Fearful Basset Hound Finally Initiates Play With Mom And...

The Dodo

Couple adopts a basset hound for the first time and realizes they're going to have to earn his trust... We talked to Cinthanie about who helped Gunther come out of his shell and the first time he initiated play with mom

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00:00The first initial few days, he cried a lot.

00:11He was really shy, no confidence.

00:17He was rescued from a breeder.

00:21It was a new environment, we were new people, and he didn't trust people to begin with.

00:25And paced the house a ton.

00:33We did not realize how hard we were going to have to work to earn his trust.

00:40He just needed space.

00:44When my husband would come home from work, Joey, our boss at home, would be so excited to see my husband,

00:48and I think Gunther would take that social cue of like, oh, this is good.

00:52Gunther really started to take to my husband after a few weeks of settling in.

01:03I think that he seemed more fearful of me.

01:09One of the ways that I tried to earn Gunther's trust, and I think has been successful,

01:13is coming down to the floor and being on his level.

01:16We're just doing a floor hang.

01:29One of the first milestones that I saw that he was finally at least comfortable with Joey,

01:36Joey could teach Gunther how to be a dog in a family and trust people.

01:41If we did not have Joey, I think it would have been such a different experience,

01:44because he really has been the bridge between us and Gunther.

01:47This is so big because this is an independent choice that he made without Joey,

01:52and I think that that's huge.

01:54Hi, honey. Look at you.

01:58Did you decide to come lay in the bed by yourself?

02:02Milestones look different for every dog, and every small milestone was a big step in the right direction for Gunther.

02:07Hi. You're sniffing me. You're going to make me cry.

02:29Seeing him start to make progress and open up and push his own boundaries

02:33made me so proud of him because he's starting to meet me in the middle.

02:38You're going to catch me, Gunther. Gunther, you're going to catch me.

02:42Having all of his personality traits come out and to know that we've been able to give him a good, safe, happy space,

02:48that he can just be a dog, that has been the most rewarding thing.

02:51Look who's snuggling.

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