Dogs Run From Me in Terror

... or how I visited an animal shelter and scared the shit out of a poor rescue.

I called the dierenasiel and visited today. The people there were very kind and friendly.
Their concern was that Inu (the temporary name for the boy) was more comfortable with dogs, and would feel at home living with other dogs for now.

As I waited, playing with a very friendly cat (Oh, my fickle heart wanted him too) , Inu was brought out.

He is a good-looking boy, very foxy. Red-gold, and with a sharp but gentle face. A bit skinny, but not malnourished in any way. Well formed with a nice coat and tail. He was quite lovely.

I had read up on all the things I should look out for in a "mill rescue." And was bracing myself.

But Inu was much more adjusted to the world, in such a short time, than I had expected. He liked the shelter workers, and already trusted them, and let them handle him and touch him. He would walk up to them and be friendly. He walked on a leash comfortably. He didn't accept food from me, but this was only the first meeting.

I was a complete stranger to him, so of course he was aloof. I think someone who has Shibas would have put him better at ease. It had been such a long time since I lived with a dog.

He was shy, but gentle. He was afraid, but he tried. He was scared of fences and doors opening.

We even went on a walk. I was surprised the shelter people let me do this, but they were very confident and positive, which may be the kind of energy he needs (in retrospect, I might have been too soft for him).

I was very clumsy, but he didn't pull away too much. Still, he was giving me a wide berth so I tried to walk as fast as he was going, so he wouldn't be in the position of "pulling away" from me constantly. He was fine with that. He looked like a little red fox burrowing in the grass. We passed a woman on a bicycle, a man on a bicycle, a woman with a large dog, a woman jogger, and a car. He was fine with all of these.

Then, I was careless (butterfingers!!!) and dropped the leash. It was one of those retractable things with two buttons, and I was fumbling with them trying to shorten it, when, I DROPPED IT.

OH MY GOD. He ran. He ran for dear life, panicked. He ran from me for about 30-50 meters. I shouldn't have RUN after him. This frightened him more.

I was standing there in the middle of a road that was rolling over with mist, thinking, "CRAP. What am I going to do? I lost the shelter dog. What if he runs away? What if there's A CAR coming around the bend??!!"

[insert mini-heartattack here]

But then I stopped, and walked slowly, talking to him, and he stood still, looking over his shoulder at me, with the barest bit of whites in his eyes. TERRIFIED. But he didn't run. Finally, I was 1 meter within his circle, and I stepped on the leash.

In all this time, he never showed his teeth or try to bite or growl. He has the sweetest temper. Scared, but very gentle. As I reached him after our chase, he was out of breath, and also breathing hard from stress, I think, but I risked putting my arms around him when a car passed by so he wouldn't bolt.

He was heaving, and anxious to get away from me ('I can't get rid of this giant fright!'), so I ended up jogging to match his pace, so he wouldn't be fighting me all the way, hoping he could work off the anxiety.

I was worried my clumsiness gave him the more frightening day. But yes, that was another white hair, just a few days after my birthday.

M and I will visit again on Friday to see if he 1) remembers me 2) and doesn't remember how I messed up and 3) see if M gets along with him and 4) isn't allergic (the second biggest concern).


The worst of it was, how frightened he was of me, and how he ran away for dear life. Poor sweetie. But I had to realize again, how inept I am with dogs. And how, I'm afraid I won't be brave enough to give this boy a good home, where his constantly fleeing from me won't be a nail in my heart every day. I just don't know.