Hi everyone,

i appreciate anyones help?

i have an Akita bitch who is nearly 2. We have only had her for just under a year.

When we got her she was 14 months old and had already had 2 homes. the first was where she was born and the second was on a farm. On the farm she was 1 of 7 dogs. she had loads of space etc...

Her previous owner then got evicted so she was sent back to the dog home where me and my fiance got her.

Now, she is really nervous of anyone and anything. She never goes out on the lead only in the garden. when we do take her out she slips the collar and runs back to the house. We have put the choker on her to walk her but it seems like she would rather choke herself and get home then stay out. she is better at night as there are not a lot of cars and people around, but she still freaks out a bit.

She is good with people she knows but if there is someone at the door she will run upstairs. She gets scared really easily.

Now we know that its to do with the fact that she was 1 of 7 dogs on a huge farm with hardly any people and cars, but we really want her to go out and enjoy her walk.

We have recently just had a GSD puppy who can't go out yet because he is waiting for his second lot of vaccinations, but you can see hes dying to get out. We were not going to take them together at first as we don't want him to pick up on her nervousness and learn bad habits.

But my questions are: -

How long should i take them out separate for?
How can i get her over her fear of the outside?

Thanks guys x

hi and welcome.
My advice would be to be very patient with your girl she obviously has had negative experiences of the outside. Firstly i would get a secure collar/lead. I walk my akitas on halti's- you dont want an akita slipping her collar! Try walking her around the garden, lots of praise and treats. Then try a small walk to the bottom of the road and back again lots of praise. When she is more confident you could join a training club but i think lots of small steps! encourage visitors to touch her and give her praise and rewards she will soon learn visitors are fun. Its good that she likes your puppy. Good luck.

I would add that I would not trust a halti alone to hold a dog, as they can quite easily be slipped, as often happens to dogs at our training class.  You need to get a secure collar adjusted so you can only get two fingers under it when adjusted, it has to fit her neck not her coat.  Fro use with the Halti or other Head collar (prefer gentle leader myself) I would use a half check collar that fits very snuggly when pulled tight, you can then attach the lead to the chain party and the head collar.  This will allow the head collar to work and if it should be slipped you still have the half check collar.

The half check collars I like best are the ones with a buckle that undo totally as it means you can get a tighter fit, rather than the ones that have to be loose enough to fit over the dog's head. Accolade do them (click collars, and it's the "front opening adjustable collars" one).

thanks very much for your advice everyone.

unfortunately i don't drive at the moment. I will be soon though! As soon as i do will be taking her to the beach and Gower where she can be free of a mass of people. unfortunately until i can drive i can't take her there yet. We can get a bus but she won't go on there as there are too many people and its too unfamiliar to her.

she has been microchipped so will be able to be scanned if she did get away but she always manages to find the house.

Can i get these half check collars anywhere???

Try Accolade Leathercraft http://www.accoladeleathercraft.com/  Get the 8mm round leather with the heavy chain fixings. 

Measure her neck under the coat at the narrowest point and get a collar an inch smaller, as leather does give.  They also do half checks with a buckle opening in front which might be an option if her head and neck are more than 4 1/2 inches difference to get the round half check over her head, but if that was the problem she should never have been able to slip her collar?

Having lived on a farm she perhaps hasn't had much socialisation with the big wide world and finds it very overwhelming and a scary place to be.

Does she travel well in the car? The reason I ask is because, if she is comfortable in your car, you could try driving somewhere where she can see lots of things around her but remain in the familiar confines of your car. I would choose somewhere like an out of town supermarket car park and park my car at the furthest, quietest edge and just sit there for a while letting her see all that is going on around her at what she will hopefully see as a safe distance. She will be able to see lots of different people, cars and activities going on around her but not be in direct contact with them.

Once she is comfortable with this you could try opening the door of the car ( making sure she is safely secured and can't escape) and let her see things without the barrier of the doorand hear the sounds outside. You could then try parking your car closer to the busier areas of the car park and let her get used to that and so on. Don't overwhelm her with lots of new things all in one go or try to push her out of her safety zone too quickly.

You will have to be very patient and let her progress at her own pace. As she is more used to rural areas could you not drive out to a quiet country area to exercise her so there is less danger of her being frightened and escaping? Wherever you exercise her you must make sure her collar is tight enough that she can't slip out of it - apart from the obvious dangers of having a panicked loose dog she won't have any identification on her if she manages to slip her collar.

thanks very much for your advice everyone.

unfortunately i don't drive at the moment. I will be soon though! As soon as i do will be taking her to the beach and Gower where she can be free of a mass of people. unfortunately until i can drive i can't take her there yet. We can get a bus but she won't go on there as there are too many people and its too unfamiliar to her.

she has been microchipped so will be able to be scanned if she did get away but she always manages to find the house.

Can i get these half check collars anywhere???

As another non driver who fostered some rescues who had never been socialised I found the best bet with these girls had been a half check collar and a body harness, the rigid kind not the non pull ones.  the ones I favour are the ones that have two D rings above the fastening, so if the clasp should give the harness cannot come apart as the two rings the lead is attached to keep it together.  Canac and Hi craft both make this kind.

I found by having both the collar and the harness it gave me more control, and the harness acted as reassurance.  I did find for safety both were needed in case the dog panicked, as in that situation dogs can get out of harnesses and collars.

I started with taking them into my front garden and just sitting there.  Not making a fuss of them but just sitting chatting inanely and whenever they seemed to relax just a quick pat and jolly hockey sticks voice.

We progressed to walking (well I walked they didn't at first) just to the street corner and back (*I am the fifth house from the corner).

After I had got them walking, any time they startled (a lot), I would stop for a few seconds just so they could see what it was, and then very brightly say come along now, and move off briskly.

I went a lot to our local shopping centre (20 minutes walk away) after I had got them walking in traffic OK, started with least busy roads in daylight, then eventually to darkness with headlamps etc.

At the shopping centre I would sit on the benches and just chill.  People would come up to enquire about the dogs, and depending on how far they had come would let them great or explain the situation, and not allow them to touch or make eye contact with the dog, but because I was speaking to the people the dogs got to realise they were no threat and we could progress to greater contact.

You need to start getting her used to all these things at first from a distance where she is just mildly stressed, and build up.  A terrified dog cannot learn anything.

I would say never take her out with the pup until she is 150%.  Shepherds are naturally protective and sensitive dogs, and you could end up with him trying to protect his Friend, or even share her fears.

thats a great help thank you.

she has been microchipped so will be able to be scanned if she did get away but she always manages to find the house.

Microchips are a great step to getting a lost dog back but I think the biggest worry would be that a panicked dog would just run and be in great danger of being run over in the traffic or perhaps knocking someone over and hurting them.

Brainless has given some great advice and hopefully you can help your dog to slowly get over her fears. We have 2 rescues ourselves :)

I've heard that things like TTouch and body wraps can calm stressed dogs, but I haven't tried them myself - does anyone know if they would help in this situation?

T Touch does work & there's a lovely lady in Wales who is very helpful & can be contacted on the link(she's away until a week on Monday BTW