Fearful Dog
I am a recent owner of an OES Rescue Dog, she is between 2 1/2 -3 years old. I have limited information about her first few years of life however I do know she was rescued from a puppymill. One of her primary issues is that she is very nervous of almost everything. I employed the use of a dog behaviourist with limited success. Part of the problem is that my little sweetie does not respond to food treats as a motivator and also does not play with toys to assist with positive reinforcement. Ultimately, the behavourist in consultation with my vet suggested an anti-anxiety medication, Colicalm. I am interested in hearing from any of the members if they have had a similar issue with their dog and how they managed this type of anxiety behaviour. Thanks we are looking forward to hearing from you. |
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| I have had 2 sheepies that were rescues that were very nervous and/or timid. Since I knew a little of both of their backgrounds - neither had toys to play with - didn't know how to play and didn't realize what a food treat was. With Sam who was 3 when we got him, it took a couple of months with the treats for him to catch onto what treats were. We got him I believe in March or April this year and he is just now learning how to play with other dogs. It has taken that long just loving him and giving him lots of time to get to know us, our house, and his surroundings. He still gets nervous when he hears a strange sound or we go somewhere he is not familiar with. It took us almost a year with Lucky just for him to regain his trust in humans and to realize we were not going to hurt him.
Unless your dog is totally out of control with the nerves, in my opinion, I would not give her any medication for anxiety. Sounds like she needs: Time - to allow her to become familiar with your house and you and her surroundings, affection/love - to allow her to build up a trust in a human being, and training - to allow her to know the rules. Chances are she has never had anyone or toys to play with, never had food treats - so doesn't know what they are, and has never had love/affection. It is going to take time. With all of these you will have a dog that will become your most loyal and loving friend you could ever want. Good luck with her. It would be great if you would join the forum - all of us have sheepies (a lot of us have rescued sheepies) and have been through what you are going through now and will go through in the future. Thank you so much for taking on a rescue sheepie and giving her such a loving home. |
| Puppy-mill dogs are dogs that have spent their entire lives in cages,with little contact with humans or the outside world. They are extemely hard to re-habilitate...some of them never become normal. There are kept by the 100's, in barns or outside in the eliments, and have behavioral problems that are very diffucult to overcome. The rescue organisation that you got her from would probably be the best resourse to assist you with your own expectations into her development.
A "kennel" dog, on the other hand, is a term for a dog that has spent much of his/her time in a kennel, and may have had more interatcion with humans, but has not lived in a house as part of a family. A dog with this background is slightly easier to rehabilitate, but still, may never become like a normal, family pet. I would suggest you establish what your goals are, and then set up some small successes to work towards. I have had great success in motivating a kennel dog, who was terrified of toys and squeakies. I used a clicker, and set her up for success. I did work for months with another, who years later, in her new family, still does not play with toys or hardly wag her tail. However, she is accepted for what she is, and loved all the same. If your sheepie is nervous and frightened, then you are doing what you can do...by working with a behaviorist and a vet. They are your best resources with her... Bless you for taking her on, and hopefully she will make you happy they way she is. One thing about mill and kennel dogs is that each step is such a HUGE breakthrough. Take things very slow, and easy, and go at her pace. Sometimes it may seem like you are taking 1 step forward and 2 steps backwards, but only time will tell how far you can take her. There are yahoo groups you can join to share stories, successes, and heartbreak. There is also a little , inexpensive booklet by Patricia McConnell called "The Cautious Canine" that may also be of some help. Good luck and please keep us up to date with her progress. |
| Greetings:
Thank you both for your responses it gives me hope. Gracie I believe is a kennel dog which I have rescued from Texas. She has never had toys and very little social interaction as well I think she has suffered some abuse as she cowers and shakes. She is untrusting of men, timid with women/children a beautiful baby with the saddest of eyes. I was a little skeptical of giving her drugs to assist in partnership with her counter conditioning as reward treats don't override her fear. I have joined the OES Forum and I will journal the small successes and just give her an abudance of love. Thank you again for your help. Kindest regards, L.Herridge |
| Hi Shygirl -
I had a bit of experience with that med. It was tried with a basset in our basset rescue group. It did not work at all. In fact it made his behavior worse. We feel he didn't like the drugged feeling and was fighting it. He is going through a special training class with his foster mom and things are going better. It will be a long, slow road, but he is improving. Good luck with your girl. |
Just want to say best wishes with your rescue and I hope all works out alright, nicole has said some wonderful advice there and recommended a wonderful book to help. Be patient as you do have issues from the past to work through, one step forward and two steps back. 
Thankyou for taking on a special furbaby and I wish you all things good with the new addition to your family. There is plenty of people on this forum to help you work through this time of adjustment, many that have dealt with rescues that can help you through the advances and backward steps of your babies progress. So keep posting on her progress and hopefully peoples experience in rescue, re-housing & behavioral issues can help see you through this transitional period.. Bless you for giving this baby a 2nd chance at life.  |
| Good luck - lots of love to your girl! |
| I too had a shy, fearful dog. I got her at 5 months. She was afraid of everything. I immediately put her into a puppy class and worked with her daily. I even dropped out of two classes when I didn't see results. I kept working with her, bought many books and constantly asked people who they recommended for dog training.
I found an individual that trains dogs and comes highly recommended by my vet. He kept my dog for about 2 weeks and then I would take her out to him weekly and work in a group. It was like magic. Everything started to fall into place. It seemed llike it was about at the 2 year old mark when life became easier in our house. This OES is by far the BEST dog I've ever had. She aims to please and I still work with her. I'm always in a class of some type. She is my baby. Don't give up. They do come around. I have always had dogs and have been a firm believer in training them. This was my first fear dog. |
| Welcome to the forum eddiemattie, what an inspiring story, would love to see pictures of your precious sheepie.
Great happy ending. |
| Hi,
Thank you for taking on this beautiful girl! Panda has now been in my life for 2 1/2 years and each day is another success. Just remember for every step forward sometimes it's two steps backwards..don't get discouraged but know by being loving towards her - you are making a difference. I too am not an avocate of meds as it just seems to put them in a stupor and not learn to deal with things. Desensitizing to their worst fears is what worked for me. Sitting quietly with Panda at my side , speaking softly, reassuring him while viewing an object of his fear , for only a min the first time...increasing it by a mere min the second. Lots of work but the end result is you have a dog that can overcome fears. That's Panda's story..a long read if you ever have lots of time to waste.  But after 2 1/2 years this dog has overcome many of his fears. Plays with toys, chases after water from hoses, has no fear of men, nor those holding stick ball throwing thingies, greets everyone with kisses and finally learned to play with other dogs. The first year was tough but with love and patience as it's obvious you do with your girl...it can happen! Panda ended up placing fourth in Canadian Pet Idol this summer and caught the eye of the judges for his "calm nature depsite all the other animals and noises around him". He still has some issues and triggers but each day, each week, each month is so much better. Hang in there and never give up!
http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=764 Robins name was changed to Panda after he arrived at my home. I wish you all the best and please feel free to contact me anytime to bounce suggestion off and I'll try my best to help you come to a solution. Marianne and the boys |
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