Adopted Very Scared Dog - Tips Needed

FoxHouse

We’ve adopted a border collie from shelter in the last few weeks – she is about 6 months old. She was kept in a shed for the whole of her life with just her siblings. So was completely feral – very very wary of humans, scared of her shadow. We also have an eight year old dog.

So far we are making good progress with her in terms of hand feeding and some petting. She has stopped holding her tail between her legs (where it was permanently in shelter).
She plays lots with our other dog and generally is coming out of her shell little by little and is certainly getting braver. She still backs away and gets very easily startled by sudden movements (typical collie).

So this is where I have questions – mainly for those who have dealt with this type of situation with a dog. I have had other dogs previously and gone through puppy training but not where I dog has so much fear ingrained.

Thankfully toilet training isn’t as much of an issue as we expected. But as she gets braver she is getting into the typical puppy activities – I found her ON the kitchen table, she is trying to counter surf, etc. With previous dogs – I would have given a firm NO and if behaviour continued a NO and perhaps a tap – usually the verbal worked for most. However I am worried about how to discipline with this type of dog because I don’t want to set her back on the socialisation/fear scale but I also don’t want to allow encourage the behaviour.

So my first question is – How to tell off an already scared dog so that it doesn’t increase fear of people but not allow bad behaviour continue?

My second question is in relation to burning off energy. I know myself with previous dogs – most of the jumping on kitchen tables, etc can be avoided by lots of exercise throughout the day. However because I don’t want to do too much too soon we haven’t started leash training. Should we start this soon or continue to build up her trust for a few more weeks?
If anyone has any suggestions on what exercise to do with her apart from walking around garden – we’ve a fairly big one so it’s not the worst. But any tips would be great.

Also generally any suggestions or tips you can provide for these type of afraid puppies would be great! Want to give her the best life possible going forward and make up for her rubbish start – so I would love to hear any suggestions that worked to get these dogs living a normal life.

Bells21

A way of dealing with a few of these issues and because of the breed that the dog is would be to use their smarts! Get their brain working, this can tire a dog as much as physical exercise. As well as this offer an appropriate alternative behaviour so for eg if the dog is jumping on the table to get to food, give them their dinner through a puzzle toy. The food will last way longer than it would in a bowl and again you're offering g them mental stimulation which will help to drain some of that energy. Make the floor a more interesting place to be than the table, fun things happen on the floor, play, food etc. As well as that, make the counter a less Interesting place so what ever it is that the dog is so Interested in up there put it away for the time being until the dog gets used to the routine and what's expected/accepted. Lots of training games and rewards either food or toy or attention. Because of the age and the start the dog had this will be a good way of building a bond which will help with the training.
speaking to a professional wouldn't do any harm. Especially on the leash training, lots of places offer loose leash walking workshops.
If you're on Facebook there's a page called canine enrichment that has really good ideas to keep your dogs brain active.

ShaShaBear

I wouldn't generally ever condone "tapping" a dog as punishment. The main issue being that one poorly placed tap on a bad day could result in the loss of a few fingers. And really, if you're going to hit your dog it's only fair to assume they might decide to hit you back

As far as nervous collies go, forget totally about discipline. Shouting and smacking of any kind is going to create complexes in this breed, and fast! Even a well-bred and socialised border collie can be utterly ruined in a matter of days with this kind of approach. They are super smart, hold grudges and are not known for their patience. I would try get her in a one-on-one as soon as possible with the hope to working her up into a group (to get her used to listening to you when there's uncomfortable distractions).

GermanicGalore

Lots of patience and kindness. Build confidence through positive reward based training.
For both I'm gonna recommend you watch some youtube here. Zak George's dog training revolution videos are excellent. Covers all your questions that you posted, and the individual videos don't go on forever.
We're in a similar situation with a shelter dog that had been rescued from a puppy farm. They have every potential to come out of their shell. Show your dog that he can trust you.