged and held and he kind of freezes in a shy but accepting “this is fine” way. His fosters have gradually pushed his boundaries at our direction to work on continued socialization, and this has helped with his comfort level around humans. As he has gotten more comfortable, he has even begun to come to them to seek out love and affection, even giving kisses!
In adjustment periods, they did see some marking (which did resolve), initial resource guarding with other dogs when he was uncomfortable, and chewing on things that weren’t toys, which he was a little sneaky about. Kenneling him (which he does find to be a safe space) when leaving the home helps, and putting up any items that you don’t want him to be able to chew also is very helpful. There hasn’t been anything major, and the foster notes that he does respond to verbal correction, but also that you can’t really raise your voice at him because he just gets so terrified to easily! Even just the word “no” makes him realize that what he did was wrong.
This shy guy is just so endearing, and seeing the progress he has made since laying on the floor shaking under his bed in the shelter has been so rewarding for all of us. We’re so grateful for all the work his foster has put in, and we can’t wait to see this guy find his forever family! Other dogs of all sizes are no problem. He hasn’t been introduced to cats but may be ok. No very young kids for him, but older kids are ok. Please apply if you are interested in meeting him – and please remember he will need patience and time when he does come home.
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