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HELP NEEDED WITH SCARED RESCUE


Perry's Mum
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I have just got a 5-6 year old female Koolie.   She has been in 5 homes in 3 months and is confused and scared.   She has spent most of her life as an outside dog.   What can I do to help her settle in quickly and become an inside dog?

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take your time. If she has spent most of her life outside, I'd be leaving her outside for a while, just slowly increase time inside. She'll let you know when she's comfortable. And start her off in the quieter rooms.

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teeny baby steps  :) 

outside  , if that's where she's comfortable .I wouldn't be bringing her indoors at all yet , until she wants to follow you in .
Do you know why she has had so many homes ? Is her history as a purely pet  suburban dog - or was she a working/rural dog ? 

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Doors open so she can choose.  Encourage her inside with treats.  Spend time sitting on the floor with her just doing nothing, stroking her ears, talking softly, talk to her while you go about your usual business.  

 

Make sure your house and fences are secure and then check again.  

 

Try not to have too many visitors or people coming and going; don’t overload her with experiences.  Don’t let people who might visit play with her or be loud or make quick moves around her.   Slowly and softly.   

 

Good luck.  

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I had several petrified pei here. I let them follow the other dogs to learn the household routine rather than overwhelming them with information. They had free run of the house/yard and a private place to eat their meals. Initially they were allowed to sleep wherever they were most comfortable and often they chose a protected bed in the lounge room at night where they could see everyone. I'd sit beside the bed every night, not looking at them and just start rubbing and massaging. I might only get a back leg at first but as the days went on they'd move under my hands allowing me to touch them in other places. It seemed to help develop trust between us so that within a week or so we could touch them without clear fear. I'd also sit near them when I could without engaging or looking so we got used to each other's space, even if they were in the yard. Maybe you could try both these things and see if she naturally wants to be where you are inside the house? We also used lots of higher pitched happy sounds around them and reduced shouting and loud activities amongst us humans. Lots of praise during any training or when they made good choices themselves. One boy we had to leave a leash on for days and when we needed to get close I'd need to step on the end of the leash. He'd just go into statue mode when scared. Over a couple of weeks when they had a handle on their new environment I started to introduce a crate and we'd do group training and walks with the other dogs. I still had to go gentle as a lot of dogs in that situation hate the focus ever being on them, probably because that has previously resulted in something bad happening. Give her time and a stable environment and her natural curiosity could see her actively engaging more and wanting to be part of the household. At the moment she's waiting for something bad to happen.

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Thanks for the ideas - I am going slowly - there is only one other dog here - an 18 year old border collie with dementia.   The door is open so she can come and go.   I wonder if she is scared of my walking stick.   She will come for treats but not stay.  I cannot sit on the floor because I cannot get up again.   She will lick my fingers if I give her treats.

 

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Prepare your patience :) 

 

do not push or rush her. At this stage focus on setting up your home as a safe place. Start small with a quiet room and area of yard. Keep yourself calm and quiet as she susses you out. There will be time later for games when she is ready. First you need to build trust between the two of you and confidence in herself. 

 

Could sit sit on the couch and do some very low key clicker training. Click or marker word and toss her a treat so she is not forced into close quarters with you before she is ready. 

 

When she is indoors I’d have her in sight and with a lead, in case you need to direct her anywhere the lead will give you some control while leaving her some physical space. Take it slow if she’s not yet sure how to follow a lead. 

 

If if you can, get a behaviourist on board who can help advise on your progress. 

 

Very kind of you to to bring her into your household. 

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1 hour ago, Perry's Mum said:

Thanks for the ideas - I am going slowly - there is only one other dog here - an 18 year old border collie with dementia.   The door is open so she can come and go.   I wonder if she is scared of my walking stick.   She will come for treats but not stay.  I cannot sit on the floor because I cannot get up again.   She will lick my fingers if I give her treats.

 

You have my sympathies.  I’m a bit in the same boat.  

 

I know it is the middle of winter, but if you get any sun in your yard could you take a chair out and sit in the sun with her  .......   taking some nice smelly treats with you so licking your fingers will bring her close to you.   

 

 

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Time to spend some time sitting outdoors , well rugged up , with a book,  a cuppa , & a bagful of patience . I will also suggest this dog gets NO food unless from your hand :) Every morsel of yumminess is hand fed , so she quickly associates you with this important and delicious resource  :love:  We have done this for dogs who were not bonded to humans ... it worked very well :)

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We're in the same situation with young Rheneas - he has lost much sight and hearing, and has just had a dreadful vestibular episode "all good now, and still taking the tablets".  But the difference - when we took Rheneas on from the RSPCA as a youngster he was a total stress-head, and this took a long long time to sort and improve but he did normalise, I think mainly from observing Piper and Frodo being normal dogs.  Now as the only dog, and in fairly old age, he has regressed to his young nervous self, jumps at noise, runs and hides from anything that stresses him, no trust or confidence and has put funny little barriers up.

 

Vet said without any guarantees that there have been improvements in some oldies like this with slightly high blood pressure readings when put on blood pressure tabs (Fortec).  He's on a half-tab a day and I can say there is a positive improvement in the stressing out after four days on tabs, truly different dog.  One swallow does not a summer make, so I am not saying that blood pressure tabs are a benefit to stressy behaviours, but as an anecdotal observation …. 

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Routine and time have worked for me.  Make her day (and night) as structured as possible - food at the same times, bed time routine the same.  It's like children who feel safe with knowing what happens in their day, it will make her comfortable in time.  What a lovely home she will have with you, hope she learns that in time!

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20 hours ago, Papillon Kisses said:

Oh, an 18 year old with dementia? Have you discussed treatment with a vet?

Yes, she is on some pills but not really making any difference.   Bella is OK - she just lives in her own world but that is OK, people know her and like her there.

 

Edited by Perry's Mum
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