andain

Daisy appeared to have very recently had puppies. She was found tied to a pole outside in the cold in the Middle of December here in MA. We think she was used for breeding as she had no social skills and was very nervous when she came in. She adjusted nicely with us and we can handle her very easily with no problems at all. Unfortunately, she has gotten too comfortable here at the hospital and gets very anxious when taken out of this comfort zone. I have brought her to a nearby park several times and she is very wary of passerbys and anything she is not used to being around such as cars, loud noises, etc. We recently attempted to place her at a local humane society but she was very fearful of the employees and they were not comfortable handling her so we took her back. We had a professional trainer come and and he sat on the floor and ignored Daisy the first time they met. Daisy went right up to him and responded very well to the situation. She was completely comfortable the entire time he was in the room, even after he stood. However the next time they met he approached her in her kennel and removed her and attempted to walk her. To this she responded with great fear and even snapped at him and ran away. She is clearly not aggressive but definately a potential fear biter. It is these types of situations that are hardest for us here. Due to no fault of her own, she is terrified of new surroundings (very likely due to her past) and could pose a potentially bad situation if put in the wrong hands. It is our responsibility to ensure we adopt out "safe" adoption candidates to the public. I believe Daisy needs nothing more but socialization. It is clear from the relationships formed with us here at the hospital she is a great dog and not aggressive whatsoever. However, when put in a situation which she is not used to there is a problem. I have been continuing walking her at the park but what she really needs is an experienced foster to get her out into the world and show her there's nothing to be afraid of. Sadly, we do not know of anyone on our end who can help her. We would hate to have to make the decision to put her down after all she's been through. We've all grown very attached but we are at a loss as to where to go from here. Please let me know if you can offer help or suggestions to what we may be able to come up with for her. I've attached pictures of her to this email. She is great with other dogs....very patient with them (probably due to her motherly instinct).