A shy backyard dog is learning a new life

After Brent and Katherine Williams bought the house next door to them to have as an occasional guesthouse, they discovered that the seller, who was moving out of state, planned to take his 11-year-old backyard dog, Chance, to the shelter.

“We’ll take him, too,” said the Williamses, who live in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Now Chance, renamed Champ, lives in their backyard, not because they don’t want him in the house — although their three indoor cats might have an opinion about that — but because the unsocialized dog doesn’t know what that means. He’s leery of people and keeps his distance, but they’ve been working for some months to help him feel more comfortable in their presence.

Brent, an avid gardener until his death from cancer last month, would talk to Champ while he was working outdoors. Sometimes he sat outside with the dog, the two of them just being quiet together. Katherine, too, talks to Champ when she’s outdoors, and he’ll follow her at a distance. Visiting friends and relatives help to feed him or leave treats out for him so he learns that people bring good things.

Dog trainers say they’re on the right track. Licensed psychologist and certified dog behavior consultant Rise Van- Fleet (risevanfleet.com), who specializes in working with dogs experiencing extreme fear, likes to use a Suzanne Clothier technique called Treat-Retreat, which involves tossing chicken beyond the dog’s comfortable distance from people — away from people, not closer. Luring the dog closer with food often backfires, Clothier says.

“The dogs need to feel safe enough to approach on their own,” she says. “Hanging out at a distance is great and could be paired with Treat-Retreat.”

Leaving goodies out for the dog to find on his own can build confidence in the environment, she adds.

Trainer Maryanne Dell, with Shamrock Rescue Foundation (shamrockrescue.org) in Orange County, California, advises dropping good treats on the ground and letting the dog find them at his own pace.

“No staring, no trying to touch,” she says.

Reading to the dog is another way to help him become accustomed to human presence. Laura Anne Gilman of Seattle says: “One of the things we do with shelter dogs who aren’t well socialized yet is read to them without looking at them. It gets them used to the idea that having people nearby isn’t scary and can even be comforting.”

What you read doesn’t matter. It can be poetry, fiction, magazine articles, children’s books or your most recent emails. What’s important is that the dog becomes accustomed to the sound of your voice.

“Some dogs will creep closer and eventually ask to be touched; some don’t,” Gilman says. “But they almost all become more relaxed.”

VanFleet says singing softly from a distance can also help. “I learned this from a wildlife photographer and have often used it, even with the bears I help study in Alaska. It’s a sound that most animals do not associate with human danger, and I’ve sung softly to semiferal dogs.”

You might not be caring for an outdoor dog yourself, but you can still help these animals live more comfortable lives through donations to shelters.

“We appreciate donations of gently used outdoor dog enclosures such as Dogloos,” says Dee Dee Drake, executive director of Calaveras Humane Society (calaverashumane.org) in California. “We’re then happy to provide them for free to anyone who asks. We also send extras over to our local animal care and control agency, so that their humane law enforcement officers can give them to pet owners who need them if they’re out on a call where a dog doesn’t have appropriate shelter.”

Champ now has a nice bed, better food and a heater that he likes to sleep beneath. When people come out and put something on the ground, whether it’s a meal or a treat, he investigates readily. Today, he approached Katherine on his own and welcomed petting. His future looks bright. ¦