Nervous dog

ash_18x

Hi,
We have a lab husky cross since she was about 8 weeks old. She is now about 4. She is spayed too. Recently she is really nervous and shy and we don't know why. She has never been mistreated by us, she has company all day as we have a terrier also and the two of them get on great, if anything she terrorises him!

Recently though she is scared of men and hides behind my husband if anyone she doesnt recognise comes into the house. After a while then she will be ok and will stop hiding and go over for a sniff. When we are out walking she is ok, we always put her on the lead if people or other dogs come against us and make her sit in until they pass. This doesnt seem to bother her.

I am currently pregnant so we had the buggy in the hall way a few weeks ago and she was so scared of it, she ran and darted into the utility when she saw it there. They come into the house every evenin and sit with us in the sitting room and sleep inside too. I had a yoga ball in the living room the other night and she wouldnt come into the room, when she saw it she made such a fuss to get out of the room that the pushed the chair back and nearly knocked my fish tank over. She was petrified of it. She still wouldnt come into the sitting room last night because it was there, no amount of coaxin or treats could make her sit there. She just ran out and sat in her bed in the utility, our terrier isnt at all bothered about it or anything- well just cats!!!!

My husband is worried that when the baby comes along she won't be able to cope with all the new stuff around the place. The only thing I can think of is that a few kids were throwing stuff at her over the back wall a while back, but still when she sees them she doesnt go mad, she just looks at them so I dont think this is what has bothered her.

Does anyone have any advice because I am afraid if she doesnt get used to things my husband will look to get her rehomed and we can't afford behavioural classes at the moment........

tk123

It sounds like something or somebody has frightened her? My dog can be fearful like this but he's kind of always been like that (he's 2 now) so I know what the triggers are or can tell if eg that plastic bag ahead of us in the park will warrant him barking at it like an eejit There's a booklet called - The Cautious Canine by Patricia Mc Connell which I found helpful - it goes thru identifying the triggers and how to work the dog thru them - eg by treating them at a distance and getting closer. You can download the kindle app and get it from amazon in seconds rather than wait for it if you're in a hurry - I keep doing that lol and spending a fortune.
Whats really helped with my guy is working on his obedience and building his confidence that way - he amazed me yesterday at class running thru the chute thing non stop and jumping thru the hoop - stuff he would have been terrified of before!
I know you said you don't have money at present for classes but is the dog insured? I don't know about the other companies but Allianz cover behaviorist consults?

ash_18x

Thanks for that tk123, I will go on amazon and get that book. No we don't have her insured either. Ya, I think we just need to work on her. She is such a lovable dog and I really don't want to have to get rid of her.

Oh ya, another thing that freaks her out is next doors bin, we have a 7ft wall between us and when they put something into it and the lid slams she jumps at the wall. We had to put another block on the wall because she was reaching the top of the wall. She is unreal sometimes........

ISDW

I would suggest that you try and ignore her when she is showing this kind of fear, it is a completely natural reaction from us to try and soothe and placate them, telling them its alright, the big nasty thing (person) isn't going to hurt them. As the dog doesn't understand what we're saying, all they know is that they are showing a particular behaviour and you are talking nicely to them, and possibly stroking them at the same time? I did this years ago at an obedience class with one of my dogs, we all did, until the instructor made us stop and actually think about what we were doing.

If you just ignore her fear and carry on as normal, hopefully she will realise that as you're not scared, there is no reason that she should be.

It is hard to do, but honestly, it makes sense and does work.:D

ash_18x

Thanks ISDW, I will definitely try this tonight and obviously continue it on, hopefully it works!