Jim Manson wrote:
Hi,

I am thinking about taking in a rescue, a 5 year old American Eskimo
that was severely neglected by his prior owner. The dog is currently
in a foster home. As far as is known the dog was in a stall in a barn
for it's entire life with little or no contact with people or other
animals outside of being fed.


I have experience in rescues and have dealt with an abused Klee Kai
successfully. The problem is that the Eskie almost seems to be, for
want of a better term, autistic. He is not aggressive at all or
fearful. He sometimes tracks eye contact but usually not, unless you
get right in his line of sight even then it's just in passing. From
what I gather he has improved in foster care over the past three
months but is still very distant from everyone. He doesn't seek out
affection or contact but doesn't react or struggle if picked up or
petted according to the foster mother. He just seems oblivious to
contact although he is alert and pays attention to everything around
him. He pretty much ignores other dogs, other then to growl if they
get too insistent. He doesn't lick, roll over, cringe or react much
at
all to people close to him. He will come if you hold out a treat but
that is a recent development according to the foster mother.
Originally he didn't know what a treat was or that people gave them.


He doesn't sniff the ground or check scents anywhere including
sniffing other dogs. He isn't housebroken although he is trained to
use puppy pads. If there is long grass around he likes to sit in it
and look around but doesn't seem bothered if someone walks up to him
to interact.


He seems unaturally calm at all times, it's almost eerie.


I would like to know if anyone has experience in dealing with a dog
like this. I am trying to get an idea of what can be done, or what
cannot be done as the case may be. Any ideas or information would be
appreciated.


Feel free to email me.


Hi Jim,
Back in 1990 we rescued a 1.5 year old smooth collie (original name of
Dean, we changed it to Dino), who had lived his entire life, just like
your Eskie, in a horse stall. We also thought Dino was autistic since
he was nonreactive, didn't related to people and had zero personality.
I don't have time to write his whole story out but I can tell you our
basic plan was slow and careful re-socialization. We lived in a college
town (we were both in Grad school) and we took Dino to all sorts of
places. We didn't coddle him but we made darn sure he wasn't overwhelmed
or put into a situation too difficult for him to handle. After 5 months
when we were on a camping trip, we saw our first glimpse of a
personality. Over the next year Dino blossomed more & more and became
one of the best dogs I've ever had in my life.. He went on to earn a
obedience CD (goosed the chief ring steward when we were waiting to get
our 3rd place ribbon); happily moved with us from PA to CO to VA to MD
to PA; was absolutely delighted when we brought Pablo, a 9 week old
smooth puppy, home and was besotted when our son, Soren, was born in
1998 (when Soren was napping in his car seat, Dino would curl around it
with his head resting against Soren's tummy).

Now your Eskie was shut away for a lot longer than Dino so his recovery
will probably take equally longer and he may not ever get to total
normalcy. I think the amount of recovery depends on if the dog was
abused (Dino was severely neglected but never abused) and the dog's
inborn temperament (Dino naturally had a calm, serene temperament which
helped in his recovery).

Gotta go - good luck with your Eskie,
Chris