A worried Dog

[walt]

Hi, we have a 3 yearold Collie cross Springer and she is so lovely, but she seems to be getting worried most of the time especialy when out. Any ideas on how we can support her with problem?
I know that you people out there can help, as you have come up with the good info in the past.
Walt

[*Lassie*]

You are lucky Walt, our expert Kiz is back ;D She will need more info though.
What does she do to make you feel she is worried?
What do you do/say to her?
Has she always been like this or has it just started?
Have you had her from a pup?
If she is a rescue do you know anything about her background?

[walt]

She is a rescue and we had her from about 2 years old and we don’t have much info on her, only that she had been attacked as she has a few scares on her face, not that bad. She has started to hide under the table or a chair during the day and we try to encourge her to be more positive but she just seems to be worried. Not sure what it is. It started about 2 or 3 weeks ago but can’t seem to think what started this off. Other than that she is ok.
Walt

[*Lassie*]

What do you do to encourge her?
What was she reacting to the first time – another dog – a person ?
Is she left at all during the day?
Was there any building work/ road works or different noises going on the first time she hid?

[kizkiznobite]

ok…it sounds to me as if she has ‘gone to ground’ something that happens in working dogs that have a high state of anxiety…before we can advise we really need more info…her daily routine, how long it took her to settle in with you, what changes have happened recently from her point of view….dogs that get like this are on a mental roller coaster, often for some weeks or even months before and it is only when they start to seriously withdraw that owners become aware that there is a problem….it often only becomes apparent when the body language is extreme…like denning up in darker shady places…she is clearly mentally distressed and you may have been re-enforcing this over the weeks as she became gradually worse so more info please walt…waffle if need be…i will pick out the bits
also what do you feed her on, is she on any meds, you say she is ‘worried’ when out …need much more detail on this especially…also any changes in the house in a practical sense… i have seen this problem blow up with something as simple as a new 3 piece suite and decorating being done. if you are still able to get her out then she hasnt had a total breakdown as yet ….so more info the better

[walt]

Hi, I will try and answer all these questions. She seemed to settle in from the day we brought her home, it was not until we had her for a few months before we noticed things change. They were not bad things but different. We do not know why she has started to look worried as things have not changed nor her routine. She is getting really wound up with the dog next door and tring to get to it through the fence. She is better out now as before she would get on her hind legs tring to get to other dogs but now she just keeps looking back to make sure that they are not coming up behind her.She is also play really hard with our goldy in the garden, to a state that we have to brake it up or our goldy runs inside to get away from her. There is nothing going on around the house , nothing new,  just that she started to hide under the table.
Hope this is enough but I will tell more if needed.
Walt

[kizkiznobite]

am guessing she has been spayed? sorry if this info on the board, bear with me am still catching up after an abscence…but when was she done do you know?

also feeding…what are you feeding her…

am off to eat will be back later

[tri 'n snatch it bonnie girl]

Hi Walt,

I’m sorry to hear you are having some issues with your collie girlie ..

These arent really “fixing” things but just a few thoughts and questions …

You rescued her at about age 2 and she’s now about 3 so you’ve had her about a year now … and she started displaying changes you noticed sometime in the last month yes?  One thing I do know is that it can take some dogs a good 9-12mths to unpack their baggage to a level that is then picked up on by most people – in a way I would read this situation as she feels safe enough with you to show how anxious she is.  However, I would expect to some extent that you may have been re-inforcing this behaviour because people commonly do (especially me!!) and if so, you may be actually encouraging her to hide away !  (sounds mad doesnt it – i thought so too lol !!)

I know you have lots of questions to think about but when you get time …

What did you do when she was trying to get nextdoors dog ?

Do you do anything now when she is checking out the fence ?

What do you mean by “play hard” ?

What exactly do you do when you split them up ?

How does your goldie react to the ‘play’ ?

nb: ‘playing’ should not be viewed as in humans, it is a means to establish and maintain pack position and can and does encourage / lead to aggression depending on circumstances.

Can we have goldie’s age/sex/neutered/how long owned ?

I think in your case, you would all benefit hugely from working with a behaviourist.  Before you see the $$$ signs – I can tell you I was pleasantly suprised by how fair the pricing is.  I had kizkiznobite out to help me with my border collie x  because I thought she was making our old dog really sad – biting his tail and his ears and barking at him, he just went more and more into himself.  Actually, it was ME who was alot of the problem as I was making him think he should be all sad and worried – as soon as I was shown how to stop doing this he really started to enjoy having his new dog friend around! 

It wasnt like I expected it would be having a “behaviourist” round, I thought it was all about training Bonnie not to be horrid to my existing dog when really we ALL needed to understand more about each other.  My dogs loved it when Kizkiznobite came to visit as they soon knew it meant that they would have lots of lovely treats and learn how to be good dogs too !  They really enjoyed the whole experience !!

I promise you that having someone there with you to enable you to understand what your dog is thinking is AMAZING and I learned so much !!

I could be wrong here but I *think* the initial assessment itself is actually free for rescued dogs but you are best contacting kizkiznobite via PM to discuss what she can offer and any fees as it was 2 years ago now that we had our initial assessment !!  You also get alot included extra that you dont from other trainers like ongoing support and advice – always useful if like me, you need a prod in the right direction from time to time  lol !!! 🙂

Claire x

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