The Bark’s advice columnist answers readers’ questions about canine behavior. Got a question? Email askbark@thebark.com
Dear Bark: We live out in the woods, and sadly, people often dump their animals on our lonely road. Recently, a beautiful young Husky appeared and seems to have adopted us. We named him Buck, and we feed him, give him lots of encouraging vocals and so on. At first, he would not come closer to us than about 30 feet, but now, after we’ve worked with him, he will come to within about 10 feet. On occasion, when our three dogs are gathered around us, he’ll join them and get close; once, he even licked my hand! I try to avoid direct eye contact with him, as I know that dogs can perceive this as threatening. Do you have any ideas/advice on how to get him to actually let us pet him?
via Whisker Therapy