Afraid of everyone and everything
I walk her with one of those leashes than doesnt allow her to pull, which has helped a lot. Anyway, suggestions, thoughts. Ive almost thought about giving her to my older son who has the newfie becasue its really difficult for me. I had a standard poodle for 15 yrs who was a delight and guess never expeted to have such difficulties. Shes sweet, doesnt bite, (a big chewer, so I have to crate her when I leave the house) I thnk she chews becasue shes so nervous. Shes not aggressive, just so afraid. Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks |
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| Have you spoken to your breeder about this? Perhaps she can give you some tips on what to do to help your girl adjust better. |
| How old is your dog? Have you tried Desensitze training? http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8050 You can also do this with noise and objects. |
| I can't really help other than to say Clancy was this way. Did not like humans at all, shook and trembled whenever we came near or if she experienced anything new. A sister in law stopped by with her mini dauschund and suddenly Clancy began to play. Ah Ha we though, she needs a tutor......so we got Crumpet. I can still see them bouncing through the tall clover playing hide and seek. Crumpet was fearless and her steadfastness brought Clancy around. In the end Clancy became an extremely loving dog who lived to chase the UPS truck down the fence line. (Clancy was an Irish Wolfhound) Of course her life span was short.......true to that breed. I was sorry it took almost 2 years for her to come around, but for 5 she was one great dog. I'm not sure she would have been great in social situations, but around home, she was first at the gate to greet us, first to welcome strangers...once they got inside the house. Thunderstorms.......well, she was a woosie. Please don't give up on your dog. Accept her, be patient and loving but don't expect immediate return of affection. Took Clancy 2 years and another dog for a tutor. If you don't think can deal with this do ask your son if he will take her. She may need to live with another dog. |
| Both my dogs got extremely anxious at the dog park and in fact, visitng there made thigns worse. We no longer attend. Not sure how old your dog is but there are "fear"periods...eight weeks, three/four months...not sure the rest bue mine got super afraid of everything, despite thir socilazition, even after two years old...As I said, no more dog parks for us. Just mde things worse... You know, like humans, our dogs do not have to like all dogs or get along with all dogs...Dog parks are not for everyone... |
| Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I have another dog, hes a maltipoo, little and full of personality. The two are fine indoors, however my OES sort of is a bit aggressive with him at the dog park. She will go after the maltipoo rather than chase withth e other dogs. They get along otherwise. My OES is fine at the dog park with other dogs, she not afraid of dogs, just people, especially kids. I havent spoken to the breeder, because for one thing I dont have her number and secondly I bought her off of puppyfind (know this wasnt the best option but I bought both my maltipoo and newfie and had such good luck) I think the breeder knew she shoudnt have breed because what I read this timidness is probably due to the breeding (genetic) and wont grow out of this behavior. Right now shes sleeping next to my feet. At night I let her on my bed if she wants, along with the maltipoo. Most of the time shes happy on the floor next to my bed and my mlatiopoo under my bed. I crate her during the day or when I leave the house, otherwise at night I close my bedroom door and allow her out of the crate. I've trained her to sit, leave it, come so shes capable and willing to train. Outside shes to distracted because shes to worried. Even when shes out to do her business she cant stay in one postion, shes too busy looking around, just in case. When we walk the trails at the park she doesnt like certain parts, such as she knows where the paths open up and we might run into people. She'll start to panic before even though there wont be anyone when we reach the open area. Shes inticipating. When we're walking and she hears someone behind us, she'll keep turning around worried. Like I've siad we walk the park at least 5-6 days a wk since shes 16 wks and still panics. |
| Where did you get her? (state only) She sounds remarkably like my rescue dog who was surrendered at 10 mos old. She's almost four and has come a long way. Does she like treats? If so, make/buy some of her absolute favorites, something she doesn't necessarily get all the time and start soliciting the help of friends and family, the more dog savvy the better. You start out by having them ignore her - they absolutely do not speak to her or look at her, but they could be talking to you and casually tossing treats at her at a comfortable distance (comfortable meaning she is not so scared she won't come in and grab the treats of the ground and eat them). You'll do this till she shows signs that she's becoming more comfortable around them. Very gradually she'll start moving closer and eventually she'll start coming and taking treats from people. You're creating a positive association: people mean good things happen (food!) Over time you'll expand the number of people so she's constantly meeting new people and getting fed (small treats! or your next post will be: my oes is 20 lbs overweight, what do I do? ) Start with the type of people who are the least scary to her. If she's better around grown women than men, you start with women and work your way up. With new people you may need to take a few step backs and be happy if they just throw the treat to her. You just keep expanding her horizons till she has such a track record of new people being nice to her and being the bearer of good tidings (cookies) that she starts looking at new people in a totally different light. To do this successfully you'll need dog savvy people in the beginning because even regular dog lovers get stupid and despite your best instructions feel compelled to pet her and talk to her too soon. Let her set the pace and read her body language. She'll tell you if it's working. She does sound extremely anxious/fearful and you are most likely correct that it is genetic, and as such she will probably always be who she is but you can successfully change how she behaves around other people. It's one of my favorite problems to have, in a sense (it's in her favor that she clearly has good bite inhibition) because it's one I know I can conquer, even though it admittedly does take time and effort. My rescue dog is rapidly becoming as annoying as my other dogs in the overfriendly department.  Caveat: I would wait a long, long time and have a dog who really LOVES new people by now before I would solicit any involvement with younger children. It's hard to explain to them what you need them to do, or depend on them to remember. You don't want any unpredictabilty around a dog like this - one of the reasons some dogs are afraid of children is their lack of predictability - if you can help it and children are also more vulnerable to even minor bites. Any dog who feels threatened could potentially bite. You don't want to put her or any kids in jeopardy. The other thing that has helped my rescue dog is giving her an actual "job" (we do agility) It builds confidence. It doesn't have to be agility - just teaching tricks around the house can go a long way. Clicker training is especially good for this. or just verbally mark (for instance say "yes!) and quick feed her a small tasty treat when she does something right. And set her up so she can be right a lot. I think it works to build confidence because they quickly learn they can finally control something in their environment (you  ) "If I do THIS, she'll give me THAT. How cool is that?"  Anxious dogs are constantly vigilant because they don't trust themselves to be able to deal with situation X. You teach her she can handle it and you can change her world. Good luck! Kristine |
| Penny came from W VA. I dont have a lot of people over to my condo unless its family visiting, they ignore her until Penny decides shes ready. She usually hides under the dining room table. Also shes ok with my grandson who is almost 1.5 yrs old. Penny has never shown any sign of aggression. I dont think she'd ever bit anyone, even a child. Shes not threatened just a willie nillie. I give her all different treats just so that is new to her so she excited to get something new and different. I'll try to bring some treats with me in hopes I can get someone to help to see how she reacts. |
Kristine (Mad Dog -  I giggle every time I write that) has experience and some great suggestions. How old is your dog?I don't have experience with this level of anxiety, but Oscar sounds like Penny, just with a higher threshold. Oscar's issues stem from movement of any kind, whether it's a small animal, large animal, grass blowing in the wind, or a car. He just wants to chase it. Oscar is extremely food motivated, so we used positive reinforcement (adding something pleasurable when he is behaving appropriately) to modify his urge to chase. When we go on a walk, I fill my left pocket (heel position) with nummy treats. When I see him start to focus on something inappropriate, I give him a command, and reach in my pocket for a treat. He then begins to focus on me, rather than the object of his desire, and is rewarded over and over, until he loses interest in the car, squirrel, tree. Now Oscar starts to anticipate the treat. When he sees a car, he goes up on the grass and sits, waiting for his goodies. Have you done much obedience work with Penny? That can help with her overall confidence level. It also gives you a way to redirect her anxiety into something positive that can be rewarded. I also echo the idea of giving her a "job". A few folks on this forum put a backpack on their pups when they go for walks. It serves two purposes. One, the dog is more focused on this extra weight, and less focused on external cues. Two, there have been studies that gently keeping pressure on the body of an animal can decrease anxiety and increase calmness. The backpack can mimic this gentle, consistent pressure. You might want to avoid the dog park for a bit, and see if that helps. For some dogs, this type of stimulation just increases their anxiety instead of working off excess energy. For Oscar, I substituted positive reinforcement training for the dog park, and gave him a mental and physical workout. I think it's great that folks that come into your house respect Penny's nervousness and let her come to them, rather than increasing her anxiety by forcing a confrontation. You might want to give those folks a treat to give Penny, when she finally approaches them, but have them keep the "greeting" very low key. No high pitched talk. No aggressive petting. Just calm and matter-of-fact. They might be doing this already, which is great. Hope some of this is helpful. Laurie and Oscar |
| I really appreciate everyone's input. I havent gone into the dog since last Sat instead just walking the trails. I never thought of her being more anxious because of the dog park, rather thought it might tire her out more so that when we go walk the trails/paths she tired a bit, less anxious and pulling. You would think that after walking the same paths 5 days a week she'd feel more at ease than anticipating when the paths open up or worried who might be behind us. Penny turned a yr Aug 4th. |
| http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8050 I read this and going to try, at the county park across from the dog park (other side of the pond where dogs can swim) there are a few benches. I'll try sitting there with her. Its back from the walking paths where she can sit and watch. |
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