Wits end with dog

jumbyjack

jumbyjack

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I've posted before about Laska my highly nervous Parson Russell. The situation has escalated and her fear of other dogs now includes walkers who she thinks could have a dog! Last night a 3 month o!d puppy bounced on her, she screamed like a banshee and bolted to the end of the lead. Frightened puppy owner into fits, he thought the pup had hurt her. I can't let anyone let their dog approach her on lead as if not bolting she will attack. This morning on a quiet river bank she heard people on the car park and promptly freaked out and tried to run for it. It's getting pointless trying to walk her because of her behaviour. In the house she is great, well behaved and has learned loads of tricks, outside she's a nightmare. I've tried various calmers which didn't have any effect. Any advice would be gratefully received!
 
Sorry if you’ve said before but has anything happened to make her so nervous ? How old is she ?
 
that sounds difficult, perhaps go to a dog training session where all the dogs are on leads and hopefully in some sort of control so she slowly gets used to seeing other dogs . are you calm? if not try singing quietly to yourself if you see another dog so it calms you..... can you continue to train her whilst walking, maybe as soon as you see another person with a dog, put her in sit or down and reward her if she doesnt react. have you walked with other dogs? find someone with a non reactive dog who would be happy to walk with you .their dog on their outside and your dog on your outside so there are 2 people between the dogs, and gradually walk closer together ......
 
Does she **need** to go for a walk? If it upsets her so much, and she enjoys being at home in the house and doing her own thing and she is fulfilled, then I would let her just do that for a while.
It's also a self-fulfilling prophecy - you're nervous, on the alert, because of things that have happened in the past, so is she, you're feeding off each other's fears.
I had a female and the only way I could describe it is, that the world was too big and scary for her. She would run home or to the car if let off the lead, even in the field beside our house she would try and run back to her kennel.
It was just the way she was wired, she liked nice, small, quiet, calm spaces with no one to bother her, everything else was just extremely stressful. She would start screaming and spinning when she heard a lorry at the bottom of the road and would continue until it was away down the road again.
There was a genetic leaning that way also, even if hers was a pretty extreme manifestation, her full brother was also pretty stressy but in different ways.
She went to training classes, we employed traditional and alternative practitioners and they were all stumped. An animal communicator, in person, couldn't 'connect' with her.

A good fix will probably take a lot of time, patience and incredible timing, one lapse and you'll be back to square one - I'd maybe try a few weeks of staying at home and stimulating her through training and seeing how she is after that and make a call about what to do in future. Balance is required, obviously she will need to go to the vet and out and about sometimes.
How is she in the car?
 
does she need to go for a walk? can she be exercised by throwing a ball in the garden or even in the house? if she is happy in her home then it seems pointless taking her somewhere where she will panic. Are you taking her for a walk because you think a dog needs a walk or because she wants to go?
 
Desensitise her if you can find any friends with relaxed gentle dogs - failing that a good local training group with well behaved dogs. Crate train yours so she has a "safe den" area then have the other dogs around whiie she is in her crate. Being in a safe space without adrenaline ruling the roost she will have a chance of learning to cope. At some point you may find yourself in the vets waiting room with other dogs around so she does need to learn to cope.
And be careful you aren't unwittingly reinforcing the scaredy behaviour by soothing her and telling her how she is a good girl.
 
A friend has a collie who last year was the most reactive dog I'd ever seen, as soon as they saw another dog no matter how far in the distance it would go crazy lunging and growling etc, they tried a few trainers who did the usual "give a treat when it sees another dog" problem was the World had got so scarey to this dog that as soon as he left the house he was over threshold and wouldn't even take a treat on his own doorstep with nothing or no one around. They had to get a new dog walker as theirs was on maternity and its taken a while but she has completely turned things around, apparently she stopped walking in any places with other dogs or people, always made sure areas she went in had an "escape route" if she saw one of his many triggers (dogs, kids, cyclists, postmen, large vehicles) and gave him several months of this to calm him down then gradually let him see things at a distance then walk away, now he only has to cross the road to avoid a dog and doesn't bother at all about any of the other triggers, he does still need a stick to focus on though. I would agree if he doesn't need to go out then give him a good long break from his triggers then begin again with a good trainer / behaviourist. Good luck x
 
If she was close enough for a puppy to jump on her when she is a nervous dog then she has been exposed to her greatest fear poor dog.
fankino04 has given perfect advice, the dog needs repeated exposure at a distant/level the dog still feels safe at, it will take a lot of work and time and effort but but most dogs will get to a point they can be walked but will always need to be managed to some extent.
I also agree if the dog can be given enough entail and physical stimulation and company without needing to go on walks then it is an option, do remember that any trip outside of the house will become nore of a scary event though so if you go down this route you really should get a great vet and practise on side for home visits and delay with the extra cost involved in that
 
I have a parsons terrier just like this. She hates/ is terrified of everyone and every dog. I avoid places where I will meet other dogs and mainly walk her around my fields. If we do go further afield, I pick her up when we see someone coming which helps. She, like yours is lovely in the house but not so much outside it. I had behaviourists but although they tried the desensitisation to people and other dogs, as soon as a different one appeared, she would be crazy again. She was an unclaimed stray, so I’m not sure what happened to her in the past.
 
Teddypops that is Laska to a T. I got her from rescue at 7months. It rapidly became clear she had never been taken out, she was scared of everthing. She can be frightened of a parked car, one with flashers on, a parked bike or an odd tree, the list is endless. She's ok in the car until I stop then she does the earsplitting scream then barks and barks. She's happy to get out but immediately scans for dogs. I've had a behaviorist see her and it did help a bit but she did say I had a huge problem to deal with! I have to agree! In the house she's cute and funny and very intelligent. I'm quite happy to cope with her oddness but I want her to be happy too.
 
Zak, my springer is extremely reactive to other dogs, super brave if they're on the TV, otherwise a right bloody trauma. He will mostly ignore them as long as they don't approach him. If they approach, he will try to attack to protect himself. I know what it stems from but it was only when I found a gundog trainer that we were able to manage him. Ball or dummy in hand is a magic trick and he will stay in a sit if I'm setting up a retrieve, even if another dog comes near.

I'd say you need to manage your dog rather than try to cure her. Don't let other dogs run up if you can help it. See if she can look at other dogs and start to build up exposure. Mine's fine with dogs he knows, possibly you could find a walking group and trail behind then introduce her to one at a time?
 
Nothing bad has to happen to them, nerve is genetic, I've seen dogs come out of relative isolation for most of their lives and then walk down the street without batting an eyelid.
This is why it's often a hard fix, it's not as simple as a bad experience or a sheltered upbringing, as a good dog man once said, 'when under stress, they look back to their ancestors for help, and there is no one there'. Poor socialisation doesn't help, but it also doesn't normally create such extreme reactions so the genetics often comes into play somewhere.

You will never make her truly 'happy' by asking her to face her fears IMO, as others have said, it's a management issue.
 
See if there are any fenced dog exercise fields near you that you could hire. If you could drive her there, she could spend a happy hour mooching around and having a play with you without any interference. You may have to keep her on a lead at first if she is inclined to panic in a strange place but she should grow in confidence as she becomes familiar with the field. You can practice recall without worrying and even introduce a few very mild disruptions with plenty of rewards for being brave.

Dog walking fields
 
At the moment she won't go out of the drive way, even bits of chicken doesn't work! I'll try taking her somewhere in the car tomorrow, hopefully dog free.
 
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