Very scared, timid dog......

janmaree

I have a new pen friend who is trying to deal with another dog after losing her beloved elderly pet and she's having problems dealing with her new charge. I don't know what breed he is, if any, but she describes him as being extremely nervous, he runs and hides if anyone comes to the door or visits and she can't make any progress with calming and reassuring him. I think he's a rescue dog and as she loves animals and had her previous pet for 12 years, she's not a novice. She's had a rough couple of years in other ways and really wants to make friends with this fellow and build a loving relationship. I don't really know what else to suggest to her other than maybe he would settle better if he had a companion? I hope nobody minds me asking but I really want to be able to offer her some good suggestions and moral support. Does anyone have experience of this type of problem, she has him for some months now and I know she's really trying hard but it's upsetting not making any inroads with him. Would a carefully selected second dog, maybe a female, help at all? Has anyone been down this road before, did it come right in the end, any other ideas I could offer her?

Many thanks to you all, all suggestions will be welcome.

irish_goat

Gf got a cavalier from the rescue center with similar problems. She had been abused as a pup and was scared of anyone strange (especially men). It's taken a good while and the poor thing is still, initially, very wary of complete strangers but is a lot better than she used to be.

Few things the gf did was; she had me give the dog her dinner anytime I was over and also did the same if her parents were home so that taught the dog that other people can be nice. She also rang the doorbell whenever she came home so that the dog began to realise that the doorbell noise didn't automatically mean a stranger was there (aka, a threat). It took months though until the poor thing was willing to trust anyone outside of the immediate family.

If a second dog is an option it could work as well. She now has an older springer spaniel and it is very laid back and extremely friendly so whenever it approaches strangers the cavalier seems to cop on that the stranger means no harm and usually means you get a pet and a scratch.

Whispered

A solid routine will help the dog settle in. How is the dog with just the new owner?

If it were me I suggest not allowing anybody approach or interact with the dog unless the dog initiates it (dropping treats from a distance is ok but don't have guests try to lure the dog to them).

I'd look at crate training and teaching the dog that when he is scared he can go to his crate and be totally ignored. For the first while I think my boys thought themselves invisible in their crates . It allows the dog observe and learn without feeling caught up in things.

Main thing though is to take everything at the dogs pace.

maggiepip

I have a rescue collie who was a complete nervous wreck when we adopted her. You couldnt even slightly raise your voice, make any sudden movements, go to pet her or she would run away terrified. In fact we spent the first six months trying to walk quietly without moving suddenly to help her.The first thing I would advise is to rule out any medical issues with a very good vet. It turned out our collie was experiencing back pain which was making her nervousness worse. From then on, as whispered says the most important thing is to take everything at the dogs pace and give a safe place to go like a crate (with the door left open), or in our case we made an area behind the bed and behind the couch for our dog to go to when she was feeling overwhelmed. We used the pheromone plug in diffusers and I often played the relaxation music for dogs during the day. Never ever force a nervous dog to do anything and lots of gentle positive attitudes are a must.

In our case because we already had 2 stable, confident well socialized dogs, it definitely made things a lot easier as she learnt a lot from watching them, and made friends with them very quickly. I think a second dog would definitely help but the dog would need to be a well socialized confident dog. Our collie these days only appears nervous when initially meeting new people, and with loud noises, the rest of the time shes full of life, has confidence and is a very happy girl. So you can get there!

janmaree

Thanks so much guys, I copy/pasted your posts into an email to her so that i couldn't mess up your good advice! "Oriental" whispers and all that. I hope that was alright with you all.

Thanks again, J.