An excerpt from an email I have sent to the prospective owners of Belle, the dog I've been fostering who last night lunged at the male owner because he bent down to her...
"Just a little thing that I was thinking about last night to help you realise how long it takes before you can be affectionate with a dog... I have only just started slightly bending over Belle FIVE DAYS after living with her 24 hours a day, and even then I am very cool and controlled about it. I’m naturally a very ‘stand-off’ person with all dogs simply because I understand that they don’t like crowding physical contact and I have never been bitten during an introduction with a new dog simply because I stand still and ignore them, making no sudden moves, keeping my hands out of the way and making no eye contact. I present myself as completely benign to them so that they can feel okay about coming to scent me first, which is how dogs (especially anxious ones) prefer to say hello; not with eye contact, smiles, touching or talking to them. Belle has a ‘bubble’ around her that she can only let people into that she completely trusts, and after five days of living with her almost 24/7 she’s only JUST allowing me in…"
