Sunny Weber - Beyond Flight or Fight: A Compassionate Guide for Working with Fearful Dogs

Copyright 2016 Sunny Weber All rights reserved.

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ISBN 978-0-99666-12-2-5

Dogs / Training

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All rights reserved by Sunny Weber and Pups and PurrsPress

Denver, CO

Smashwords Edition

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To my muse and soul-mate, a timid Australian Shepherdnamed Miles who shared his life with me for fifteen and a halfyears.

Acknowledgments

My appreciation goes to those who haveinfluenced, encouraged, and guided me in my mission to save fearfuldogs lives. To Dick Gasaway, my dog training mentor, who taught menot to train dogs, but to read dogs. His positiveapproaches were ahead of their time and saved many dogs from crueltreatment and many handlers from ignorant heartache.

To the Dumb Friends League Shelter inDenver, Colorado, who generously provided me with the opportunitiesto work with many dogs, cats, and horses who needed second, thirdand fourth chances.

To the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary inKanab, Utah, Kindness Ranch in Hartville, Wyoming, Blue Rose RanchHorse Rescue in Springfield, Colorado, National Mill Dog Rescue inPeyton, Colorado, and all the other rescues, sanctuaries, shelters,and publications who graciously allowed me to volunteer, advise,write for, and work with their animals.

Thanks beyond words go to my writing coachesand teachers at Lighthouse Writers in Denver, Colorado.

More thanks go to my publishing team,without whom I would still be circling my wagons, unable todecipher direction. To Melanie Mulhall, my editor at DragonheartWriting and Editing for helping my words shine; Helena Mariposa, myproof-reader at Mariposa Book Transformation Services; PollyLetofsky, my publishing coach at My Word Publishing; Mary Walewski,my social media coach at Buy The Book Marketing; Corrinda Campbell,my webmistress at Small Business WP Services; Nick Zelinger, mycover designer at NZ Graphics; and Andrea Costantine, my interiordesigner at Self-Publishing Experts.

Abundant appreciation goes to all theauthors, trainers, and behaviorists who came before me and fired mypassion with their actions, words, activism, and influence,including but not limited to: Patricia McConnell, Temple Grandin,Suzanne Hetts, Dan Estep, Pamela Reid, Turid Rugaas, DesmondMorris, Suzanne Clothier, Jean Donaldson, Nicole Wilde, Ian Dunbar,Roger Abrantes, Bruce Fogle, Nicolas Dodman, Carole Lea Benjamin,and Barbara Woodhouse.

My sincerest gratitude goes to all the dogswho taught me by allowing me into their lives and hearts, and whohonored me with their trust. Without these humble, sometimeswoebegone, and always homeless dogs, I would not have found mymission in life, nor been able to find my own education in theireyes, body language and silent, yet articulate communication.

Introduction

Sampson the Yorkshire terrier huddled in thecorner of his enclosure in my family room. Freed after nine yearsin a puppy mill with no human contact except when grabbed andcarried to the breeding cage, he stared at me with cataract-cloudedbug eyes. His tongue lolled out the left side of his mouth becausethe shelter veterinarians had pulled all his rotten teeth out. Hefroze, then cowered with his scrawny tail tucked. Could I gain thispitiful creatures trust? Would I be able to help him becomeadoptable? Could I save his life?

When I began my professional career in dogtraining, my goal was to save dogs from euthanasia and help themfind quality lives. For ten years I attended classes, conferences,and clinics. I hired mentors to work one-on-one with me and my ownthree dogs, who were my guinea pigs and graciously forgave mymistakes as I learned dog training and behavior. I competed inobedience, performed at pet fairs, became involved with petvisitation, and networked with loosely knit small groups of peopleon similar missions. I owned my own business in a field I hadreached the pinnacle of, and as my enthusiasm for that work cooled,a long dormant fire within me rekindled. Ever since childhood, Ihad felt a deep kinship with animals.

My goals gradually evolved. I worked towardsfinancial stability, so I could afford to transition my life. Ibought a house with a yard, then proceeded to redesign it insideand out for animal care. Eventually, I secured a volunteer positionwith a nonprofit organization that trained shelter dogs for servicewith wheelchair-bound clients. Later, a friend and I began a breedrescue. With that organization, I served as the foster caregiver,medical technician, trainer, and adoption counselor. We found homesfor every dog we obtained from shelters that had given up on themor run out of room. Along the way I saw the fates of hundreds ofhomeless rejected dogs. There were not enough rescue groups to savethem.