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When I first got my foster dog, I knew I was getting a scared dog with limited people experience. I wasnt worried, I am experienced with dog training and behavior and knew I could help him. I had a training routine that worked for all my previous fosters and thought I was prepared. Boy was I wrong. The first 3 months were spent getting him to eat, sleep, potty, and relax. He was scared of food, scared of outside, scared of any tiny little noise that we made. Three months in we had a solid routine down, but still wasnt a dog. He fit into our house pretty well, but was far from being adoptable. We agreed that he probably wouldn't be ready for adoption for a long time, and decided to have our first foster fail. The next 4 months were spent getting him comfortable to taking food from us. Every day we practiced tossing treats outside, then inside, then taking treats by hand outside, then inside. Eventually we were able to get him taking treats by hand in every room of our house. In that time he also got more comfortable with us. We were able to walk past him, pet him, and play fetch. Last month I decided he was ready for the next step, nose touch. He already had a habit of pressing his head into our hands for pets, so I decided to shape it into an action for a reward. It took a few sessions, but he now dives into my hand so I can throw his toy. Its been such a joy getting him to learn action = reward. For a long time I thought I was failing him by not getting him "better" quicker. Progress was so slow that it felt like we weren't moving at all. Keeping a daily log of our wins helped keep our spirits up, as well as accepting that regression is normal. So here is a little reminder that time is an illusion. You dont need to follow a schedule for training or meet specific milestones. As long as you doing something, the behavior will come when they are ready. submitted by /u/Heather_Bea |