I don’t think that the people who owned Cooper before us treated him very well. He’s not at all aggressive, but the dog is so skittish. Brooms terrify him. He cowers a lot and jumps sometimes when I pet him.
Makes me want to cry.
Something That Makes Me Sad
December 14th, 2006 | Cooper
10 comments ↓
Cooper will recover. Our dog Mickey was a surrender, so we didn’t think he had been traumatized. But there was some evidence that maybe he was because he would flinch when an open hand approached him from above. Now he raises his head to meet a hand that comes from above him because he knows it means pettings.
Good on you for your big heart. Cooper will be fine.
Awww, poor thing. Makes me sad too. My Doberman who is no longer with us (Dobie my goofy yellow dog’s mama) - she was about a year old when she was found by my neighbor, starving running around downtown. After she’d been living with me a while it became apparent she had probably been not only starved (she was when found) and neglected but probably abused. She was skittish much like you say about Cooper, and she also was extremely submissive and would lay down belly up when being disciplined verbally at all, which was a pretty sure sign. It broke my heart. She was always practically a lap dog and so good natured and sweet, not a “vicious” Doberman, but I think the people who originally had her either wanted her to be a mean dog or just didn’t care. I was at least glad I got her when she was still pretty young.
And Scully’s right about the recovering. It took my Doberman a while, but after she’d been here a couple of years she stopped with the overly submissive stance. She was still always a little bit skittish/shaking about any discipline (and was scared to death of storms), but it wasn’t like before.
Maybe or maybe not. My dog that just died, she was scared to death of leashes. She wasn’t abused cause I got her when she was 6 weeks old, but, the sight of them made her cower and shake like crazy. Some dogs are just nervous by nature. Cooper still coulda had a crappy owner, but, I’m just saying…sometimes they’re born like that.
Hims sure is a Q-T-PIE!!!
My ex-wife had a dog she rescued from a shelter and I don’t think he was treated well either. He would visibly shake and cower if a male (any male) approached him wearing shoes. It was like watching Kramer the way the dog would spazz as you could literally see the conflict between the dog wanting to come to you and freaking out that you might kick the you know what out of him. It took a long time to earn trust with the dog…
I think he needed some doggie therapy.
I know that face. Our girl is spazmatic, anxious, jumpy….she freaks at loud noises, hates the vaccuum, can’t stand thunderstorms, jumps ten feet if we drop something on the floor…you’d never guess that her abandoned litter was shot at by some d*ckhead farmer in Ashland City, would you?
Even with all that, though, she is the most compassionate and loving dog I’ve ever seen. We’ve just learned to tread lightly.
There’s a book you need to read…I’ll order you one now.
I sense this too. I worked in Animal ER for years and you can always pick that up.
At least he has a great home now :)
Just let Cooper (and Tootie) know grandma will make it all better at Christmas. Love them both and I especially love you.
Give him time. Mabel needed a bit of space when she wandered into my life because of neglect.
Sometimes, they just need a bit more love and attention to get comfortable.
Our Coopers are very much alike. Except that mine is terrified of garbage trucks — strange, since he doesn’t seem to mind any other sort of large vehicle.
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