I have trouble treating my dog with flea treatment.  Even dog toothpaste is a problem.  I can put my fingers around her teeth but the minute I put a little toothpaste on she is acting as if I am going to do something dreadful to her.  After having her spayed I thought that she would be very suspiscous of any trip to the vet.  I have just taken her for her booster jabs and to renew her kennel cough vaccine.  Injections were manageable - I could hold her still but a medicine up her nose!!!  No way.  In the end the vet asked me if I would like the nurse to hold the dog - which they did out of sight.  I have had problems administering eye and ear treatment in the past.  This dog is proving to be a nightmare to treat for anything.  I failed to have the vet check her anal glands at the end of all this - she just told me to add bran/ weetabix to her Burns food. How can I get her to be more trusting when she has a deep seated fear of everything? 

There will be a reason for her being afraid of the type of handling required for these procedures - it just may not be an obvious one unfortunately ;)  More often than not it is either because no gradual getting used to such intimate handling has been done or when done was unintentionally carried out incorrectly (perhaps either too forcefully or too tentatively).

You don't say how old your dog is, what breed, or whether you have had her since the usual 8 week puppy stage - perhaps you could fill in the details as it may give some clue as to how best you can proceed now :)

I get youngsters used to handling as soon as we get them home (or my own litter from day one through to leaving for their new families).  Have her on a loose lead, get someone else if possible to hold her lead and feed her tiny pieces of something very tasty that she doesn't normally get (baked liver, kidney, heart for eg).  When she is suitably engrossed in waiting for the next really miniscule titbit, gently but firmly run your hand over the top of her head and continue the same pressure moving on to check her ears.  Likewise, run your hand down her neck, onto her shoulder, onto her leg right to the bottom and check her feet individually.  Again, run your hand down her back, over her croup and onto her tail finishing with checking her genetalia.   For her mouth when stroking her head and muzzle mover to the lips and lift her front ones to check teeth - treat - check sides - treat - open jaws - treat.  When she is comfortable with all that have a sliver of her baked treat on your finger and rub that inside her lips and along her teeth before letting her have it to eat.

All of the above will take time but will pay off with patience and consistency ;)  I'd recommend doing it daily or even twice daily (say, before her meals) to speed the process which is ultimately to give her more confidence (and you too :) )   You may have to settle for only doing half her body in the morning and the other half in the evening as you don't of course want it to be at all stressful for her.

NB - IME the most important factor beyond patience here is that when carrying out the exercises in the beginning that the hand or hands stroking the dog never loses contact with the dog during the process. 

You may also find that a massaging technique called "Tellington Touch" will help in this process too - if you run a [search] here or use google you'll find lots of info on it.

HTH meantime, Teri :)

Oh dear she doesn't enjoy being poked and prodded at all does she. :-)

If you can find yourself a really good groomer, and when I say If, I a mean one that comes recommended via other dog walkers, friends, someone who is gentle and uses gentle techniques, try to send your girl off to this goomer even just for a shampoo as frequently as you can, I have always done this from wee pups to get your dog used to being handled, having nails clipped, anal glands etc, they don't enjoy it at first but a year on it is all part of normal life to a dog. Your girl will be secured in a harness and will get used to being handled.

Along with Teri's very good advice for you to do at home hopefully you can help her get used to contact and cope well with all the treatments, check ups etc, that our dogs need to do.

She is a border collie - farm bred now 13 months old.  I had her from 9 weeks old.  I have tried to get her used to handling but one doesn't think of things like administering medicines etc when they are small or rather I didn't because neither of my previous dogs (setters) had any problem at all.   She had issues with food at the time and to some extent still does.   I groom her but she still objects to back end handling.  I do it with her trying to push me off with her teeth.  I have her nails clipped at the vets.  The only uncomfortable procedure that I may have been rough with because she was wriggling was her ear drops.  If I trick her into something she doesn't let me get away with it again.  I suppose by trying to trick her I may have developed this suspicion in her.  She has always been a dog that likes to be asked to do something rather than being manouvered.  She is a very quick learner.  I would not dare try to shampoo her by the way!  If she rolls in the muck I wipe off as much as possible with a damp cloth and brush the rest - dry shampoo if she is really whiffy. Being short haired she is pretty self cleaning.

Carrington's suggestion of finding a good groomer or possibly asking for the assistance and demonstration of a vet nurse may help you.  There are techniques required sometimes with dogs which are difficult to handle and it may improve your confidence if someone else shows you what to do and how to do it :)

IMO however you really ought, for your own sake as much as your girls, to persevere and overcome how to allow her to have you handle her thoroughly.  Having her "push me off with her teeth" is not an acceptable state of play and will need to be addressed at some point.  If she has an injury which requires you to manhandle her into a car etc to go to the vet then you need to be able to do this confidently and safely - even being able to tie on a makeshift muzzle if necessary.

While not all dogs particularly like water, again it should be possible for you to bath her as and when required and in this heat for eg she would probably benefit greatly from being cooled down in a paddling pool or even just simply hosed off :)  Perhaps if you could introduce her to water that way - when she'll hopefully associate the benefits of it - you will also have moved a step further in being able to wash, bath and dry her properly.

I do hope some of these suggestions work for you or that others have useful ideas you can try.

best wishes, Teri

Another idea is to find a good ringcraft class - by good I mean - one where they won't force themselves on a fearful dog, but will take time to gain her confidence and give her treats while they make slow progress handling her from week to week.

Duh - I never even thought of that :rolleyes:   Good idea 123 :)

my dog recently had the kennel cough thing up the nose and he squirmed so much it was ridiculous. he has always happily been poked about for anything else. my OH has had a tube up his nose and he says its just horrendous(i know its not a tube with the dog but he doesnt know how far up the nurse intends to go !)

I wouldn't have thought of a ringcraft class because I would have thought that was for someone who was going to show.  She actually loves being stroked!  The Tellington touch looks interesting.  I do worry if she has an injury because I would have my work cut out to do anything with her.  I know how to make a temporary muzzle and even bought one meaning to accustom her to it before I needed it - one of the jobs I am putting off.  She will happily go in water given the chance but at the sight of the hose she keeps away - I was watering my pots earlier and she kept her eye on me.  Last time I had it out I kept it still and she ventured to drink from it.  The sprinkler might be more acceptable but haven't tried that yet. 
I went to agility class tonight and went over the see saw - she missed the contact point and the trainer told me to put her hind legs back on the equipment.  I was then told that I handled her like a sack of potatoes!  Oh dear! Poor dog!
Thanks for your advice everyone

Don't worry about ringcraft being only for people who show - almost all ringcrafts would be happy for you to come, if you explained it was to get her used to being handled.  Afterall, no one can force you to show her and lots of people go to ringcraft and then decide showing isn't for them.  No one knows what you're doing outside of the class.  And if you have a X breed, people might look at you a little strangely, but just explain it's for socialisation.

I removed a thorn from her paw from between her pads this morning.  I tried stroking her all over getting closer to under her tail.  She firmly (not too firmly) took hold of my hand and I let her to see what she would do.  She drew my hand back to her head end again.  I still have to discourage her using her mouth to play - she just catches hold of my hand and I just usually tell her no teeth and if she doesn't listen I stop and ignore her for a while.