Lisa and I love to laugh and joke, with a playful Irish, ‘get away out of that’, accompanied by a gentle push or shove. Daisy always barks, almost in a panicked way, as if she’s saying ‘please, please stop’, and we usually need to pick her up to calm her down. Recently a good ten or fifteen flies were buzzing around our front room and I went on the attack with a rolled-up magazine. Later I noticed Daisy was gone. We found her on a bed upstairs. The chasing of the flies was scaring her, along with the kids shouting ‘there’s one! there’s one!” The poor little sweetheart must have witnessed violence in the past, which is still haunting her today. Initially we thought it was just Daisy being funny if she barked at us playing, or hid when downstairs became a bit noisy. Now we realize differently and are careful not to scare her easily, while taking note of the warning signs.
“Now we realize differently and are careful not to scare her easily, while taking note of the warning signs.”
- Running and hiding: It isn’t playful if they run away at the slightest sign of a disturbance.
- Barking when you play: Watch your dog when family members are playing.
- Running away from raised voices: It may be just a heated discussion or a good joke, but the dog is affected by raised voices.
- Too many voices: Daisy hides if there are noisy visitors. Whatever happened in her past she can’t handle too many people at the one time.
- Hiding from loud sounds: Keep an eye out for your dog sneaking away from any banging or slapping sounds.
There are the more obvious signs of abuse, such as living in fear of anything, but the above are the subtle ones. If you see something similar in your dog, it is worth taking note and being that bit more careful around them. They know you love them but forgetting their past isn’t easy.
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