Introducing "Boots"...

We named him "Boots" because of the pair of white boots on his front paws, but we could have just as easily called him the 'Come Back Kid'... Boots was not showing well at a high kill shelter and was considered 'unadoptable'... He preferred to hide UNDERNEATH his bed and not come to the front of the kennel run to be seen by the general public... Eventually, not adopted and his time had run out, he ended up on the kill list... 

One of our foster dads took on Boots as his own personal foster and 'project'... We suspect that Boots was the victim of a big dog attack, for his personality issues were all fear based... And centering around other dogs... 

Once the fur dad gained his trust, they moved slowly in the rehabilitation process...  Being picked up, Boots immediately went into 'statue' mode, stiffened up and gave you the impression if he wasn't looking at you, you couldn't see him either... Any dog that came too close would also put Boots into alabaster stiff... 

The foster dad continued every day, working with Boots... A big step was Boots being in an Xpen in his family room with other dogs around, but Boots not screaming for dear life... It took a few days for Boots to realize the Xpen was 'HIS' safety zone, and although he could smell, see and hear the other dogs, they could not get into the Xpen to hurt him (not that they would)... From there, the foster dad moved to holding Boots on his lap for long stretches of time... Originally, we had our doubts if Boots could be rehabilitated and overcome his fears, but the foster dad is pretty determined once he sets his mind on something!

Once the foster dad and Boots could sit together quietly and calmly, little by little he was introduced to other foster dogs using the umbilical method... From there, the 'umbilical cord' was unhooked and Boots was allowed to sit or stand on the floor but without his 'safety cord' to the foster dad... Following this step, the foster dad began to leave the room for very brief times and always returning, showing Boots that it was OK to be in a room with other dogs and not one would attack him... 

We thought Boots had his break through when he started walking freely around with the other dogs - but we were wrong... 

Years (?) of fear turned into aggression towards other dogs... The foster dad kept up his end of it, not allowing Boots to be aggressive towards the other dogs, but still keeping Boots' trust in him... It was a tedious task of retraining and took weeks, but Boots and the foster dad succeeded (and extremely well!)... 

Boots is now able to freely move around the foster dad's home and backyard with other fosters... He now eats with other dogs and just recently, starting sleeping with another foster in the crate at night... 

Boots still likes to sleep under the covers and probably always will, for it is a common Chihuahua trait... But Boots has some other breed in him (Boston Terrier?, Bulldog?) if you look at his conformation and shape... He's small (about 6 pounds) but he is ALL solid and chesty... 

Boots wears his 'tux' well, don't you think? ... He's always ready to go to a gala ball with those white 'gloves', tux and tails... He has a white 'bow tie' and shirt, but the rest of him is solid black with just the very tips of his back toes in white...