hi i rescued my bloodhound girls 2 months ago ,i had to pay for the privelage when i collected her the person said the could no longer keep her due to health issues and she seemed fine although very thin ,we have had her 2 months now and she is at a great weight and is very healthy ,i have noticed she is scared of everything first it was traffic and we just thought she wasnt used to traffic but she seems to be frightened of everything  dishes being washed ,me raising my voice at the kids ,bang of the door just seems like everything she jumps and runs away and hides   she just seems overly scared    i wonder if she has been abused

Poor dog, but good for you for rescuing her from such a horrible home. I suspect she hasn't been socialised properly as a puppy, perhaps she was kept in an outside kennel and didn't come into a house very often. I bought a puppy once who must never have been in a house (despite what the breeder said) and she was terrified of every household noise and spent most of her first few days hiding in a tiny gap between some furniture. It took a while to get her used to it all and she was eventually able to cope. You don't mention her age, if she is still a young puppy she may well get used to it, but an older dog will probably not be particularly confident.

hi thanks for replying she is 16months now we got her at 14 months ,she is happy to roam around inside and outise our house we dont have any restrictions and she gets on great with our basset boy and is wonderfull with our kids ,she was kept in an outside kennell the previous owner told me this ,i just wondered why she was so jumpy even dropping a fork makes her run out the kitchen its such a shame  i couldnt not have her and i feel so blessed to have her in our lives when we take her out she is fine although a bit sketchy round traffic  when we first took her out she was jumping around all over the place terrified running and hiding behind us  it was horrible thankfully we dont have a lot of traffic but we had to make a point of taking her to it to get her used to it

Oh poor girl!

She won't be feeling happy in herself as long as she is wary and nervous of every day things and I agree, she hasn't been socialised, hence she is unused to every day noises.

Pups as they grow, go through certain fear phases at certain ages, in large breeds this can coincide with growth spurts, during these times, it is ultra important that they are taught how to cope with their fear or it can turn into a problem when they are fully mature.

It may be worth consulting a behaviourist for her so that she can be assessed, this should also be helpful to you in knowing how to deal with her when she gets unnerved, worried by things.

Poor girl, this is why we bang on and on, on this forum about early socialisation, getting wee pups used to every sound and sight possible to make them as bomb proof as adults as we can.

Unfortunately, missing out on this vital learning stage can damage a dog for life, you cannot turn the clock back, all you can do over the next few years (yes, it may take that long) is hope to gradually have her accepting that most noises will cause her no harm and you do that by being upbeat and as calm as possible, if something bangs on the floor do not look at her, be upbeat and just get on with things, when she eventually comes out of hiding praise her, reward if you wish too, do not purposely put her in situations, it will need to be taken very, very, slowly, you cannot even think of her as a new pup as they come with a clean slate to mould, just give her the joys of life and loving and allow her to feel safe with you, once she is upbeat in her personality and feels safe, she will see how you and your other dog react to things around you and you may be able to rewire her somewhat.

But, alas she may never fully relax... she may always be a little skittish and nervous those first few months of a dogs life mould it often for life, and if by some horrible chance she has been abused (hope not) that will stay with her always too. You will need patience. :-)

Her peace of mind will come via you...... and hopefully it will be enough to help her get over and accept these things. ;-)

I had a boy like this - scared of everything, could only think that he had been blamed and punished for whatever was dropped or fell, so he learned to vanish.  Heartbreaking.

As has been said, lots of love and patience needed, also if you drop something, or something falls down, don't shout or show any signs of upset, just be calm (easier said than done sometimes) act like "it's no big deal, hey, a fork fell, how funny".  Takes a while, but so worth it in the end.

You can do counterconditioning and desensitisation too, which can speed things up - but you have to plan it!  Keep a list of the things that spook her and work on them one by one, in a calm environment with very yummy goodies (or a toy, whatever floats her boat), making a very small, quiet version of the noise to begin with, pairing it with the goodies and as she's ok with that, raise the volume a little.

So if a fork dropping scares her, try to recreate the noise it makes but quieter - say, by tapping it on something soft to start with, and building up to something hard, then the floor, then dropping it from increasing height, all the while pairing that noise with something good.

You have my sympathy - it is a hard issue to live with, let alone rehabilitate, but at least you got her young.  My Phoebe (working line collie) was left for 4 years to get worse and worse, with zero socialisation, out in the country until I met her at 4.5 years in her second home, a completely wreck :-( I worked with her there for 3 months but she was way too much for them.  So whilst this girl's last owners didn't do right by her when raising her, at least they had the decency to let her go while she is still young enough to have a really good chance of rehab - the fact that you've already been able to get her ok with traffic is a great sign.  My girl doesn't get walked because her traffic phobia is so bad.

Good luck and keep up the good work :-)

so sorry to read this, it takes me back, my two dogs (although old now) were badly treated and not socialised in any way. It took about a year for ours and some things wont ever go away but you work around them, it was really hard for me not to over react when they cowered on the floor over small things(big to them)and I know that I did, rushing to cuddle, kiss smooch them, but soon realised I was just making it worse and that a simple its ok and pat on the head showed them I wasn't worried so they didn't need to be.
They still hate traffic, loud noises, but not like it used to be.
The only other thing I would say is be careful what you say, seems a bit mad but we never ever use the words 'bad dog 'because for our dogs, somebody did in the past and it sends them into complete terror.
We have had them 10 years, they are now 13 and when they have the odd panic moment I kiss them and always tell them they need never look back.
Im sure love and patience win out, just takes a little time, best of luck,
ash.