xteacher wrote:
DH and I adopted a poodle whom we named Sunny a couple of months ago that we thought was from a puppy mill. We've found out since that he was from a hoarding situation instead - ugh! Same problems from neglect and lack of socialization; possible abuse. We took him because we knew he was unadoptable - that seems to be DH's and my bread and butter - lol! Our last poodle (RIP Potsie) was from an abusive situation, as well.
Sunny came to us from the rescue already on Prozac b/c his issues were so severe. He had a BAD case of fear biting (drawing blood at the rescue's kennel), so it was either that or euthanize him. After two months with us, Sunny's still fearful, but taking small baby steps in the right direction. Today, for the first time in two months, I didn't have to muzzle him to shave his front feet - that's HUGE! This was the third time I've groomed him, so I'm very happy with this progress; shows he's starting to trust me just a little bit. He's also now going on walks and seems to enjoy them; before, he never wanted to leave the house. However, he's still very afraid when approached by any human, including us; he cowers and looks around for an escape route. The good news is that he now tries his best (still cowering) at standing his ground and letting us pick him up rather than bolting, the brave little boy! This is also HUGE progress. He's also found out that laying on the couch next to one of us is pretty darn comfortable! He used to start panting (stress reaction) after just a few minutes of doing this.
What I'm saying is, be prepared to have infinite patience. Do NOT feed into your dog's fear. When he starts a melt down, totally ignore it and only give attention when he starts calming down. That's very hard to do, but as already stated, trying to soothe him simply reinforces the meltdown. When Sunny starts his whole body trembling routine, I tell him, "come on, let's go; you're fine". He's SLOWLY getting better and having fewer of these episodes. Remember, I've only had him for two months. I'm expecting it to take up to a year (maybe more) before he starts acting more "normal". Sunny's eight, so he's got a lot of years worth of damage to undo.
Do you have a "safe" place for your dog to go and hide during a storm? We used to have a storm phobic lab, Chipper, and he learned to go in the dark laundry room when it stormed, and that made him feel better. He wouldn't come out until the storm was over. Do you have a crate that you could put your dog in in a darkened room, maybe covering it with a towel? Being in a den-like environment may help - worth a try?
I am not at all against the use of behavior modification medication, as Dr. Doug also mentioned, as long as you understand that it should be considered temporary and goes along with desensitization training. Prozac has literally saved Sunny's life, but I'll be happy when we can start weaning him off of it. There's nothing to lose either by trying the Thundershirt or Rescue Remedy (although I'm more partial to melatonin - we give it to our dogs before taking off on a trip).
Is your dog treat motivated? I'd have someone feed the dog treats when someone else plays with the other dog and his squeaky toy. Make that toy's sound something that your fearful dog starts equating with something good happening to him.
I have to share this with you, when my wife found him on the Internet and we called the rescue gal she was very upfront with us and told us that so far no one wanted him because (1) he was blind in one eye, (2) he needed dental work that we would need to do, (3) he hated males. Yes were a glutton for punishment I know, LOL.
At that point we still said we wanted to try a meet and greet. The lady scheduled a time to bring him to our house the next evening. She came to the door with Sampson in her arms. I sat down in the middle of the floor and just sat there. I told her too go ahead and put him down and lets see what happens. She done this against her better judgment I might add. Long story short he bounded up the stairs and jumped in my lap (remember he hates males) and starting licking me as if to say i'm home Dad. Need I say anymore? :S
She made it very clear that if we had problems to call her and she would come get him. We were scheduled to go on a long weekend camping trip 2 days later and we decided to take him with us. The first few hours he laid on the floor in front of the door then up on the couch in my lap and fit right in.
This fear thing has really started getting worse lately, not sure what to make of it but were in it for the long haul and he's a member of the family no matter what. We have the thunder shirt ordered and will try that first. Funny you mentioned treats, the boys know that when they come in from doing there duties they get a treat, he runs straight to the treat jar I might add. He has some great qualities and we will work through the fear thing for sure. I really appreciate everyone's thoughts.
