Those of you who follow me on my personal Facebook page might have already read about this. For those who don’t follow me there, here is a quick update on our pandemic pup’s progress.

Noyzi, our adopted Kosovar pandemic dog rescue, has serious trust issues regarding men. It might be that he doesn’t like certain types of men, such as older white guys. My husband, Bill, is 56 years old, but he doesn’t look it. Noyzi is, nevertheless, very afraid of him to the point of keeping a distance from him whenever he can.

Our Eckbank Gruppe is in what was probably supposed to be the dining room. Bill and I were sitting there last night, listening to music and drinking wine. Arran, our other dog, wanted a treat. I got up to get him one, then called Noyzi. Noyzi is reluctant to go into the kitchen, especially when Bill is in the dining room. He has to pass Bill to get there. But even when Bill isn’t home, he doesn’t want to go into the kitchen. I have his water bowl outside, and that’s where he goes to drink, rather than in the kitchen where Arran drinks.

So anyway, there I was in the kitchen calling Noyzi. He was definitely interested in the treats, but too afraid to pass Bill. After a few minutes, I finally grabbed him by the collar and slowly led him through the dining room. He gave me the whale eye a couple of times, and panicked a bit, backpedaling. Bill kept his eyes downward, not looking at Noyzi at all. I kept reassuring him and coaxing him forward.

Finally, after a couple of minutes traipsing through what must have seemed like a shark infested ocean to Noyzi, we got close enough to the kitchen at which I was able to grab the bag of treats. I gave him a couple of them, then let him go. He ran right back to his bed. But then he noticed that Arran was still in the kitchen eating treats. He looked at me and I said, “Noyzi, you can come back in here. It’s okay.”

After a couple more minutes, he got up and cautiously came back into the kitchen. Bill never moved from his spot. He had a couple more treats, then went back to his safe spot in his bed, where he seems to be most at ease. About an hour later, I tried again. It took a couple of minutes, but he finally did come to the kitchen for another round.

This morning, after breakfast, I had Bill put the harness on Noyzi. Normally, I do it, because he’s so afraid of Bill, but not so much that he won’t let Bill walk him. Today, I held Noyzi by the collar and reassured him as Bill put the harness on. He backpedaled and panicked a bit, but Bill was able to get him suited up and ready to go. They had a walk and Noyzi got more treats. I have a lot of empathy for Noyzi. I have suffered from phobias myself, and I know how hard it is to get over irrational fears. To him, being terrified of men isn’t irrational, though. Someone in his past probably really traumatized him.

Once again, I am amazed by how fast he’s learning. A couple of months ago, Noyzi wouldn’t even eat treats. He wouldn’t eat “people food”, either. He’d never been exposed to it. I’m glad he’s turning out to be food oriented. That makes working with him easier. And, in some ways, he’s better behaved than his teacher, Arran is. For instance, I have yet to clean up any doggy messes from him, other than his hair, which he sheds copiously. He seems naturally predisposed to doing his business outside, which is a real blessing, since he’s a big boy.

I hope that soon, he and Bill can bond more. He hit the jackpot in doggy daddies. He just doesn’t know it yet. I am grateful to have him around. He’s helped make this lockdown more interesting and fun.