Dachsie girl weird fleeing behaviour

[stokr89]

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Hi all,

this is my first post in the forum so please be patient with me

So, as the title says, my 11 month old female long hair Dachshund is displaying some strange behaviour. In the house, she's great, playful, cuddly, a bit barky (but not to the point of being annoying, and stops when told), obedient. When we take her to the park for her (in theory) long evening walk she only toilets quickly and enter into "fear/flee mode": at first she freezes and doesn't want to move - at that point I give a firm pull to snap her mind out of that state - starts walking again towards me and then starts heading back to the way home.

She is also distracted and alarmed by all the noises and sounds she hear, especially if there's kids or dogs around, or people yelling.

Just today, I tried to let her off lead to play ball (which she loves doing in our garden) and I found myself running max speed to avoid her from crossing the street - again, pure flee mode. Another thing I noticed is that when I command her to sit, she does sit but she turns around so that I am facing at her back and she can monitor what's around her - another sign of fear, in my opinion.

Now, there's never been a real threat to her, never has she been attacked or growled at by another dog (she got very scared once when a husky started barking at her from like 100m away lol), although she has always been shy to other dogs (at first, then she is fine once they get to spend some time together) and strangers who dont know how to approach dogs (immediately trying to pet the hell out of them).

From the little I know about dog psychology, she's an anxious and nervous dog when outside, the problem is that I don't know how to correct this. How do I make her understand that noises aren't threats, that there is no immediate danger around her and that she can relax when with me? Is that a trust issue (I've only had her for 6 months)?

I need to fix this issues before they get out of hand and I find myself with a psychologically broken dog whose gonna have a terrible life of fear. Last resort will be to see a behaviourist, by I want to think I am able to help my dog, or at least I will try.

thanks in advance for your comments

Marco

 

[gypsysmum2]

I think you are right to think that she is fearful. So you know if she was socialised as a puppy? Did you get her straight from a breeder or had she been in a home environment.

The critical period for socialising puppies is up to 12/14 weeks. Everything they see and hear during that period is absorbed and accepted as "normal" by the dog. After that period they are programmed to be suspicious and avoid things that they have not experienced during the critical socialisation period.

A poorly socialised dog will struggle to cope with life. Each unfamiliar person/dog/place will be a huge challenge and the dog will see that they have no option but to use their fight/flight response.

Dogs can only learn when in a relaxed state. Any anxiety produces chemicals in the brain which prevent learning. In order for your dog to learn not to be afraid of situations you need to organise it so that she is calm and relaxed. This means taking baby steps over each situation that she struggles with. As soon as she freezes she needs to be given time to absorb the situation and come to terms with it. This can take as long as forty minutes. If something else happens while she is coming to terms with a scary situation then she will be put back a stage.

The sort of steps you need to take are sitting letting her absorb the world around her from a safe distance. Allowing her to retreat when she needs to. We cannot explain to dogs that things are safe they have to find out, slowly, for themselves. Lots of encouragement when she is brave will help but ignore any fearful behaviour. She may never get over being poorly socialised but she could make progress if you are prepared to spend the time taking time to allow her to grow in confidence at her own pace.

 

[stokr89]

Hi gypsysmum2,

First of all thanks for your reply.

You are absolutely right about socialisation. We got her from the breeder when she was already 5 months old and was being kept as a family dog and was around other dogs. Despite that, she was already very shy and took us a lot of time sitting in the breeder's kitchen giving her treats for her to become adjusted to our presence and feel comfortable enough to leave with us.

After that, there hasn't been a lot of interaction with dogs and people, there aren't many dogs around us and when we cross one she becomes shy and fearful and usually owners don't stop long enough for her to have a proper sniff and come out of her shell (although she does try). Sometimes I kind of force her to come near a person who wants to pet her or to another dog hoping that she would see that despite her fears there is not threat to her safety. But I am not 100% sure that's the right way.

We left her for 2 weeks with professional boarders who had 2 dogs and she spent 2 weeks getting along with them just fine. So I think she is not afraid of the world per se, she just doesn't know how to approach things she's not familiar with.

 

[gypsysmum2]

Forcing her to greet other dogs is not going to help I am afraid. Once a dog is in "fear" mode the brain cannot learn. It is a survival mechanism. Everything is geared to fight/flight and no learning can take place. Allow her to retreat to a comfortable distance and remain there until she is ready to move.

It sounds as though she was the shy one of the litter which is why she was not picked by previous buyers. This brings its own problems and then add lack of early socialisation and she has lots of hurdles to conquer.

As you have a long life ahead of you, with her, I would invest in a consultation with a qualified behaviourist from either COAPE or the APBC. They will come to the house and do a full assessment after taking a detailed history. A plan is then put in place to help her cope with all that life is going to throw at her. Hopefully, at the end, you will have an outgoing companion for the rest of her life. It will take lots of time and patience though! If she is insured you may be able to claim the cost on your policy.

It might be worth, gently, passing on to the breeder how your pup's early life is affecting her now. I know of breeders who take their pups out and about in the car, invite children and adults round to play, and even take them to puppy classes once vaccinated!