forfarhill

@Papillon Kisses I have indeed read up on littermate syndrome.....am I giving away my perfectionistic tendencies? @Tassie I'm just calling it her personality now! Good news is today I took Clouds and her older sister for an excursion to the river and a good time was had by all! Now I just need to work up to a solo outing for Clouds to the river, she tends to hyper focus on the other dog which is great for her anxiety but not something I want permanently either. I think working on play will certainly help her have something to focus on whilst also keeping me on her priority list.

@Papillon Kisses The older siblings about a year and a half now.....so she's an adult although she still often acts like a pup! Half of the list above was preformed recently I make sure alter dogs have time time together (max an hour a day) but the 16 week old gets plenty of time out on her own too (at least 3 hours, rest of the time she's either secure in her crate or with me), they all have seperate crates/pens. My partner does have a puppy also, I've been very militant about doing everything seperate (feeding, training, etc), much to everyones consternation

@Two Best Dogs! Thanks for your reply! Its exactly what I wanted to hear, I'll persist with gentle exposure and use other dogs to my advantage whenever I can I'll look up Amy Cooks play way and have a look. @sheena Her sibling is definitely more of the crazy persuasion....in no particular order I have caught her: # carrying around the watering can (she empties it first if required) # Digging her teddy bear into the other dogs water bucket, retrieving it, slapping it on the ground and then repeating until she's made muddy puddle # fighting with the rooster through the fence # Stealing feed buckets and then running around with them in her mouth/rolling around with her head inside them # Shredding a large cardboard box all over the lawn # Trying to eat her longline # blowing bubbles in the water bucket # Liberating and dragging the broom around the house # Getting up on anything slightly raised, like stumps or milk crates # Climbing on top of three stacked dog crates to try and get on top of the fridge (not sure what she was going to do once she got up there....) Its amazing how different they are But I guess its a good thing.....otherwise they'd team up fir double the trouble!! Although Clouds did steal her harness and run off with it yesterday so not that different I guess I'll try and get some pics for you if I can, in my biased opinion she is very gorgeous ;)

@Tassie thank you for the advice! I am working hard on making myself awesome to her, she's a very smart little cookie and enjoys games and pats which is great for me I am going to email some clubs around to see what info I can find out about them and to also feel them out about just letting her come and watch from afar to start. I've been doing lots of tug (letting her win and them swapping for another toy or food) and also case and hide games as well. She seems to enjoy that quite a bit I've actually just bought a flirt pole! I'll look into the calming chews as well. @persephone Yes exactly! It is awful seeing her go from herself to, well, not herself at all I feel a bit mad at myself but I did what I thought was best at the time. Thanks for the link My plan now is to pop her on the longline (so she can retreat without being able to hide out entirely) bring out myself and the other dogs and park myself down by the front fence, this way she can stay back until she gains confidence but she will be tempted by me treating/playing with the other dogs. She can duck in for a reward and then retreat until she gets brave enough to stick around and then we'll move closer to the gate. @sandgrubberThis is what I was hoping to hear! It is very anxiety provoking for me watching her get distressed but I know the way forward is through continued careful exposure and me not making a big fuss over the whole business. Thank you for replying, its very heartening.

Hello there I'm wondering if anyone has any advice, recommendations (books, dvds whatever really) or anecdotal stories that may either help me out or soothe my anxiety over my current doggy situation! So my situation is I currently have a really gorgeous 16 week old border collie pup named Clouds, she is of working lines-she was purchased from the same breeder my other older sheepdog came from, it was the last full sibling litter and my other dog is an awesome working dog so I couldn't miss the opportunity! I visited the litter from 3 weeks old and picked out this pup, she was not the front of the pack but not timid and last out either, she seemed like a nice easy going pup to me. The breeder said she was the boss of all the others and extremely confident. She was a little shellshocked the first couple of days home as is to be expected but quickly came around and has since fitted in just fine, she helps with chores, barks at various stuff with the other dogs etc. She was initially very nervous of running cars ,but so was her full sibling, and she is over that pretty well now so I didn't think much of it. My impressions upon initial training were she was quieter and more thoughtful than her sibling, she will sit and watch you rather than try and jump up or bark. I took her and my other dogs (the 'pack' as I refer to it) out for a couple of outings when she was around 10 weeks. She did not like the car ride but very much liked the adventures at the other end, including swimming in the river and chasing the other dogs about in the sand. Then there was a Parvo outbreak, reports of sick and dying puppies flooded in and we decided to keep her home for fear of losing her. I continued to train her basic things, sit, drop, come etc, she will loose lead walk at home, plays fetch somewhat reliably and will tug. I've also trained her to have her harness on and off and to offer focus. Being on a farm she has plenty of room to run and also met plenty of strange people (she loves people!). Now that the Parvo danger has passed I have started outings again. Complete disaster. First I just went for 100m walk out our front gate with my mum leading another dog for reassurance......she was ricocheting off the end of the lead, tail tucked down, ears back, obviously scared. I stopped several times to try and offer treats for letting the lead loose but she was completely over threshold, she couldn't even look at me. We packed up and promptly went home (much to the other dogs disgust!), I've since tried a couple more times just simply walking out the gate and straight back in, treats and praise! But she isn't having it. In fact now even heading to the front gate makes her anxious. So I did what all anxious dog owners do-I googled it. Apparently since we missed the prime solicitation period I'm doomed to have a super anxious dog forever now. I really do not enjoy super nervy or timid dogs (hence why I visited several times before choosing her and grilled her breeder before my final decision), several of her other littermate went to farms around the same time and were also were restricted by the outbreak. I've met a few since and they are doing fine. I'm in the mindset it's partially a lack of socialisation (which according to my research is irreversible) and partly her nature. She's obviously very confident in her comfort zone (like I've accidentally dropped a noisy bucket next to her head and she didn't blink confident) but incredibly timid away from it. So the question now is: what can I do to give this pup the best chance of becoming more confident? I'm looking at buying Controlled Unleased for puppies and also for the reactive dog, I'm looking for obedience classes nearby I can visit and just hang out on the sidelines without actually interacting, I'm taking her for short adventures to places with little outside stimuli (no strange dogs, people and vehicles etc), what else can I do? I'm alternating taking the other dogs for moral support and taking her solo. With the other dogs she usually will get over her anxiety fairly quickly, but she has to be off leash (I let her drag a longline) so I only do this is safe places that often have very little novel stimuli. On her own I try to click and treat, and also offer toys/play games, but she is usually over threshold the second we leave the gate so its pretty pointless. I kind of had visions of doing agility or herding trials with her but I'm now feeling pretty discouraged and thinking maybe that isn't on the cards for us. Has anyone had a good result from a similar situation? Any advice to offer? Anything and everything is most welcome. Regards, Vanessa