From Fearful to Fun-loving

Carmen was a gift to a brilliant veterinary student the breeder believed had saved the life of his dog and her unborn puppies. The student was enthralled with the delicate little dog, naming her after a favorite opera while building a contact list of canine couturiers.

Just like that Carmen scored a personal physician and a wardrobe stylist.

Summer 1999 at dog day care. Image is a scan of a long ago photocopy. Carmen was 26 months old when she snuggled up with 8-month-old Mackenzie for a nap in the sun. Photo: Maureen Chambley/CCP

By 13 months of age, Carmen had spent most of her public life in her owner’s arms. Despite the best of intentions, the little dog had become a quaking bundle of blondness afraid of most things, especially strangers. Carmen’s mounting social anxieties were concerning though less so than her house soiling, which was exasperating. Time to get a dog walker.

Typically Carmen was confined to the spacious kitchen before her owner left the apartment. I recommended the leash be attached to the dog’s collar before the owner left in the morning. The warm weather meant no jacket required — a huge plus — because not touching Carmen until she was ready would speed up trust building. The downside was how easy it would be for Carmen to pee on a trailing leash. We went ahead with the plan.

On the first day of our first walk, I approached the kitchen barrier wearing a smile. Carmen’s body shuddered with fear, force ejecting the contents of her bladder, bowel, and anal sacs in one explosive burst. She ran off to hide in a tight corner. I cleaned the kitchen floor and left.

Plan B was to attach the leash to Carmen’s collar, put her inside her travel crate (which she did not soil), and thread the thin leash under the locked door leaving most of it on the outside. I picked up the leash and crate holding Carmen and carried her to the lobby. There the crate was placed on the floor, the door was opened, and I stepped away holding the leash. About 15 seconds later Carmen bolted toward the lobby door.

She walked as far away from me as a 6ft leash and my extended arm would allow. Because Carmen’s building opened onto a busy street, we quickly rounded the corner onto a quiet residential block. That was our pattern for the next several days until she could trust that I meant no harm.

TRUST BUILDING

For the first week Carmen was too anxious to relieve herself anywhere near me, requiring every outing to begin with a quick kitchen cleanup. The second week we stopped using the crate but left the leash on her. It was usually damp with pee but we rolled with it. On the plus side, she had reduced the gap between us during our walks and could make it around the same block without flinching if I moved too close. By the third week I could attach the leash, Carmen was choosing to walk next to me and, wonder of wonders, began relieving herself along the busy streets of Philadelphia.

After layering her signature scent around the block for another week, Carmen was ready to broaden her horizons. Her owner was thrilled with Carmen’s progress walking her little dog everywhere, including to dog day care and to restaurants that offered al fresco dining. With the increased exposure, Carmen quickly gained confidence while enjoying the company of strangers. And she stopped using her home for a toilet.

By the time her owner graduated vet school, Carmen had been attending dog day care for over a year. I took the photo to memorialize how cute she was and how far she had come. Weeks later Carmen and her owner would move to NYC for their next chapter. For the once frightened little dog, life was long, happy, and full of discovery.

CARMEN WAS A STAR

Two awesome things about Carmen: She did not bark and she was very smart.

When we met, she was a frightened puddle of fur because she found people confusing and too touchy-feely. Interestingly for such a small dog, the noise and congestion of city life did not faze her. For Carmen it was simply too dangerous to stop on a city street to relieve herself with passersby and friendly handlers so close. The safe choice was to relieve herself in the apartment when no one was present.

Getting Carmen to her happy, confident place involved messaging more than anything. The owner and I adopted an emotionally neutral attitude about the messy kitchen floor and spoke to Carmen in a pleasant conversational tone, avoiding highs and lows. As often as possible, her owner created safe situations that introduced Carmen to new experiences she could learn from.

And learn she did. During the early days of a new dog day care, the staff would end each day playing clicker games with the few dogs waiting for pickup. We would come up with easy behaviors to teach the dogs for fun and to sharpen our skills. The mix of dogs changed from day to day but always included Carmen due to her owner’s heavy, final-year schedule.

She was the star pupil. Carmen was so quick-witted, we sometimes struggled to stay ahead of her. Still chokes me up to remember that house-soiling unhappiness was the impetus that changed her life.