I have a 9 month old Goldie. She was initially a rescue dog. When I got her she was fine and we got on well. I went away for a week and she went into the kennels for 7 nights. Since she's come out she cowers at men and sometimes women. If you approach her too fast or she thinks you are coming for her, her back end hits the floor, she wees and cowers away.
When she does this I don't speak to her, i don't want to tell her it is OK and thought using sound would make it worse as she may associate this with being timid.

I would like some adivice on building her confidense. I am currently clocker training her. I would love some suggestions and wonder fi she will grow out of this.

Needless to say I have contacted the kennels and they have refuted any ill treatment all I know is she wasn't like this when she went in.

Any help is appreciated

Thanks

What a shame she didn't have a pet sitter or friend/family member look after her instead, something to consider in the future if kennels have such a dire reaction on her, sometimes dogs do become more clingy once out of kennels and it takes a week or two for them to settle back to routines, but she is coming across as extremely intimidated and afraid, it must be terrible to see her like this, I guess you will never know for sure if anything happened there, but the whole experience seems to have set her back terribly. As she was a rescue before she may have been reminded of her past, some dogs do hit that fear factor again at this age, which is why continued socialisation is needed.

Clicker or whistle training is good, keep up with the training :-) does she go to any puppy classes at all? You are going to have to do everything that we would do with a pup at 3 months, take her to lots of places where there are people and noises and just sit amongst it all, get people to talk to you and ignore her until she eventually feels comfortable and then ask them to offer her a treat with a good girl if she will come,  your right not to make a fuss of her when afraid this will just install that she has a reason to fear things, so keep upbeat around her, hard I know but keep your voice always calm and strong and do not force her to do anything, wait, and make sure everyone in your home is aware that she is so nervous at present and not to do anything to frighten her.

It's so sad to see a breed known for their sociability and friendliness to be so afraid and unsure, your kindness and patience is going to be needed to the hilt here.

I hope in time she will become much more confident, no more kennels for her, it will take time, there is no quick fix for this, but if she doesn't improve after you start afresh with re-socialising look for a recommended behaviourist to watch her and assess what we may be missing on here not seeing her in the flesh so to speak.

Very best of luck, you have a long climb, so very sad for a dog to feel this upset. :-(

Hi
How long after you got her did she have to go into kennels? It sounds very much like she's found the whole kennel experience overwhelming. My daughter's GR bitch has had to go into her Father in Law's kennels for short spells & she absolutley HATES it - I think it's all the commotion from the barky dogs. I have been told that they can and do settle after a few days, but maybe your girl found it all too much, poor thing.

It would be a good thing to take things very slowly to start with, don't let her go past her threshold. A behaviourist would also be a good idea to observe her and offer some practical help. Has she been spayed? This can often make things worse, as can the run up to their first season (if she's not had one yet).

I hope you can work with her to help her past this sad situation. I think it would be a very good idea not to put her into kennels again. Perhaps you've a friend who could look after her, or as I do, send her to a dog boarder who will have her stay in their home.

Good luck, I hope it all works out for you both.

Thanks for the replies.

I have never ever used a kennel before. It all happened very quickly. I found out my father had had a heart attack and the dog had to go in quickly to the kennels. I didn't have time to vet it or get a pet sitter. I wouldn't ever dream of a kennel as when I go away the dog comes with me and we normally holiday in a dog friendly place in the UK. However I had to go abroad literally immediately and contacted the nearest Kennel to me.

Will she get better? Is she young enough to get over this? I feel terrible as I have damaged her more but at the time my time was taken with my father and I couldn't think past this.

Lesson learnt and I wish I could turn the clock back, however strategies to help us both are great and most welcome. Please don't think of me as an uncaring dog owner, far from it. Just a needs must at the time and hindsight is 20-20

Please don't for one minute think that anyone feels you putting your girl in kennels whether for a holiday or emergency makes you an uncaring owner, of course it doesn't, I'm sure none of us have had that thought even cross our minds. :-) Plenty of us use kennels all the time.

It's her terrible reaction that I am upset about for both of you, hindsight is a wonderful thing and no-one has that crystal ball, you just know in future kennels are for whatever reason a big no, no for her now at least.

She will get over this with time and patience, for some reason she is terribly frightened, she's only 9 months of age she will not be fully mature until 2.5-3yrs you have all that time to mould her into a confident and calm dog, (and I believe you will) you will build up trust through your training with her alone and perhaps if not already in classes too (KC bronze, silver, gold) and with continued socialisation, (absolutely no dominant type training methods if any behavioursit or trainer should ever dictate it walk the other way, this dog is very sensitive ) you can build her character, it may take the full 3yrs for her to be completely settled, it may take 3 months, who knows? You will have to go at her pace and understand that she will grow throughout those first 3yrs of her life.

Keep her on a long line if her recall is not tip top, it often goes astray at this age too, the last thing you want is for her to have any bad experiences with other dogs to top her insecurities right now.

Just keep patient and she will grow into a lovely dog I have no doubt. :-)

I can't help feeling terrible, if she hasn't had a bad start already she's been made worse by this place. I will do everything I can to build her confidense and put right the wrong I have done.

Thanks for the advice xx

Give her time and with all your hard work in building her confidence back up and lots if praise and rewards she will come out if her shell ! It may take a few weeks so have patience !

My rescue girl has issues with the vacuum or a mop or broom so we have been de sensitising her and after a year or so now she is able to cope with them and can happily be in the same room rather than find somewhere to hide !!

I will do everything I can to build her confidense and put right the wrong I have done.

STOP! Blaming yourself, please. :-) You will have anything up to 15yrs together that week will be a long distant memory in the great scheme of things, your a loving caring owner and she will grow in your care from now on.

Put what has happened behind you - the kennels may have bought back some bad memories for her.  Just give her lots of your time with gentle training and lots of praise, treats, favourite walks etc.  I'm sure her confidence will come bouncing back.  Perhaps invest in some Nina Ottoson toys and play games with her so life is just so much fun for her.

Only you know how scared she is, is it all the time?  You could try a DAP difuser or Rescue Remedy to help initially.

Don't blame yourself, you'll get there soon.

Bless you all. No she isn't frightened all the time, only when I raise my voice or the children shout. We're trying to be quieter round her. Today she was licking the buttons on the oven just as we were leaving and I said Hey what are you doing and the very slightest raised voice her backside went down and she looks like she was wetting herself. She didn't though. I then gave her a treat and she was fine. God only know how scared she is of the kennels or what they've done. I will keep on keeping on and we will get there I am very determined. xxx

> God only know how scared she is of the kennels or what they've done

My cat was speyed at the vets when she was 3 years old. When she came home she was a complete wreck :( If my hubby or dogs walked into the kitchen she would attack them. It was plain to she was terrified and was 'lashing out' through fear. Raised voices (simple raised voices one may use to be heard from the next room) would also push her over the edge and cause her to attack anything close to her (the poor old dog usualy took the brunt of that :( ).
We've used these vets for many years and I do not think for one minute they did anything to upset her, I think she is just a sensetive little cat that had her whole world turned up-side-down from being in the vets for the day and it left her feeling very frightened and vulnerable. She settled down over the course of about a week.

Please don't blame yourself atall and also the kennels may not have done anything wrong either.

Best of luck with her, I'm sure she'll get over it, especially with your loving help :)

I am so sorry to hear this ,I have two ultra sensitive dogs,they were both rescue and although we have had them for 7 years now they still get freaked out by things(real or imaginary)
When they first came home with us if you walked past them and just put your hand on thier head they hit the floor,it is the most distressing thing to see and you have to be quite tough in the end and not let it upset you.
It took around about a year for my two to have confidence,they didn't wag tails or play with toys,they had to be shown that it was ok to 'just be'
So for whatever reason this has happened you just have to have patience,as some things cant be fixed overnight(i wish) in the end kindness and love win out.
I do find I behave differently around my dogs we are quite calm,I rarely raise my voice and I never ever use the word bad dog,as somone in thier past has,and it just pushes them over the edge.
Im sure you will find out what freaks her out the most, please try not to beat yourself up over this( I personally have beat myself up over my own dogs on a regular basis),you really did not do anything to cause this,rescues come with issues,but you will smooth them out in the end,
relax,it all works out in the end.
Ashx

Hi Jeeves

Please don't beat yourself up about this situation. It was obviously a scenario which couldn't be avoided, sometimes life throws these things at us and you did what most would do in that situation.

It's probably the noise of the barking dogs which made her so unhappy, as it sounds like she's very sensitive. Encourage the children to be calm and quiet around her (which I'm sure you're already doing).

Have you asked the kennel how she was whilst there? They might tell you if she had a particularly bad experience, or if she was just generally not happy. Not much they could do really, but I'm sure they provided her with the necessary care. Some dogs just hate lots of noise.

Bless her! I hope she starts improving soon...