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> "We know for a fact that mammals get PTSD after being in highly stressful experiences that they are unable to metabolize." my otherwise wonderful dog, adopte

> "We know for a fact that mammals get PTSD after being in highly stressful experiences that they are unable to metabolize." my otherwise wonderful dog, adopted from a rescue org when she was ~3 years old, plainly has PTSD from prior trauma. she spent the first 3 months with me going through frequent cycles of fear diarrhea, usually in the very early morning hours. i can only guess that she was treated badly by a very overbearing/masculine person in tight quarters, based on her uncontrollable fear reactions, which almost always happen at home. outside, she's generally friendly toward women, mildly curious/cautious of kids, and fearful/cautious of men. we've largely worked through the diarrhea, though sometimes it triggers if she thinks i'm mad at her for any period of time, even if i get angry for reasons totally unrelated to her. she still sometimes exhibits extended bouts of panting, scratching, and self-nibbling as she tries to regulate the autonomous fear reaction. distraction, petting, hugging, and other countermeasures sometimes but often don't work in calming her down. it still breaks my heart every time, even 2 years on.

kristiandupont 7y ago
>fearful/cautious of men My ex neighbor rescued a wonderful dog that had been tied somewhere and left to die, in Spain. He brought her to Denmark and she has mostly recovered with the weird caveat that she is now racist. Southern-european looking people (black hair/beards) make her really angry or nervous.
- clairity 7y ago
  glad she found a much better home! i worry about my dog being slightly racist too, as she tends to react more to black/brown folks relative to white/asian folks, but i may just be projecting my own implicit/latent racism there.
  - __blockcipher__ 7y ago
    It’s very common. Growing up I had a dog that absolutely hated Mexicans because we had a Mexican gardener and the dog was very territorial. As you could imagine, it was difficult to get enough exposure to extinguish the reaction.
adamc 7y ago
Thank you for rescuing her and making the world a better place.
BurningFrog 7y ago
> >fearful/cautious of men As a complete side note, I've always wondered how dogs tell human males from females. Are we even sure they do?
- wayoutthere 7y ago
  Almost certainly by smell. I'm a trans woman, and when I started hormones, one of the first things my partner noticed was that my odor went from overpowering and musty to just kind of "stale". I can get away with wearing shirts 2 or 3 times between washings, or go without bathing for a day or two. That was definitely not possible before hormones (at least without offending the people around me). So I'd say yeah, if even humans can tell the difference in most cases then a dog definitely would.
  - blahbhthrow3748 7y ago
    Same here, after transition I smell very noticeably different. It's awesome to wash my clothes less often
- mjevans 7y ago
  Probably scent, that's one of a dog's major senses. Not sure if it's the prevalence of perfumes or natural compounds.
- clairity 7y ago
  pretty sure, and as others have noted, smell is probably the primary sense. i have a couple female neighbors she adores, and when they're nearby/coming home, she whimpers excitedly before i can hear anything. on the other hand, with a couple male neighbors she's slightly worried about, she'll do more of a grunt/growl. but visual, and even auditory, cues are also used. size, posture, stance, and gait, are all pretty good (but not perfect) indications of human gender. she's alerted on ambigously dressed people over 100 ft away who were walking in a lumbering/macho way, but ignores or sometimes wags her tail for those who don't move that way. edit: should note that sensing potential aggression/danger is probably a large component of this behavior too.
hinkley 7y ago
We went to look at a rescue Chihuahua which I was not enthused by (they are difficult to read, which I think leads to their reputation of being erratic, moody). This dog was a wreck. Profoundly terrified of men. Most chihuahuas bark when they're afraid, this one just sat, quaking, watching me the whole time. I self-identify as an animal magnet so this became a matter of principle to me. It was obvious fifteen minutes in that this dog wasn't coming home with us, but the rescue person was invested in getting this dog exposed to more people so we just chatted while I sat on the floor cross legged, keeping my voice level, all of my gestures slow and exaggerated, and not making eye contact with the dog. It took 90 minutes for that dog to interact with me, and he just came over and plopped down next to me, leaning against my thigh. After that, we were cool. I only hope that meant the next people didn't take an hour and a half to get that far.
- clairity 7y ago
  poor little chihuahua. hopefully someone took a chance on it! my dog also shook and was frozen scared when i first met her. she took a few minutes to take a single timid step forward. but she wasn't profoundly broken like a pair of similar-looking 6 month old siblings that were there at the same time (found in a separate hoarding situation). i saw each of them separately, and neither made any positive movements in the 20-30 minutes i spent with them. that was heartbreaking too. luckily my dog is mostly well-adjusted now, outside of those occasional anxiety episodes.
  - hinkley 7y ago
    A trick I've subsequently learned is that if you crouch down all the way, many small dogs like to hide in the 'cave' made by your shins. In general shrinking yourself makes most dogs like you a lot more, but the little dogs will bee-line for your legs.
    - clairity 7y ago
      yes, crouching makes you smaller/less threatening. puppies/little dogs at the dog park (when that was open) use it as a little fort against the bigger dogs. much fun =)
pluto9 7y ago
I had a dog just like this when I was a kid. She was terrified of my father and all other adult males since the day we brought her home. She only began to recover years later as my brother and I, who she trusted, grew to resemble him.

kristiandupont 7y ago

>fearful/cautious of men My ex neighbor rescued a wonderful dog that had been tied somewhere and left to die, in Spain. He brought her to Denmark and she has mostly recovered with the weird caveat that she is now racist. Southern-european looking people (black hair/beards) make her really angry or nervous.

clairity 7y ago
glad she found a much better home! i worry about my dog being slightly racist too, as she tends to react more to black/brown folks relative to white/asian folks, but i may just be projecting my own implicit/latent racism there.
- __blockcipher__ 7y ago
  It’s very common. Growing up I had a dog that absolutely hated Mexicans because we had a Mexican gardener and the dog was very territorial. As you could imagine, it was difficult to get enough exposure to extinguish the reaction.

adamc 7y ago

Thank you for rescuing her and making the world a better place.

BurningFrog 7y ago

> >fearful/cautious of men As a complete side note, I've always wondered how dogs tell human males from females. Are we even sure they do?

wayoutthere 7y ago
Almost certainly by smell. I'm a trans woman, and when I started hormones, one of the first things my partner noticed was that my odor went from overpowering and musty to just kind of "stale". I can get away with wearing shirts 2 or 3 times between washings, or go without bathing for a day or two. That was definitely not possible before hormones (at least without offending the people around me). So I'd say yeah, if even humans can tell the difference in most cases then a dog definitely would.
- blahbhthrow3748 7y ago
  Same here, after transition I smell very noticeably different. It's awesome to wash my clothes less often
mjevans 7y ago
Probably scent, that's one of a dog's major senses. Not sure if it's the prevalence of perfumes or natural compounds.
clairity 7y ago
pretty sure, and as others have noted, smell is probably the primary sense. i have a couple female neighbors she adores, and when they're nearby/coming home, she whimpers excitedly before i can hear anything. on the other hand, with a couple male neighbors she's slightly worried about, she'll do more of a grunt/growl. but visual, and even auditory, cues are also used. size, posture, stance, and gait, are all pretty good (but not perfect) indications of human gender. she's alerted on ambigously dressed people over 100 ft away who were walking in a lumbering/macho way, but ignores or sometimes wags her tail for those who don't move that way. edit: should note that sensing potential aggression/danger is probably a large component of this behavior too.

hinkley 7y ago

We went to look at a rescue Chihuahua which I was not enthused by (they are difficult to read, which I think leads to their reputation of being erratic, moody). This dog was a wreck. Profoundly terrified of men. Most chihuahuas bark when they're afraid, this one just sat, quaking, watching me the whole time. I self-identify as an animal magnet so this became a matter of principle to me. It was obvious fifteen minutes in that this dog wasn't coming home with us, but the rescue person was invested in getting this dog exposed to more people so we just chatted while I sat on the floor cross legged, keeping my voice level, all of my gestures slow and exaggerated, and not making eye contact with the dog. It took 90 minutes for that dog to interact with me, and he just came over and plopped down next to me, leaning against my thigh. After that, we were cool. I only hope that meant the next people didn't take an hour and a half to get that far.

clairity 7y ago
poor little chihuahua. hopefully someone took a chance on it! my dog also shook and was frozen scared when i first met her. she took a few minutes to take a single timid step forward. but she wasn't profoundly broken like a pair of similar-looking 6 month old siblings that were there at the same time (found in a separate hoarding situation). i saw each of them separately, and neither made any positive movements in the 20-30 minutes i spent with them. that was heartbreaking too. luckily my dog is mostly well-adjusted now, outside of those occasional anxiety episodes.
- hinkley 7y ago
  A trick I've subsequently learned is that if you crouch down all the way, many small dogs like to hide in the 'cave' made by your shins. In general shrinking yourself makes most dogs like you a lot more, but the little dogs will bee-line for your legs.
  - clairity 7y ago
    yes, crouching makes you smaller/less threatening. puppies/little dogs at the dog park (when that was open) use it as a little fort against the bigger dogs. much fun =)

pluto9 7y ago

I had a dog just like this when I was a kid. She was terrified of my father and all other adult males since the day we brought her home. She only began to recover years later as my brother and I, who she trusted, grew to resemble him.