rehoming advice

[aiee37]

I have a chow/shiba inu mix that I adopted from the humane society three years ago. I believe she was abused before I adopted her, as she is very skittish. When I brought her home she had severe seperation anxiety and could not be left alone. She repeatedly broke out windows to escape. I tried kenneling her and she broke out of that too. I tried chaining her in the back yard and still managed to run away. Since then she has become a very good dog and in true chow fashion only trusts me.
In august I will be moving to Thailand for a year and I have found a great family willing to foster her while I am gone. However, I am very concerned that without me she will revert to her escape artist nature. If anyone has any advice on how to prevent this or make her transition more comfortable I would really appreciate the advice.

[Auddymay]

Start taking her over there at every opportunity. Have the family always give her wonderful treats, but to not be overly friendly at first, she needs to just be able to accept them in her own time. Baby steps. The visit need not be a long one, just a positive one. As you get closer to August, make your visits longer, and leave for very short periods. At this point, it should not concern her too much.

I wish you luck with your move, and with the foster family.

[Nita F.]

In case she escapes from her foster home you may want to have her microchipped with their contact information. Once you return it should be easy to revert the contact information back to you.

Nita

[aiee37]

She is microchipped and I plan on changing the contact info when I move. My bigger concern is that her new home is in the mountains on a large piece of secluded land with no fence and neighborhood bears around.

[chow fancier]

Start taking her over there at every opportunity. Have the family always give her wonderful treats, but to not be overly friendly at first, she needs to just be able to accept them in her own time. Baby steps. The visit need not be a long one, just a positive one. As you get closer to August, make your visits longer, and leave for very short periods. At this point, it should not concern her too much.

I wish you luck with your move, and with the foster family.

Ditto. The key is to get her used to this family gradually so that she will accept they are a part of her family. As you know, chows can be won over, just on their own timeline and with terms they negotiate with the humans.

[Cara&Haley]

I also have a Shiba-Chow and she's absolutely crazy but I love her to death.
Have fun in Thailand! I was there 2 years ago and it was amazing.