Introducing Clancy to the Kennel

Clancy was rescued from an abandoned kennel in the desert, surrounded by shotgun shells. He struggles with fear issues still, nearly three years later, though his progress is remarkable, and I like to focus on that. It might make sense to assume that "putting" Clancy in a kennel could exacerbate his fearfulness, or trigger a fear-based association and matching response. But only if we shoved him in there against his will, or otherwise made it a negative experience for him in the present. Dogs live in the moment; they do not dwell in the past, which is what makes it relatively easy to change negative associations into positive ones. We do this by introducing a dog to a known (or potential) trigger in a safe and positive fashion in the present moment. I happen to believe that Clancy will become very fond of a kennel, and likely faster than one might suspect. Based on his progress today -- our first day ever trying this with him -- I am definitely encouraged!

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