Mandy's Rescue and Path to Trust

Mandy came into German Shepherd Rescue of Central Alabama (GSRCA) February 5, 2008. What we know about her history is this. A man was using her primarily for breeding. I was told that he beat Mandy on a regular basis. When her last litter was born in July 2007, she refused to take care of the puppies. My speculation is that she was so afraid of the man it overrode her maternal instincts. I am told he threatened to shoot her and she escaped, leaving her newborn pups behind. Mandy fled to the woods nearby where she lived until she was trapped in a humane trap in January 2008.

Before Mandy was trapped a woman nearby had been putting food out for her, but could never approach Mandy. After being trapped, she was contained in a good samaritans outside dog run while they tried to find rescue for her. We took her in and within a week it became evident that Mandy was pregnant again... and pretty far along. The rescue decided it would be more traumatic to Mandy mentally to abort the pups so she came to me - the maternity foster home until the pups came... which was about 2 weeks after arriving at my home.

In the two weeks before the pups came, Mandy and I worked on building trust. She had a collar on, but dodged me everytime I tried to reach for it to put a leash on. It's 2 months later now that I am writing this and I still have not gotten a leash on her. She started out very nervous, pacing frantically in my presence, using avoidance. In the two weeks time, she graduated to taking food out of my hand while I scratched her chin with the other hand. She was starting to target. Then it all changed.

Puppies came on March 3rd. Without going into full detail on what the next 5 weeks held for Mandy and my relationship, I'll tell you that is was one of the most difficult times I have been involved in since I started rescuing in 2004. Mandy's maternal instincts kicked into overdrive. She would allow me to bring her food and water, but by no means could I have anything to do with those puppies. She was very menacing. As the pups got older, she settled down some, but not where I could handle them regularly. We pulled her pups from her at 5 weeks so her fear would not imprint upon them.

It's been five days since Mandy has seen her pups. The pups came around wonderfully and I have a gsd step mom for them. Mandy has settled down quicker than I thought she would. The protectiveness is gone and there is just the fearfulness left. I can sit in her presence without feeling threatened and hopefully she is thinking the same thing about me too. We have graduated to her occassionally taking chicken bits off my shoe or knee, but not from my hand yet.

On the recommendation from a friend, today I ordered the i-click. I have taken several of my dogs through clicker training and admit I need a basic refresher course. But with Mandys extreme sensitivity to noise and motion, my friend suggested the i-click. I hope to learn a lot by the articles on this site. I hope to gain her trust and one day have her be socialized with other people. And hopefully she'll one day find her FOREVER home by being adopted.

Mandy is probably less than 2 years of age. She'll be spayed when her milk dries up and at some point she'll have to undergo heartworm treatment. It was reported to us before we took her that she is ok with other dogs, afraid of cats and terrified of people. She's been my greatest challenge and frustration.