Ok so help, advice, and positive stories of fearful dogs who got better are greatly appreciated!!! Week 2 with Truck has been good and bad. First off, HE IS SOOOOOOOOO FEARFUL!! He is still very timid and anxious.
Issue 1: Fear of cars. If anybody can help me fix this, or relate stories of their dogs that improved that'd be great. Truck is terrified of cars, to the point where if I open my door and he is off leash he will run away and not come when I call him. He did this the other day and it took me going back into the house to get him back (he is afraid of being left alone so if I ignore him and leave he will come to me). After this happened I leashed him up and had him get in and out of the car a few times and just sit in the car and get praised. I take for granted Franklin will jump right into the car and forget how Truck acts so have to make an effort to remember to leash Truck up if I am heading to the car
Issue 2: Separation anxiety. Truck has terrible separation anxiety. I have tried leaving him home alone out of his crate for short periods of time and once it went well and then another time he peed in the house and tore up a bunch of stuff. This is a BIG issue for me because I got Truck partially as a companion for Franklin when I am gone. If I can't let him out of the crate, then he certainly isn't going to be a good companion! Ideas on how to fix separation anxiety? I give him treats and goodies every time I leave so leaving is a positive thing, and he will FINALLY go in his crate willingly without running away like he used to.
Issue 3: Potty training. This is somewhat related to the separation anxiety I think, but ideas on potty training an adult dog? I always let the dogs out a lot when I am home so have had no problems with Truck going in the house,except at my parent's house where he both pooped and peed inside. Here he has peed twice when left home. One time I was gone for several hours and he broke out of his crate and peed, and then the other day he also peed when I was only gone for a short period of time. Both dogs have access to outside with a dog door 24/7 and Truck goes in and out the dog door. How do I teach him not to go potty inside? I've never caught him in the act so I don't know how to fix this.
Issue 4: Fear. His fear is a big issue which causes a lot of these other issues. I literally can't raise my voice or deepen the pitch of my voice without him freaking out. If I try to call him and he isn't listening and then use a deeper voice he will scitter around me and not let me catch him. If I ever had an issue like this with another dog, when I call him in a happy voice with lots of praise this fixes the issue but Truck will just shut down when he is in this mode and I can't get him to come without basically just leaving him and continuing to walk. He is generally EXCELLENT off leash otherwise though. This is a problem in the house as well, he is just so scared. If Franklin starts playing a tad rougher then he will shut down and quit playing, Franklin has actually started getting annoyed with him and has now basically quit playing with him. Truck also cowers when I try to pet him and is just overall super fearful, ideas to help him gain confidence and help with this fear and anxiety?
On a positive note, when Franklin had his tooth extraction I took Truck to the pet store because it would be much easier to work with him one on one. He was great in the store and a guy with a corgi came over and Truck was very nice and friendly with the corgi. He also greeted and allowed 2 strangers to pet him which was great too.
Sorry no new pictures! The weather has been awful.
Comment
Melissa, I thought you might find this helpful. It's a series of posts I made when we got Maddie. It took a long time for us to see her true personality. You will notice at the end of the thread that it was Week 7 before she finally started playing with Jack and sparkling a little. Maddie is a very joyful dog, but also a soft dog. She spends a good deal of time worrying that perhaps she might have offended someone. The flip side is she gets positively thrilled by anything that might be going on and will chase frisbees or swim til she drops. As an update on the playing, she and Jack don't play as often as I hoped, but they do play. They will go weeks without playing, then they will play every day for awhile, then one day one of them will yip really loudly because someone got too rough and they won't play again for awhile. However they do seem to enjoy each other's company, and it works out well that Maddie is submissive because Jack can be over-the-top bossy at times, especially about his toys.
Here's the thread:
http://www.mycorgi.com/forum/topics/introducing-an-adult-part-2?id=...
I think Sam is the voice of experience here, having fostered so many dogs.
I wanted to add that I find it very sad that Truck is not used to the most basic of regular interactions. When we got Maddie, who is also a retired show dog, it was clear that she was used to a more structured inside routine than we have and she will stay in a crate for ages if she needs to. BUT, she was clearly used to sleeping on a couch, being loose in the house alone, going on car trips, playing with tennis balls, etc. She knew that food was in the fridge and when the microwave dinged it meant something was done cooking. She knew that dishes in the dishwasher might have something worth licking on them. She LOVED to swim. I guess I just want to balance yours and Sam's experience by saying that at least some show homes give their dogs relatively normal lives. Now, Maddie was one of 9 dogs and obviously not all had full-time run of the house; that would be chaos. I believe though that all the dogs were rotated daily between house, yard, and crate and they were walked, three at a time, on a regular basis.
Good luck with Truck! Maddie was a bit fearful when we got her too, and she is NOT a fearful dog. She was just in a bit of shock from the huge upheaval in her life. Some of this will probably resolve or at least reduce on its own once Truck settles.
Hi Melissa,
Congrats on making week 2, it will get better, Truck is still getting to know you and Franklin, he will loosen up and adapt to your schedule by 1.5 months, be patient.
Issue 1: I can imagine being quite frustrating, the key is making it a positive experience for Truck, so you'll need to invest in a lot of high caliber treats, on the other hand, not jumping into any car is also a good thing, especially stranger's car, my dogs love cars so much that any car door open will result in them in it, it can be quite embarrassing.
Issue 2 & 3 : You really cannot leave Truck alone, it's too fast, too soon. Considering his life was previously in crates, you'll need to retrain him just like a puppy, there's really nothing to it, slowly increase the area. I've fostered an ex-show dog before, it's really hard when all their life was spent between transport, it took him about 1.5 months to learn to be a pet and enjoy life at a regular home. There's no short cut to this, teach Truck like you taught Franklin. Tether Truck to your waist when you're at home, teach him to watch your moves and adjust himself accordingly, don't let him roam free at home, he will get there, it just takes time. When he has an accident, go back to square one.
Issue 4: You will need to take this very slow, I had a foster once, she would duck and run away anytime I lift up my hands in the air and stretch, any type of big movement will send her for cover. In order for Truck to overcome fear will require you to spend extra one on one time with him without Franklin, practice "watch me", let Truck knows that you are the source of super yummy food, anything involves with you will result in positive happy times. Trust is something needs to be earned, continue to be the great leader that you are, daily outdoor walk, let him realize that you are his guide and that he needs to follow you and pay attention to you for directions. Get to his ground level, relax yourself, let him come to you, let him smell you. Take your movement slow and gently give him a massage behind his neck, it'll relax him.
Most importantly, give him time, 1.5 months is usually how long it takes for my fosters to get over initial shell shock, let him learn the ropes and adapt to your schedule. Be Truck's constant, let him know that he can always find refuge in you.
Good luck! Truck's entire world is YOU now :)
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