Dixie and kids
We had my cousin over last night with his 5 year old boy. That was an entirely different issue, as I imagine living on the farm where she came from, with 60 other dogs, she has not seen kids at all. This little boy is very quiet and gentle, and spent the visit building stuff with lego. Dixie would not go near him. She hid under the desk the whole time he was in the room. If he left she would come out and shyly visit, but when he would come back into view she was gone. I called her to me, and gave him a treat to tempt her with and she was having none of it. She sniffed the treat and then ran away. The poor thing did look pertrified of the boy. This is something that may stay with her for the rest of her life, but we have something else that she needs to learn about, in the world that a dog lives in. I don't expect her to want to play with kids, or even have to let them touch her, but it would be good for her if she could at least not be afraid of them. It was very sad to watch. |
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Aw...hopefully she will get a little more outgoing as time goes on. Your nephew must be so foreign to her being at her own eye level. I envision it would be something similar to one of us coming in contact with an alien  (if there are some out there). I am happy to hear that Dixie wasn't aggressive towards him. |
Awww I hope your cousin wasn't too sad that Dixie wouldn't come to him. At that age he might take it personally. 
Heck, at MY age I'd take it personally! I agree with Stacy, with time, maybe... we can hope. |
| Dixie may come around in time. Is there any chance that she could be exposed to more children. Perhaps to some a little more outgoing. Usually dogs will be curious enough to explore if they are ignored. Anyway Good luck with her. Bless her little heart. |
Yes Jess  Dixie has suffered a lot longer but my Border Collie-mix was real shy for years... she was our Humane Society pup... the last of the litter there at about 4 months old. She wouldn't let new people approach her or pet her... she'd retreat and was very head-shy. We told people to just ignore her even if she came up to them to sniff... we told them not to pet her. If we really wanted her to warm up fast, we would give them a tennis ball to throw (she's a tennis ball nut).
Funny thing is, once we got a larger pack and a few of the sheepies were let out to greet company, she decided SHE too wanted to join in. She's now 8. Hugs to your sheepie-girl. It takes a lot of time and you're doing a great thing helping her adjust to this strange new life. |
| The vet who taught a class I attended remarked that dogs don't really understand the children and adults are the same animal. Children move differently and smell differently than adults.
That said, I agree with Jaclin. I would have your nephew play quietly as usual and let Dixie get up the nerve to approach. Then, without making eye contact or speaking to her, I would have him slide a really fine treat far to the side of his body. I know this sounds goofy, but I made friends with my incredibly high-strung rescue sheltie using this method. She was terrified of her own shadow when I adopted her. I would sit on the floor, turn my head to the left and slide cheese cubes to the right. It took a little time, but five years later she is a devoted pet and a playmate for my two OES. Sharon |
| That poor little thing I hope she can get over it, do you live in an area with lots of children? |
| Awww poor Dixie! I hope you can help her work through it. Glad she wasn't fear aggressive. Poor sweetie. Best wishes and keep us posted. |
| That sounds really sad. She's lucky to be in such an understanding home. |
| Dixie shows no fear agression at all, so far, of food-bowl or toy guarding tendencies. She is still a very easy-going, gentle pooch. . But we have not had her in a situation that she would feel threatened enough to have to defend herself. Any dog will bite if they feel thretned enoughg. Right now when we are out and she gets scared she runs to hide behind us, so at least we have that. It looks obvious that she knows we will protect her from any harm.
My little nephew did feel bad about Dixie running from him, and telling a 5 year old how to do something...well....they do not always follow instructions to the "T". Even when I told him not to look at her, and to ignore her, he was still watching her and tried to pat her when she came to sniff the treat. It is asking a lot of a small child to go against normal reaction, especially when they do not have a dog. I don't think a lot of exposure would be good for her at this point. Some one sugested taking her to a playground at a school. I hardly think so. That would be so encredibly overwelming, she would not be able to absorb any of it, and would probably be scarred for life by the screaming and running kids. I think we will hope that we meet kids at the dog park, where she is free and can approach on her own. Elissa? Anyway you can get you and Hayley up here a few times next month? A qeiet baby in a stroller might help, and we know that Hayley loves kisses, right? Just don't move the stroller or Dixie would bolt 
Anyway, one thing at a time for this girl to overcome. Right now we are thrilled that she tosses rubber toys around and pushes a ball around to chase like a cat. And she will do some attempts at playing fetch 
This is a far cry from her running from the squeaky toys and rolling balls that she did not have a clue about, and scared her. Baby steps will get her through things. |
| Maybe Blue and Dixie can trade off some guest issues. He's the exact opposite. He gets too excited when new people come to visit. He just goes insane: wiggling so hard he can't even stand up, jumping on the guests, running in little circles. He just gets frantic. He's almost knocked my 70-year-old mother down several times, and would have if i hadn't been there supporting her. He does eventually calm down. It used to take about a half hour to an hour before he'd start to calm. Now it's usually about 10-15 minutes depending on how worked up he gets. I know it must be stressful seeing Dixie so scared, but all I could think as I was reading it was, "Dear God, I wish Blue acted like that!" A nice happy medium would be nice for both of us!
Good luck with Dixie. Josh |
| Hi Nicole-
Would parking the car where a few people/kids will walk by and just calmly sitting with Dixie in the car to observe them help her? Or is the car a stress factor too? 
You could maybe try a smaller grocery store parking lot to start. If she hasn't seen kids before it might give her a chance to watch but not feel threatened or be fearful of someone approaching trying to pet her. Treats for good behavior while watching kids/people move about. If you find it's too close you can park farther away... then gradually move closer over a period of weeks. Just an idea... I agree completely... don't force her to do anything she isn't ready for and start slow. And don't inadvertently reward the fearful behavior by coddling. (I don't need to say that since I see in you're profile that you're trainer!  ) |
| Our Clancy was afriad of everything and would hide constantly. She was never socialized as she was raised in a puppy mill. We got Crumpet sheepdog who wiggled her way into Clancy's heart and gradually Clancy became a wonderful, loving and curious wolfhound. Never would she approach a stranger though unless they were first sitting.........except for the driver of the big brown truck. Oh how she loved the UPS driver. |
| Hi Nicole,
She will come around.. it will just take time. When we brought Murphy home, he was afraid of EVERYTHING.. doorbell, garbage cans, recycle bins, cars, phone ringing, TV, radio, any of these things would make him wet his pants. My stepson Tanner was 5 when Murphy came to live with us, Tanner come every second weekend and one night a week. At first, Murphy was like Dixie, under the kitchen table constantly when Tanner was there for his weekends. Tanner is a very animal orientated child and like your nephew didn't understand why Murphy was afraid of him. Murphy was never agressive with Tanner, but was very shy and wary of him. After a year of having Murphy, Tanner came to live with us full-time. Murphy slowly warmed up to Tanner and today Murphy will sleep down in Tanners room, lay on Tanner when he is watching TV and when we are out for walks.. he is constantly by Tanner's side.. gosh help anyone if they come near his boy!!! Before you know it, Dixie will be a little social butterfly, and you will wish for the days when she was shy. I am so happy that she has found a wonderful home with you and your family. Some of them weren't so lucky. Brenda |
| Brenda,
Seeing as Dixie and Murphy came from the same place they may very well be related. She is also very skittish and runs from strange sounds, but yesterday she was actually sniffing the TV , and it is a 58 inch big screen that was very loud. I had tears in my eyes as I watched her do it so bravely, all by herself. Yesterday friends dropped by with a 4 year old and a 2 year old child. Dixie sniffed them through the baby-gate, and when one reached out for her Dixie backed off and barked at her. ...but then came back to sniff and almost took a treat. It was behind a gate, so I assume she felt protected somewhat. We will go very slow and careful in this area, because anything frightening to her around young children could have her relate them to being scary in the future. 6girls, Dixie LOVES going for car rides, so maybe we will take her in town when we have to just run in for something. She could just sit in the van and watch people etc. That is a good idea. SheepieBoss, how old was Clancy when you got her? |
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