Dog peeps - need some input -

[Spryte]

We adopted an 8 month old Aussie from a rescue.  We had some time with her before bringing her home, but not much.  She was very timid, but has warmed up.  We know very little about her life prior to foster home - her former owner died suddenly, and apparently had many animals.  Foster mom didn't think she'd been in the house much, and didn't have a very good life.  

 

She's been home only a few days, and what I'm seeing is that she's warming up - definitely - to our family, and becoming more comfortable here.  But she's skittish, and easily scared.  Especially of men. Sometimes her body posture is along the lines of tail down, shoulders down, but trying to wag the tail that's almost between her legs.  No snapping.  There was one small growl when a neighbor child ran in and slid over to her on his knees (we've discussed it with him since then, he just didn't know, has never had contact with dogs other than ours, who've all been well socialized - till now).  I can see progress within our family unit and house, clearly.

 

We took her out for a walk today though.  Oh my.  She did okay down our cul de sac, then saw the crowd of kids a few door down playing basketball around the corner.  Kids ran over (again, we talked to them immediately, but she was scared).  The rest of the very short walk she was crouched down and clearly scared.  We went home almost immediately, and once she was back on our cul de sac, she was fine.  

 

So, from here - we're thinking we'll go slowly with very short daily walks (like starting with the yard?), moving to low key outdoor adventures (like the street), and getting to know new people one on one, going slowly.  But is that the right thing to do?

 

Give me any tips?  I know lots of you have experience here!

 

 

[Ann.without.an.e]

very tough

 

Just a crazy idea - do you have a lot of friends and family?  Would they be willing to drop by here and there with some dog treats just to pet the dog and introduce themselves - only one person or family at a time?  I think short walks, slowly increasing to longer will help.  She needs time.  When we got our rescue dog, he was skittish but after a few months he really warmed up and now you would never ever guess he had ever been that way.  I think it was vital that he get comfortable with us first.  He got to the point where his trust was in us and then other situations came natural.

 

Good luck

 

 

We adopted an 8 month old Aussie from a rescue.  We had some time with her before bringing her home, but not much.  She was very timid, but has warmed up.  We know very little about her life prior to foster home - her former owner died suddenly, and apparently had many animals.  Foster mom didn't think she'd been in the house much, and didn't have a very good life.  

 

She's been home only a few days, and what I'm seeing is that she's warming up - definitely - to our family, and becoming more comfortable here.  But she's skittish, and easily scared.  Especially of men. Sometimes her body posture is along the lines of tail down, shoulders down, but trying to wag the tail that's almost between her legs.  No snapping.  There was one small growl when a neighbor child ran in and slid over to her on his knees (we've discussed it with him since then, he just didn't know, has never had contact with dogs other than ours, who've all been well socialized - till now).  I can see progress within our family unit and house, clearly.

 

We took her out for a walk today though.  Oh my.  She did okay down our cul de sac, then saw the crowd of kids a few door down playing basketball around the corner.  Kids ran over (again, we talked to them immediately, but she was scared).  The rest of the very short walk she was crouched down and clearly scared.  We went home almost immediately, and once she was back on our cul de sac, she was fine.  

 

So, from here - we're thinking we'll go slowly with very short daily walks (like starting with the yard?), moving to low key outdoor adventures (like the street), and getting to know new people one on one, going slowly.  But is that the right thing to do?

 

Give me any tips?  I know lots of you have experience here!

 

Edited January 5, 2017 by Attolia

[livetoread]

Poor pup. I'm not a trainer or anything, but here's my thoughts, FWIW.

 

Is she food motivated? I think you are on the right track in taking things slowly, and giving her great treats while she is doing new things can help associate good things with new things. Have new people give her treats. Have kids give her treats. Carry some with you and dole them out generously to her!

 

Make sure if you are reprimanding any kids that come charging over that you stay calm and relaxed. I know I'd get tense if I saw something that might set her off, and dogs can pick up on that. Same with tone, so speaking sharply to the kids might be interpreted as danger for the dog.

[Pawz4me]

I think you're on the right track with your plan. As young as she is and with the progress you've seen already I bet it won't take too long for her to get over a lot of her fear. I'd essentially work on socialization like you'd do if she were a very young puppy--introductions to as many different people and situations as you can, but only under your control and when you can be reasonably sure it will be a positive experience for her.  I'd also start working on teaching her some commands and tricks, keeping the sessions short and always upbeat. The more a dog knows the more confident she generally is. So teaching a simple sit, down or shake can help a fearful dog become more confident. Also, you might think about getting On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming SIgnals. It's a short book but full of fabulous information about what a dog saying with its body language and how you can use your body to help calm the dog.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Pawz4me

[ktgrok]

Also, if she's too stressed to take treats from a stranger (sounds like that is very likely) than YOU give her treats when she first sees people. With counter conditioning you need to be far enough away that she is calm enough to take the treats. That may mean quite far away at first. Then you can gradually let people come closer and have them toss treats to her. 

 

do NOT NOT NOT force her to let people pet her. It would be the same as forcing a spider phobic person to have a spider put on them. Will NOT help. 

 

I'd get a copy of this book (amazon probably has it too) and read it, probably twice. http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/store/The-Cautious-Canine.html

[Spryte]

Thanks! Knew you'd have ideas!

 

I will check out both books mentioned. I'm keeping treats handy at all times, pretty sure she sees me and thinks, "Meatball Lady" as I'm constantly giving her bits of dog meatballs.

 

We have many willing friends who can drop by to do treats. I'll invite them but stagger the visits. She hides in our breakfast nook, but one of the girls who was here over the weekend would just sit near her quietly till she'd inch out. That was good.

 

With just us, now, she is actually acting fairly normal, but that walk today made me nervous about how to help her. I was feeling we'd made a lot of progress until we tried to leave the house.

 

I'll try some training, too.

 

If anything else comes to mind, please share. She's a sweet girl, and I want to see her more comfortable.

 

ETA: both books are on the kindle, now off to read. :)

Edited January 5, 2017 by Spryte

[ktgrok]

Oh, and stress hormones take hours to days to die down in the body. (think how you can be upset by something in the morning and still be out of sorts that evening). So give her down time in between sessions to let things equalize. It's easy to get over eager and bombard her with stuff, and end up sensitizing her rather than desensitizing. 

[BrookValley.]

What Pawz said. Also, watch out for a lot of coddling/attention/treats when she's acting nervous and scared. Don't unintentionally reward the behavior, even though it's so hard not to cuddle and reassure them--you don't want to tell her that acting fearfully is the correct behavior. I've had most success staying positive and ignoring fearful behavior while building confidence slowly and steadily (setting them up for success by socializing slowly and in controlled situations, working on lots of basic commands as well as other fun stuff to build confidence like Pawz described, etc.).

 

Good luck. I've got a super-sissy pit bull rescue right now that just goes to mush in an instant. She thrives on work, and so having a job and learning new stuff is what has made a big difference for her confidence. You'll figure out what your new girl needs. :)

[ktgrok]

You could also try a pheromone collar...they mimic the scent of a nursing mother dog. 

[speedmom4]

Our rescue pup is 6 years old and we just celebrated our one year anniversary with him. I've only had dogs from puppy age so this has been a new experience. The dog we brought home a year ago is a different dog than he is now and all for the better. It took him a good six months to finally warm up completely to us. He is finally getting better around strangers particularly men. We have been consistent with him and praised him immediately when he does things we want him to do. We always give visitors treats to give him and gush and gush.

 

I would bet that a year from now a lot of those issues will be gone if you're consistent and predictable.

 

Good luck!!

[J-rap]

Poor thing!  In my experience, Aussies are interesting because they react instinctively and very quickly.  It sounds like you have a good plan though.  I'd definitely have a priority be teaching her simple commands such as sit and down.  It will give the dog confidence, and also help you (and her) have control over her quick instincts (in case she ever thinks about acting on her fear).  And they seem to pick up on the what the general vibe is quite well, so be upbeat!  I love Aussies.  :)

 

 

[shanvan]

I would develop a plan for training. Maybe first a goal of learning to walk out of your neighborhood without showing fear (but without a lot of forced or direct interaction with people). I would not engage with people at all at first. Just tell them your dog is in training and cannot be interrupted at the moment.  At the same time I'd be working at home on some basic obedience and maybe a very simple trick or two, using the clicker to train, so that your dog will begin to connect that behavior with a reward.  When she is doing well with this I would start asking for the tricks and obedience commands on your walks in your neighborhood, then move on to out of your neighborhood.  Get her to perform the tricks (while still using the clicker and treats) around people. Gradually work up to having her take treats from people outside the family who she is somewhat familiar with.  Don't move on to friendly strangers until she is much more comfortable in public. Performing her tricks and obedience will give her something to think about and do instead of indulging in her fears.

 

I would also make a schedule of times you can do walks and practice training the commands and tricks. Very short training sessions but often throughout the day.  

 

A good obedience or agility class and some agility training would be a good idea.  We have a rescued cocker spaniel (my avatar) who was very timid.  Agility training and competing with my son have worked wonders. He is so much more confident as a result.  My Ds learned a ton from training this dog. Number one was perseverance.  He was not a dog who was going to succeed in competition right away. A lot of money had to be spent and a lot of failures had to be faced.  Eventually we all learned that the money, the failures were necessary b/c they taught us what needed to be addressed.  Without standing there while his dog took off--running away form the equipment and the ring, I am not sure Ds would have realized the need to work more with his dog and I am not sure he would have felt motivated. You don't have to compete, but we have found that classes helped us with motivation, and they gave us a support system of other dog owners who were also working on training.  

 

There is a book called Click to Calm that goes into greater detail about using clicker training to calm a dog's anxiety. How much all of this is necessary will depend on how your dog continues to respond as she becomes more acclimated to your life.

 

Timid dogs can improve, but often they do have their limits. Our cocker is just never going to be that dog who runs up to strangers and asks to be petted.  He is a real ham with people he knows! He will now tolerate petting (and sometimes will enjoy it) from friendly strangers who are hanging around with people he knows.  Fortunately he has always been food motivated so he could be taught to take treats from strangers.

[Laura Corin]

Our dog came to us when she was two.  It took her six months before she wagged her tail and she was terrified of everything.  We took things very slowly, even family contact and she came out of it really well.

[Guest]

Ours has always been that way and we have no idea why. Most people listen to me when I tell them to act like she isn't there. When they continue to talk to me and let her slowly check them out, she's fine. Try to get in her space to soon and she gets scared.