Poor guy

Khan is probably 28 inches tall at his shoulder.  He is black with a Red undertone.   He is starting to get white hairs all over him.  Khan has really long top K9 teeth.  When he got here he weighed 63 pounds, he is now around 70 pounds.  Khan has bonded to Bill, as my dogs believe Bill is the protector, so does Khan.  Khan would be a lap dog, if he could get on the furniture.  He loves to be cuddled, stroked, and gently spoken to.  His ideal place would be right next to a human with a hand that just gently rubs on him. He has a gentle soul.

This Blog is about the hard part of fostering.  Similar issues probably occur with non greyhounds, but all I know is greyhounds.  Khan is 3 years old now.  He is starting to have separation anxiety, but not bad yet.  We can work on that.  But this little guy, has been severely mentally abused, I’ve decided.

It appears that whoever worked with him in his formative years were bullies.  I believe the abuse occurred at the hands of his handlers. Khan will not walk past you unless he can see both hands and you are at least 3 feet away.  If we reach for him to reassure him that everything is ok, he backs away, tail tucked, head down trying to find an escape route. But his eyes never leave the person.  They must grabbed him or hollered at him every time they let him out or tried to feed him.

He literally snatches treats out of my hand, just missing me with those huge K9s.  If Bill tries to give him a treat, Khan is scared.   He paces and comes quickly, snatches the treat and runs to his bed, where he feels safe and he can watch what is happening.  So the other day, Bill tossed the treat to Khan.  OMG! He tucked his tail and ran to his bed and stood on it and shook.  It was very sad.  Bill felt bad. I felt bad, and Khan felt betrayed by the protector.  Bill gave him lots of love and kindness and Khan is forgiving Bill and becoming comfortable with Bill again.  One simple gesture that works for other dogs, undid 3 weeks of work. 

I am concerned that he may accidentally bite my finger when I give him a treat.  He is getting to the point where he stands with the pack and waits for a treat.  He is even coming for more treats, as my dogs do.   My dogs take treats so gently that a baby could give the treat to them. So, I decided that he is comfortable with us, and I would hold the treat as he took it from me, to show him I won’t hurt him. A mistake on my part.  OMG!  He had half the treat in his mouth and I had the other half lightly in my fingers.  When I didn’t let it go he started crying.  Crying like he was going to be tortured.  He let it go and he was whimpering and backing up while looking at me.  When he made it around the corner, he just stood there, shaking.  I  told him it was ok, and (stupidly) tossed the cookie near him.  That sent him running, as far as he could. (why didn’t I learn from Bills mistake?)  He found his safe place, next to Bill.  I went to pet him and he hung his head and winced, like he was going to be hurt.  I said to Bill, with tears in my eyes “what did they do to this poor guy??” 

Khan on his safe bed

I suspect they used to grab him when he walked by.  Probably by the neck and scream at him or something.  There is no sign of physical abuse. I have also decided they would throw things at him or on the ground and then run toward him screaming or something to harass him. They may have double teamed him and let him pick something off the floor and then ran toward him while someone behind him caught him.  Terrible treatment this guy must have endured, it breaks my heart.  Khan is by no means an alpha dog, so this treatment destroyed his confidence and made him a scared guy.  I don’t understand abuse of  any kind. Mentally abusing an animal would result in what?

He is still arched in the back.  He eats if people are still.  If I move or Bill moves, he leaves the food and runs in another room.  He does; however, love to walk on the leash, with dogs, without dogs it doesn't matter.  He is a strong confident happy guy while on his leash or alone in the yard.  The trainer would have been working with him for this stuff, which is why I don’t think the trainer abused him.

The treat event, damaged the confidence he was gaining with us.  He is better today; he came with the pack for a treat this morning.  He is not as confident as he was, but he is better.