NEED TO KNOW

• Harper arrived at Alaqua Animal Refuge in Florida, shut down and afraid of new sounds and sights

• The Australian shepherd entered Alaqua’s K9 Comback Team, a specialized program to help dogs dealing with fear and anxiety

• After 6 months of training through the program, Harper gained confidence and started searching for an adopter

Harper isn’t a different dog than she was six months ago; she is the dog she was always meant to be.

When Harper, the Australian shepherd, arrived at Alaqua Animal Refuge in Florida, she was shut down and “stuck in survival mode.” Almost any noise, sight, or person frightened the young dog.

“Transitioning to the shelter environment can be a challenge for any dog. For Harper, overcoming her own anxiety in a new environment was a lot to take on. She is a small dog in a big world, and that can greatly affect anyone’s ability to feel at ease. Being exposed to ‘stranger danger’ on a whole new level, with the care and maintenance provided by staff, proved a bit overstimulating at first,” Aubrey Maurer, an animal care manager at Alaqua, tells PEOPLE.

Thankfully, Alaqua has a program in place for dogs just like Harper: Alaqua’s K9 Comeback Team. The specialized program is made up of a professional dog trainer and a group of highly trained volunteers who work one-on-one with dogs struggling with fear, anxiety, and trauma.

“Over the years, we kept seeing the same heartbreaking pattern. Dogs with trauma, fear, or complex behavioral needs were cycling through shelters or sitting for long periods because they didn’t fit the ‘easy adoption’ mold. Many of the dogs we take in come from hoarding, cruelty, or severe neglect cases, where there is no background information at all. We don’t know what they’ve experienced or why they respond the way they do. “I often call those cases ‘unsolved mysteries,'” Laurie Hood, Alaqua’s founder and president, explains, referring to what inspired the Comeback Team, adding that it became clear these dogs needed “time, patience, and a deeper level of care.”

“When a dog’s past is an unknown, it’s even more important to listen instead of rushing to label or correct. Many of these dogs aren’t misbehaving. They’re protecting themselves. Emotional recovery gives them the space to feel safe enough to show us who they really are. Once that trust is built, everything else follows,” she continues.

To build trust with Harper, the Comeback Team developed a personalized training plan that combined structure, patience, and enrichment. The team focused on “slow and steady” progress,

“Time is a big part of what sets this program apart. We don’t rush dogs through a preset timeline. Our team works closely with each dog, observing patterns, triggers, and progress, especially in cases where the past is a mystery. We let the dog lead the process. It’s also highly collaborative,” Hood says.

When Harper, the Australian shepherd, arrived at Alaqua Animal Refuge in Florida, she was shut down and “stuck in survival mode.” Almost any noise, sight, or person frightened the young dog.

Harper’s plan was all about “socialization, socialization, socialization,” according to Maurer, who was Harper’s trainer on the Comeback Team.

“There is this key misunderstanding that the term ‘socialization’ refers to meeting new people or meeting new dogs when it actually can refer to exposure to new environments and stimuli. Establishing a bond with her on an individual level as the handler allowed Harper to begin to trust new things. We were able to build on this with slow exposure to new people and new environments, making these interactions a positive experience,” she adds.

After six months of patient support from the Comeback Team, which also included basic obedience training, Harper emerged as a more confident canine who no longer barked and cowered at every new noise and movement. She graduated from the program and began working to find the ideal forever home.

“For Harper, we knew that we needed to find an adopter who would be patient with her above all else. She had gone through so much and come so far in her training that we knew she would need someone who would continue working with her and accept that she may never be a ‘perfect dog,'” Laura McManus, Alaqua’s director of operations, says.

Harper’s rescue caregiver hosted several meet-and-greets for the pup before finding the ideal owner. The pet parent who provided Harper with a forever home met with the dog several times to establish trust and build a bond, a sign to Alaqua that the animal lover was dedicated to Harper’s happiness.

“When Harper’s adopter first met Harper, she immediately fell in love, but had an understanding of what it would take to win Harper over. The adopter’s dedication and patience, combined with a knowledge of quirky dog behavior, were what made us realize that this would be the perfect home for Harper,” Maurer says.

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She hopes that the Australian shepherd’s hard-fought transformation encourages others to give rescue dogs overcoming behavioral challenges the patience and respect they deserve.

“Patience and understanding are necessary even with the most well-rounded dogs, and finding what their specific desires are will help create that bond with their person, or people, so that each dog can have their happily ever after,” she adds. “Many dogs that come through a shelter have been through a lot in their lives, and they just want stability. It takes people understanding this and being patient to grow the strongest bond.”

Read the original article on People