Hiya, I've had my Douge De Bordeaux for just over a year now. She was ill treated by a family member and so I decided to rescue her and give her the stable loving home every dog needs. She is just over 18 months old and was very scared when we got her. She couldn't eat properly and was very timid. She has come a long way and we have built up her confidence but she is still nervous and seems to cower down at strange times. I thought that being so young, I would be able to rid her of all worries but there are some lingering effects that I would love to overcome. We no longer see the nasty little family member who abused her as a pup and I am well aware of the emotions that come with owning a bordeaux. How can I reassure her even more. Having my beautiful dog cower when I walk past or raise my voice to the kids slightly, is heartbreaking. Any advice please?
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Nervous dog!
- Thread starter mikeyD
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It sounds like you have done wonderful job with her so far!
I had a rotti from the RSPCA and even raising my arms up to tie my hair in a ponytail made him cower; unfortunately something I was never able to sort out, due to his horrible past.
Obviously raising your voice at the kids cannot be predicted but if you know that whatever it is your about to do is going to frighten her in anyway then maybe give her something positive to do whilst this takes place. Maybe giving her her favourite toy, or a distraction of some kind? Putting her outside for short period of time until you feel its best to bring her back in after whatever it is you are doing is over.
Trying to remove her from the actual act itself so she isnt close to you may help, but maybe only slightly.
You never break all of her demons I'm afraid, but just keep doing what you are doing and her rehabilitation will continue and she will get better slowly but surely.
Positive reinforcement is the way to go; which from what you said it sounds like you are doing this anyway.
If you feel like she needs professional help then maybe a behavioral specialist will help. They will be able to witness first hand how she reacts to certain things and then guide you in the right direction to helping her get better.
I wish you the best of luck and please let us know how you get on.
Sophie x
I had a rotti from the RSPCA and even raising my arms up to tie my hair in a ponytail made him cower; unfortunately something I was never able to sort out, due to his horrible past.
Obviously raising your voice at the kids cannot be predicted but if you know that whatever it is your about to do is going to frighten her in anyway then maybe give her something positive to do whilst this takes place. Maybe giving her her favourite toy, or a distraction of some kind? Putting her outside for short period of time until you feel its best to bring her back in after whatever it is you are doing is over.
Trying to remove her from the actual act itself so she isnt close to you may help, but maybe only slightly.
You never break all of her demons I'm afraid, but just keep doing what you are doing and her rehabilitation will continue and she will get better slowly but surely.
Positive reinforcement is the way to go; which from what you said it sounds like you are doing this anyway.
If you feel like she needs professional help then maybe a behavioral specialist will help. They will be able to witness first hand how she reacts to certain things and then guide you in the right direction to helping her get better.
I wish you the best of luck and please let us know how you get on.
Sophie x
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Hi MikeyD, and welcome to DogForum 
It does sound like you're doing fabulously in rehabilitation for your (not so) little one, so please start with a pat on your back for getting this far
I would work first of all on training her to go to a certain place- another room, a crate, outside to a mat, the cupboard under the stairs, wherever- for a reward and to see this place as a positive training aim. Lovely things happen when she is there, whether that's cuddles, high value treats, toys or games. This needs to be somewhere that she is never sent as a punishment but somewhere to which she is allowed to return whenever she may want to. It should smell of comforting things and have things that smell of her favourite human there too, and if it's inside a clock that ticks is also a comforting thing to hear and a DAP spray or diffuser can be helpful.
When you've got her associating her little den with comfort and happiness then I think you can go all out for asking her to go to her happy place with a lovely treat or a toy, and then you can vacuum, answer the door, raise your voice or use a power tool. By teaching her avoidance you will give her a wonderful new coping skill that she will in all likelihood keep developing for herself (which is a very good thing).
Molly uses avoidance to make sure that she's not on in the area of the vacuum cleaner, so if you fetch out the downstairs vacuum she takes herself off upstairs to her upstairs bed, and if you do the same upstairs she comes downstairs (we have an old house with ridiculously steep stairs). She started off cowering and worrying and flapping around all sorts of things like the vacuum and we were delighted when she worked out that it was OK to not be in the same place as the thing that scared her. This also means that she is more confident in herself, partly because she knows that she can go elsewhere if she wants to, and partly because she gets so many comforting vibes from being in her happy place.
There's a physical thing that may help to calm her. Do you know what I mean by a Thundershirt? There's lots of evidence that being compressed gently but effectively around the ribcage is comforting for dogs that are nervous (like when it's thundering, hence the name or when fireworks are going off) so a tight t-shirt or a branded Thundershirt may help her to fret less and experience more in an open way. Thundershirts are £30+, so I'd try first with a human tight t-shirt that you can clip up on her back to get it nice and snug around her to reassure her, and to see whether that affects her panic levels around the house or when facing new things.
Another trick that I have used to stop Molly being scared is to do at least one training session a day which includes lovely treats and has meant that she now has an awful lot more commands and tricks than I would expect anybody to be able to train into a DDB. The trick that focuses her best is sitting really still with a treat on the end of her nose until I tell her she can have it, at which point she flicks it up in the air and catches it in her mouth. To do that she has to really concentrate and so that one can be used in the vets when she's panicking and there's another dog who she really wants to warn them to stay away from her and me. She's so busy concentrating on the trick that the panic doesn't find a way in around the edges, so if you can find a way of introducing a good repertoire of things tricks that will focus her then that would be great too
A couple of one to one sessions with a good behaviourist may help you to identify other ways to improve her confidence and thereby make shared life better for your whole family.
It does sound like you're doing fabulously in rehabilitation for your (not so) little one, so please start with a pat on your back for getting this far
I would work first of all on training her to go to a certain place- another room, a crate, outside to a mat, the cupboard under the stairs, wherever- for a reward and to see this place as a positive training aim. Lovely things happen when she is there, whether that's cuddles, high value treats, toys or games. This needs to be somewhere that she is never sent as a punishment but somewhere to which she is allowed to return whenever she may want to. It should smell of comforting things and have things that smell of her favourite human there too, and if it's inside a clock that ticks is also a comforting thing to hear and a DAP spray or diffuser can be helpful.
When you've got her associating her little den with comfort and happiness then I think you can go all out for asking her to go to her happy place with a lovely treat or a toy, and then you can vacuum, answer the door, raise your voice or use a power tool. By teaching her avoidance you will give her a wonderful new coping skill that she will in all likelihood keep developing for herself (which is a very good thing).
Molly uses avoidance to make sure that she's not on in the area of the vacuum cleaner, so if you fetch out the downstairs vacuum she takes herself off upstairs to her upstairs bed, and if you do the same upstairs she comes downstairs (we have an old house with ridiculously steep stairs). She started off cowering and worrying and flapping around all sorts of things like the vacuum and we were delighted when she worked out that it was OK to not be in the same place as the thing that scared her. This also means that she is more confident in herself, partly because she knows that she can go elsewhere if she wants to, and partly because she gets so many comforting vibes from being in her happy place.
There's a physical thing that may help to calm her. Do you know what I mean by a Thundershirt? There's lots of evidence that being compressed gently but effectively around the ribcage is comforting for dogs that are nervous (like when it's thundering, hence the name or when fireworks are going off) so a tight t-shirt or a branded Thundershirt may help her to fret less and experience more in an open way. Thundershirts are £30+, so I'd try first with a human tight t-shirt that you can clip up on her back to get it nice and snug around her to reassure her, and to see whether that affects her panic levels around the house or when facing new things.
Another trick that I have used to stop Molly being scared is to do at least one training session a day which includes lovely treats and has meant that she now has an awful lot more commands and tricks than I would expect anybody to be able to train into a DDB. The trick that focuses her best is sitting really still with a treat on the end of her nose until I tell her she can have it, at which point she flicks it up in the air and catches it in her mouth. To do that she has to really concentrate and so that one can be used in the vets when she's panicking and there's another dog who she really wants to warn them to stay away from her and me. She's so busy concentrating on the trick that the panic doesn't find a way in around the edges, so if you can find a way of introducing a good repertoire of things tricks that will focus her then that would be great too
A couple of one to one sessions with a good behaviourist may help you to identify other ways to improve her confidence and thereby make shared life better for your whole family.
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Mikey I do animal healing, if you can send me a photo I will do some healing free of charge x
Sometimes you have to release the emotional baggage before you can progress.
Sometimes you have to release the emotional baggage before you can progress.
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Welcome to our world. We have had our old boy for nearly 10 years, he came from a really abusive background and although he is just the best dog ever he still has demons. If he feels the tension level rising he will remove himself quickly..When first had him if i shouted the kids in for tea he would wee, cower, ears flat tail tucked so far under his tummy it almost touched his chin..it was heartbreaking. We gave him a safe place. It was actually our second sitting room where we tended to play games, listen to music and read but it was away from the hustle and bustle of the house and it was quiet and peaceful...even now years later if i raise my voice he gets up ready to run..ears down ..but usually watching me so if i say its ok baby and stroke him he settles again. A few weeks ago i got cross with the bank on the phone (long story and they are idiots ) i was pacing while i was 'talking' to them and wasnt paying attention to grommy..i found him shaking in his safe room , i felt terrible...so even now he still has issues. like Sophie says , some demons never leave x
..but usually watching me so if i say its ok baby and stroke him he settles again. A few weeks ago i got cross with the bank on the phone (long story and they are idiots ) i was pacing while i was 'talking' to them and wasnt paying attention to grommy..i found him shaking in his safe room , i felt terrible...so even now he still has issues. like Sophie says , some demons never leave xWelcome to Dog Forum!
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