From: IN%"pati@patinunez.com" "pati" 18-JUL-2006 11:03:19.01 To: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: my dog fears everything I rescued a dog from a dog home just 5 weeks ago. It's a female, almost 6 year old, mixed race, called Greta. The dog home was in the countryside, so she's not used to the city. She's scared of everything, specially of motorcycles and other strong noises and also of people (specially men and teenagers). She panics in open spaces such as squares, big avenues or public gardens, so I usually walk her through quiet streets, but then it seems that she looks for danger when there's none... At the beginning of the walk she's quite calm, after a while she gets more and more scared and pulls back home. She defecates twice a day on the street, but she seldom wees out of home (I've got a very big terrace) I think Greta is simply going through a bit of a culture shock, all the new noises, smells and experiences are frightening until she gets used to them. At home she is happy and relaxed whenever there's only me and her. If any friend comes, she stays on her matress and doesn't move at all. She's very sweet, not aggressive at all and loves being caressed, even by a stranger if he acts gently... She's taking Bach flower essences against fear but I can hardly feel any change. Greta's history: we don't know much. She was found apparently abandoned and panic-stricken when she was just 2 years old. She has stayed in the dog home for 4 years, during that time she had a good relationsip with the people in charge of the place, but whenever a stranger would approach, she would hide away. She gets along very well with other dogs, only grumbles a bit when a male harasses her too much, but she's not aggressive. I know that time and love will help, but maybe I'm doing something wrong or inappropriate (for instance, she sleeps on top of my bed, she looks so happy at night that I don't dare to stop that habit yet) Any advise? I will appreciate any help very much. Thanks in advance! Pati Nunez From: IN%"ZenTrainer@hotmail.com" "Zen Trainer" 18-JUL-2006 23:22:49.95 To: IN%"pati@patinunez.com" "pati" CC: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Ethics List" Subj: RE: my dog fears everything Pati, I would try anti anxiety drugs from your vet as well as following a good leadership protocol. Nothing quite calms a dog down like knowing that someone else is in control and the dog can just relax and be a dog! Patricia McConnell's booklet "How To Be The Leader of Your Pack" is a good start. You might also want to try another of her booklets "The Cautious Canine". Let this Greta girl come out of her shell in her own time. When you are out and about with her feed her tiny bits of chicken cooked in butter and garlic to keep her mind off the noisy, yucky city and also to give her some good association with the noisy, yucky city. (I find the country just as scary as she finds the city!) If you have a friend with a calm city dog go for a walk together. Dogs learn great by example. My chiropractor would advise you not to sleep with your dog, but I can't imagine *not* sleeping with my dogs and cats. As long as they move over when you tell them to and get off the bed when you tell them too, I don't see a problem. Most people when they rescue a dog adopt the attitude "Oh you poor thing". The futzing and coddling that goes along with that attitude tends to make dogs nervous. (If it calmed them down I would say coo at your dog all day.) I find that a better attitude to take is "You're lucky you have a place to live, pal." That may sound cold but that nonchalant, "Yep, it's one noisy, stinky city isn't it? Oh well, let's go." is what calms dogs down and they follow your lead. If you are calm they are more likely to be calm. And futzing like "it's ok", "poor baby" etc. inadvertantly sends them the signal that you think there is something wrong also. In a dogs view if you aren't upset then all is right with the world. If you are upset then all hope is lost! I think you are absolutely right that she is going through culture shock. Short walks on quiet streets sound like just the thing and go slow, step by step when introducing her to new things. When people come over give her a great bone to chew on while she is on her mattress. Good luck and have fun! Tracy B Ann www.zenpaws.com "The Politics of Dogs" www.radiofreenashville.org http://zenpaws.blogspot.com I rescued a dog 5 weeks ago. It's a female, almost 6 year old, called Greta. The dog was in the countryside, so she's not used to the city. She's scared of everything, I usually walk her through quiet streets, At the beginning of the walk she's quite calm, after a while she gets more and more scared and pulls back home. I think Greta is simply going through a bit of a culture shock, all the new noises, smells and experiences are frightening until she gets used to them. At home she is happy and relaxed whenever there's only me and her. If any friend comes, she stays on her mattress and doesn't move at all. She's taking Bach flower essences against fear but I can hardly feel any change. but maybe I'm doing something wrong or inappropriate (for instance, she sleeps on top of my bed, she looks so happy at night that I don't dare to stop that habit yet) Any advise? I will appreciate any help very much. Thanks in advance! Pati Nunez From: IN%"tricia_b@comcast.net" "Tricia Breen" 19-JUL-2006 07:43:21.24 To: IN%"pati@patinunez.com" "'pati'" CC: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" Subj: RE: my dog fears everything I wonder if trying to make a 6 year old dog adjust to city life after living in rural circumstances for all those years is fair to the dog. At the age of 6, the chances of getting the dog to be comfortable in an urban setting are pretty small, given the nervous temperament of the dog. What kind of dog is it? Tricia -----Original Message----- From: pati [mailto:pati@patinunez.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 10:02 AM To: Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca Subject: my dog fears everything I rescued a dog from a dog home just 5 weeks ago. It's a female, almost 6 year old, mixed race, called Greta. The dog home was in the countryside, so she's not used to the city. She's scared of everything, specially of motorcycles and other strong noises and also of people (specially men and teenagers). She panics in open spaces such as squares, big avenues or public gardens, so I usually walk her through quiet streets, but then it seems that she looks for danger when there's none... At the beginning of the walk she's quite calm, after a while she gets more and more scared and pulls back home. She defecates twice a day on the street, but she seldom wees out of home (I've got a very big terrace) I think Greta is simply going through a bit of a culture shock, all the new noises, smells and experiences are frightening until she gets used to them. At home she is happy and relaxed whenever there's only me and her. If any friend comes, she stays on her matress and doesn't move at all. She's very sweet, not aggressive at all and loves being caressed, even by a stranger if he acts gently... She's taking Bach flower essences against fear but I can hardly feel any change. Greta's history: we don't know much. She was found apparently abandoned and panic-stricken when she was just 2 years old. She has stayed in the dog home for 4 years, during that time she had a good relationsip with the people in charge of the place, but whenever a stranger would approach, she would hide away. She gets along very well with other dogs, only grumbles a bit when a male harasses her too much, but she's not aggressive. I know that time and love will help, but maybe I'm doing something wrong or inappropriate (for instance, she sleeps on top of my bed, she looks so happy at night that I don't dare to stop that habit yet) Any advise? I will appreciate any help very much. Thanks in advance! Pati Nunez From: IN%"ZenTrainer@hotmail.com" "Zen Trainer" 19-JUL-2006 08:03:50.49 To: IN%"tricia_b@comcast.net" "Tricia Breen" CC: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Ethics List" Subj: RE: my dog fears everything I wonder if trying to make a 6 year old dog adjust to city life after living in rural circumstances for all those years is fair to the dog. At the age of 6, the chances of getting the dog to be comfortable in an urban setting are pretty small, given the nervous temperament of the dog. Tricia Nah, dogs do it all the time. Just like people they need time and also just like people they sometimes need some chemical assistance! Tracy B Ann www.zenpaws.com "The Politics of Dogs" www.radiofreenashville.org http://zenpaws.blogspot.com From: IN%"pati@patinunez.com" "pati" 19-JUL-2006 08:52:37.78 To: IN%"tricia_b@comcast.net" "Tricia Breen" CC: IN%"Applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" "Ethics List" Subj: Greta Greta is a mixed race. I wouldn't say she is nervous, but very shy and fearful. In the dog home where I rescued her from, I already asked if she would be able to adjust to the city. They said that Greta was depressed in the dog home as she had stayed there for almost 4 years, and the most urgent thing for her was to have a home, a family, some love. And that's what I believe, and I can also feel it: she's very happy to have me, I can see that, she gives me plenty of signs of gratitude and affection. You should see her when we play toghether at home, at night. Time will tell, now that Greta is here with me, I can't think of taking her back to the dog home, of course. I really hope we will overcome her fears toghether. Probably you're right, it's not fair to the dog, but it wasn't fair either to abandon her on the road nor to leave her in the dog home forever... I received a lot of emails from the applied-ethology forum, some of them with very wise advice that I'm going to follow. We will see, meanwhile I must keep my hope up. Thanks for bothering for Greta. Pati Nunez From: IN%"jms314@mail.usask.ca" 19-JUL-2006 09:28:25.83 To: IN%"applied-ethology@sask.usask.ca" CC: Subj: RE: my dog fears everything Hi Joe, For some reason, I can suddenly no longer post to the listserve. If you would be so kind as to post this for me. Best wishes, Kayce Hi all, I respectfully submit that in light of the complications inherent in drug therapies - including toxicity issues, that drugs should not be the first line of attack for anxiety problems - especially when we can now usually be successful using non-invasive, behavioral interventions. In many cases, we can have the problem solved before the drugs build up to therapeutic levels in the animal. We are working on a dvd/video right now, but the text information is available for free, on Perception Modification (a specific protocol) which has been independently tested and applied by many agencies and professional trainers. I was just in the Netherlands, and we videotaped applying these techniques, in the vet office, with some untrained animals. In about 10 minutes, start-to-finish, we were able to get full x-rays on a stray cat, including with him lying on his back with his front and hind legs fully extended, with his cooperation and NO sedative or anesthesia. We taped an additional 3 animals getting injections - with a Russian Blue cat taking 4 minutes and the 2 dogs taking 1-2 minutes each, for absolutely quiet, calm, no-trauma injections. As some may recall, when we trained pigs to allow blood draw, we incurred a problem that they all started competing to go first - so when I say there is no trauma, I mean they are more than fine with things. That video goes into a multi-media presentation which will go out for review next week, and will subsequently be available to vets and other animal health care professionals, for use in their practices. In April, 2007 this information will also be presented to vets in the Netherlands, in a seminar organized for vets, by a vet (Dr. Alan Hof, Lingehoeve Clinic, Lienden, NL). I will be directly presenting this material. Please write me for details. If you are in the UK, and would like to see this in action, I invite you to visit me while I am in residence at Wood Green Animal Shelters, Cambridgeshire, UK, the first two weeks of October. They are collecting data for publication, on extreme behavior cases, slated for euthanasia, which were turned around in an average of 15 hours (30 hours being the most required) IN the shelter setting. Last year they had 30 of these animals living in normal homes for up to two years. No food need be used for this particular technique, by the way. Best wishes, Kayce Kayce Cover Syn Alia Training Systems http://www.synalia.com ---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- Subject: Re: my dog fears everything From: "Zen Trainer" Date: Wed, July 19, 2006 1:22 am To: "pati" Cc: "Ethics List" -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pati, I would try anti anxiety drugs from your vet ...