I'm looking for some advice please.  My two year old bitch was attacked at a training club in the summer and is now, understandably, worried by dogs approaching her from behind. I have done a lot of work with her and have made a great deal of progress but I am still having trouble leaving her for a recall, where she will 90% of the time break her stay to come to me. Distance makes no difference to her breaking and I have also tried backing away from her but that doesn't seem to help much either.  I do not want to push her or make the situation worse but as she is always keen to be there and does really enjoy our training sessions I would like to continue but I want her to feel safe and comfortable too. She will happily do everything else, send aways, retrieve etc so she is happy to work away from me in other exercises. This not only happens at the club where the attacked happened but at other clubs where we train inside too, hence why I decided to try and persevere at the original club to see if we could help her overcome her anxiety. The dog who attacked her is not in the same class as us so it isn't that particular dog. There are never any dogs directly behind her during these exercises but she is aware of them sitting at the side of the class and appears worried by that. She is perfectly happy at all other times and will never break a stay if we are practicing outside.  The attack happened outside but I assume she is worried about being in a confined space. She is very focused on me but does from time to time look a little unsure if dogs get too close to her back end, I always ask people to give us space to try and reduce her anxiety but would ultimately like her to feel relaxed. Is it likely she will overcome this or will she now always be cautious of other dogs? Any advice/tips welcome please. Thanks

I would make sure that you always leave her with her back right up to the wall. Preferably in a corner so she knows nothing will come up from behind her. Maybe try leaving her on a familiar mat for a while so she has the comfort of familiar smells. Start with just one step away and gradually increse it untill she feels more confident. Could take months but patience and time is whats needed.
Aileen

The idea of leaving her in a corner or against a wall is very good and something I hadn't thought of, I will try that.  thank you

My lab was attacked while left in a sit stay and it caused similar problems. He stressed when I left him ( in the sit, the down was ok) and within a few seconds got up to join me. I went right back to basics with him and changed my set up and command, trained it as a completely different thing. I put huge rewards back in for very basic things ( 1 step away etc and built it up) I did 1 step to the side/ backwards just to change things. Eventually I put him back in with his doggy friends in a stay and then worked towards getting the stay around dogs he had seen but didn't know. It took a long time but it worked. Is she solid in the wait at home? If not I would start there, skip the exercise at training until she is 100% confident...up the rewards to something she LOVES. Having her in a corner so she knows she is safe from behind is a good idea, but still build it back up...step just in front of her so she can't follow, then step back and give her a huge reward. You can practice the coming and present without having her wait by doing food circuits and asking for the present or by asking someone she knows ( and away from other dogs) to hold her while you run away and then call her...like a puppy recall :) Hope you get it sorted :)

She is very good at home, in the field or at our outside training sessions, very very rarely will she hesitate or even break, it's just at training indoors. She is happy so work in close proximity to dogs she is familiar with but does seem to be worried at club if dogs are noisy and excitable. We have been working one step at a time, going back to her and rewarding which has really helped but you can see the fear in her face which is quite upsetting. I had been advised not to go back to the club by another trainer but as she is worried at another club too I don't think that is the answer. I agree that a completely different command is a good idea and something which might help her. All good advice, thank you.

Will they let you practise the stay right by her side, or just 1 or 2 steps away, just as if you were teaching from scratch again? And perhaps if space allows, with a much bigger gap between her and the next dog than usual, so she can see there is nobody near her and then you can inch by inch place her closer again when she gets her confidence back.