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How did you work through your dog’s anxiety and build trust with her?

Auracle 5y ago
I also have a rescue that acted like she might have been abused. She was really afraid of men in particular but not women. It just took time. She’s still a little more shy around men 10 years later but it’s of no consequence. Once she realized how much we cared for her she turned around quickly.
clairity 5y ago
lots of love, playful interaction, encouragement... and chicken treats. but it was mostly time, i'd say. she needed to know for herself that her environment, and most importantly i, was safe. even though she was scared, she was a willing participant, which was crucial (she was always very attentive, like she was always trying very hard to understand what was going on). sometimes, it was just ignoring her while i did my usual activities. other times, it was exhibiting positive attention on her, and minimizing opportunities for the negative. i also worked on desensitizing her to certain triggers that would bring out fear aggression (which was rare, but as such, surprising when it happened), like reaching for her head, by doing it over and over at spontaneous moments to show her that it wasn't dangerous to her (and giving her treats for good behavior, and a tiny, gentle scolding for bad). mind you, she was a mild case as far as all this goes, but it still required focused and prolonged attention.
technothrasher 5y ago
We had our pup on an SSRI for about eight months when she was a puppy. We got her at three months old and she had been born in rescue. So we knew her history from birth and knew she wasn't abused, she was just a naturally very anxiety prone dog. After a month of being with us and just not getting over her anxiety (she was basically miserable whenever any humans were around) the vet suggested the drugs. They worked wonders, and after she'd grown a bit and come to accept us as "her people", we weened her off the drugs and all went well. At four years old, she's still an anxious dog, and always will be, but she's content in her home life now and likes to be with us. She's still very wary of strangers, and really doesn't like being out in more human dense areas, but it's easy enough to keep her activities to things she likes. And she's decided that my mom and her animals are the best thing on the planet, so she gets lots of visits to "Gramma's farm".
- totetsu 5y ago
  Makes you wonder about the epigenetics of anxiety.. if her mother was stressed before giving birth, did that stress have an effect.

I also have a rescue that acted like she might have been abused. She was really afraid of men in particular but not women. It just took time. She’s still a little more shy around men 10 years later but it’s of no consequence. Once she realized how much we cared for her she turned around quickly.

clairity 5y ago

lots of love, playful interaction, encouragement... and chicken treats. but it was mostly time, i'd say. she needed to know for herself that her environment, and most importantly i, was safe. even though she was scared, she was a willing participant, which was crucial (she was always very attentive, like she was always trying very hard to understand what was going on). sometimes, it was just ignoring her while i did my usual activities. other times, it was exhibiting positive attention on her, and minimizing opportunities for the negative. i also worked on desensitizing her to certain triggers that would bring out fear aggression (which was rare, but as such, surprising when it happened), like reaching for her head, by doing it over and over at spontaneous moments to show her that it wasn't dangerous to her (and giving her treats for good behavior, and a tiny, gentle scolding for bad). mind you, she was a mild case as far as all this goes, but it still required focused and prolonged attention.

technothrasher 5y ago

We had our pup on an SSRI for about eight months when she was a puppy. We got her at three months old and she had been born in rescue. So we knew her history from birth and knew she wasn't abused, she was just a naturally very anxiety prone dog. After a month of being with us and just not getting over her anxiety (she was basically miserable whenever any humans were around) the vet suggested the drugs. They worked wonders, and after she'd grown a bit and come to accept us as "her people", we weened her off the drugs and all went well. At four years old, she's still an anxious dog, and always will be, but she's content in her home life now and likes to be with us. She's still very wary of strangers, and really doesn't like being out in more human dense areas, but it's easy enough to keep her activities to things she likes. And she's decided that my mom and her animals are the best thing on the planet, so she gets lots of visits to "Gramma's farm".

totetsu 5y ago
Makes you wonder about the epigenetics of anxiety.. if her mother was stressed before giving birth, did that stress have an effect.