Yellow Lab/Bassett Hound mix

[aly]

Congrats on the (possibility) of a new dog! It sounds like if she got a little better in the one visit, she will probably overcome her fear. But chances are it won't happen over the weekend. I've been working with shelter dogs for years and have seen many different situations with the poor doggies who are terrified of men. A lot of them are able to get over it with proper training and socialization.

Lolly, my doggie I adopted a year and a half ago, would flip on her back, scream, and pee when she saw men. I had several nice male neighbors who helped me socialize her and give her good experiences with men. Carmen, a dog at the shelter I work at, on the other hand I think will never ever get over her fear. She has major issues with men and has even tried to bite She can get used to certain ones but as a whole, she's really not to be trusted around them. She was adopted for 3 weeks and seemed fine with the man of the house but then there were lunging and growling incidents so she got returned

So, some dogs can conquer it, some can get used to only certain men, and some will never get over it. It's really just a chance that would have to be taken because it usually takes a long time for them to overcome such a huge fear. Its probably not something that could be found out this weekend although there IS a slight chance. Maybe being out of the shelter environment would help.

If you get her, I would say work on getting her used to your husband first, then start doing exercises with friends. Its important to not push her farther than she's ready to go. Use REALLY good treats like hot dog pieces and have him get low on the floor and talk to her in a soothing voice. I'd do it several times a day for short sessions, and gradually expand the length of time he works with her. Find her comfort zone (right before the point she gets really uncomfortable) and work on increasing that until he can be right up next to her petting her and she is fine with that. Also for a little while, you might want to have male visitors come in the door baring treats.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!