dog scared of dad? (cross-post from behavior)

erica1989

Posted : 2/27/2007 9:09:20 AM


Ok. Here#%92s the deal with my Casey. He is about 11 months old, and a fox terrier corgi mix (to the best of our guesses) He was left on the front door step of our shelter in a crate with his brother. Carl (unfortunately) did not make it. He was much too aggressive. But we kept working with Casey (formerly Sammy). I would spend a few sessions with him at the shelter, along with a few other people. He warmed up to me and one other tech. My manager decided that we should foster him out, and I agreed to take him home. That was a little over a week ago. When he first got home, he wanted nothing to do with anyone except for me. I expected this. He has slowly warmed up to my mom and little brother. My brother likes to sleep by his crate (with the door open) and bond. My mom likes to take him out for walks in the morning. Both hand feed him his kibble. He is doing very well. He has really improved with our walks too, he used to run to the other side of the street when other people would walk past us. He know will walk past them with his tail wagging, and no signs of being scared. I had a friend over yesterday, and he was a little unsure at first, but within a few minutes he was licking her toes. =]
Casey is left loose in my room, and usually winds up sleeping in his crate when no one is home. (he absolutely loves his crate - I was worried about this because he was abandoned in one, but that hasn#%92t seemed to affect him any) If someone is home, he has free run of the house and screened in pool area. He is only completely alone for about 5 hours each day. He has a DAP plug-in in my room to help with his anxiety. It seems to be helping somewhat.
The issue come in with my dad. He is still very afraid of my dad. He has stopped the snapping (thankfully) but still occasionally growls. My dad has never hurt an animal in his life, and grew up with dogs. He knows to back off when Casey gets upset. Currently, my dad is the only one giving Casey liverwurst (his FAVORITE treat ever). My mom and brother will give him the occasional treat and hand feed him is food. I only put the food in his bowl for him, and no treats from me. He is doing somewhat better, but I am still concerned that he is not warming up to my dad. Dad talks to the dog in a low tone, very softly. He crouches down at an angle with sitting by him, and let#%92s Casey sniff him. Casey tolerates a few strokes from my dad, but can#%92t seem to get far enough away… My dad has a very busy work schedule, so he cannot spend too much time with Casey. I would like for dad to talk the dog on a walk a few times a week, but I don#%92t know it that will be feasible with his schedule. We know he was abused, and we are assuming is was by a man.
 
Also - Casey has a weird fetish with cat toys. He could care less about his dog toys when there are kitty toys around…He loves to play with the feathered toys the most…. Anyone else have a dog that does this? He leaves the cat food alone (now if only the cats would leave the dog food along…)
Any input would be greatly appreciated! I know it is going to take some time, and he is doing much better. But is there anything else I should be doing? I don#%92t feel like we are doing enough…. =\