Stella needs Obedience School

Last December we adopted Stella, a 10-month-old Bichon. We didn’t know anything about her past history, but it was apparent very quickly, once we got her home, that she came from owners who hadn’t treated her well.  She startled easily, she skittered away when anyone walked near her, she cowered whenever anyone reached out to her… and I could go on.

We decided that because Stella had apparently suffered from trauma, we needed to earn her trust before taking her to obedience school.  We have showered her with love and attention since we brought her home.  Riley, our 11-year-old Bichon has been the-best-big-brother ever to her.   (Stella Update;   Big Brother, Little Sister)

We have waited out the hot, hot summer and will be enrolling her in obedience school next month. 

What we have accomplished on our own:

  • Stella will now sit on command.
  • She will “stay” 75% of the time, but her little body is wiggling like crazy and I know it will take just a second before she loses concentration and comes barrelling at me.
  • She knows “nice.”  When I hand her a treat, instead of jumping up and grabbing it from my hand, she will sit (again with the crazy wiggly body), and take the treat gently from my hand.
  • She shares well with Riley.  When we first got Stella, if I offered her a treat, she, of course, took it. When I then offered Riley a treat, Stella would jump and grab it from my hand before Riley had a chance to take it. She now patiently waits her turn, because she knows it is coming.
  • Stella wasn’t house-trained when she came to us, but she is now. She still won’t give us a verbal signal that she needs to go out, but we’ve learned her habits enough to know when to take her out. Still, she needs to learn to signal with something other than a soft touch of her paw on my leg, because if I’m concentrating on something, I miss that.
  • I taught Stella to bark when she is outside and wants to come in.  When we first got her, she would just sit outside, looking at the door if she wanted to come in, but would never give a verbal signal that she was done sun-bathing and wanted to come in the house.

When we have NOT accomplished:

  • Stella is afraid to walk through doorways.  We can only guess at the history for this fear, but it must have been very traumatic because she has made little progress in this area.  If I am walking from one room into another, she will sit down outside the doorway and wait until I am far into the room because she enters.  If I crouch down to her level and call to her, she MIGHT come. If she is with Riley, she will walk through a doorway with him. (Protection?). She will RARELY walk through a doorway if she is following my husband, no matter how much he calls or encourages her.  She WILL walk through a doorway quite easily if all 4 of us are going from one room to another at the same time. It’s so strange….
  • Stella will not come on command. If I ask her to come, she will just look at me.  If I tell her to sit, she will sit. If I tell her to stay, she will stay as I come toward her. But when I reach her, she will run away. If I stand still, and don’t say anything, she will crouch down as low to the ground as she can and come back to me.  It’s like she knows what to do but is afraid to do it; then remembers, “Oh, THIS person won’t hurt me,” and she obeys.

It still breaks our hearts when Stella shows her insecurities or fears, as we perceive them.  We’ve done the best we can at this point. She’s been with us long enough to know we love her and she can trust us.  Obedience school is next.

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Comments (12)

  1. Stella is adorable! It is sad that animals get abused, but look how far she has come and how patient you are with her! I hope her obedience class will help teach you how to teach her to overcome her fears. You have done a remarkable job in all you have taught her! Please keep us posted on how her school goes! Big Hugs to Stella (& Riley too)!!!

    September 15, 2017 at 11:00 am
  2. You are so sweet to take her in. May God bless you for all of your endeavors. I’m sure the rewards are great when you see her progress. I hope you will write again for when she overcomes her fears over something. Thank you Karen for sharing this!

    September 15, 2017 at 12:46 pm
  3. Teresa Butler

    she is beautiful–so wonderful that you adopted her

    September 15, 2017 at 1:02 pm
  4. Carol

    Oh my gosh, Stella has the best family ever. I have loved reading about little Stella and so happy she has such a loving family.

    September 15, 2017 at 6:04 pm
  5. Is the doorway problem when there are different floor structures only as e.g. the photo above shows. In this case I would try to place a mat, like a bridge. Before that, the mat should be placed in a room where she likes to be. This way she will get used to it. Hope you can imagine what I mean.

    September 16, 2017 at 4:20 am
  6. Steph

    Stella is such a cutie. You have accomplished much and hopefully the rest will fall in place given time.

    September 16, 2017 at 2:10 pm
  7. Joan

    She is such a sweet lady. It just breaks our heart to think she was abused. Remember, love never fails…even with the little creatures entrusted to us!

    September 16, 2017 at 6:26 pm
  8. FussBudget

    Stella is so lucky to have found you and your husband and it is wonderful that you are willing to work with her. She is just a doll and worth every bit of your labor. The great thing about obedience classes is that they graduate and get to wear hats. It’s a wonderful photo opportunity. Once she gets the hand of it I’m sure she’ll be a star student.

    September 17, 2017 at 2:34 am
  9. Karen

    Oh, that will be a fun event! Something to look forwrd to after all of the hard work!

    September 19, 2017 at 6:16 am
  10. Sue Ramirez

    Hi, our little boy dog Lobo was badly abused (mostly by men we figure because he is so afraid of men. It took him 3 months to not jump behind my back on the couch when my husband came into the living room) Because of some of Lobes actions in certain situations, I’d say (suggested by our dog trainer about Lobes) that maybe Stella was sweetly called to another room and then bam, kicked or hurt in some way. Lobo was afraid to come at first, again because he was probably sweetly called and then BAM again. We got over the come thing with rewards and saying “Well, come on” and patting our leg, instead of just come.. Bless you for adopting Miss Stella…….she’s an adorable little dog.:-)

    October 5, 2017 at 7:12 am
    • Karen

      Thank you, Sue, for this great advice. We definitely thought something was happening… like maybe she was being called and the door was being shut on her as she walked thru….Your thoughts add to this, and we will definitely try your suggestion. Poor little Lobo… doesn’t that just break your heart about her need to hide from men? Sooo glad you were able to get her to trust again! Bless you all!

      October 5, 2017 at 8:46 am
  11. […] In brief, we adopted her 10 months ago, and she came from a home where she had been abused.  (Stella need Obedience School). We have spent the last months getting her to love and trust us before attempting corrective […]

    October 25, 2017 at 6:30 pm
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