I'll try to make this as short as possible, but it will be long. There have been a few situations recently where Meg has become frightened by something, and I have been shocked by how she shuts down. I am looking for any advice people have on dealing with this, and making her more confident to try to prevent it.
Quick background: I've had Meg since February '06. She is a little under 2 years, and is a Mountain Cur. She came from a very crowded shelter in West Virginia, and was shipped to my friend's rescue here in Vermont. The only background I've been able to obtain is that she was an owner surrender. She was a bit timid when I got her, but not frightened (if that makes sense). I don't think anybody has ever abused her, but I get the feeling she was an outdoor dog. She didn't know stairs, and wasn't housebroken. She wouldn't go across wooden foot bridges when hiking. She got over all of that very quickly thanks to the clicker and treats. She's turned into an absolute monkey, climbing on everything she can. I've encouraged it because I knew I wanted to do agility with her. She has no problem with the equipment, including the banging see-saw. I don't think anybody intereacting with her would describe her as timid anymore.
The three recent issues:
#1 - She hit the electric fence at the barn. I wasn't at all surprised by her fear to that. She spent a couple of days refusing to come out of the barn unless it was to go to the car. She has gradually gotten to the point (with treats and following the other dogs) where she will wander pretty freely around the parking area, but still will not go near the fields.
#2 - Occurred about 5 days later. We were working on the weave poles at agility class, and I stepped on her paw. Not hard, mind you. She didn't limp for a second, and didn't seem bothered by any palpation. Her reaction was extreme. She crawled on her belly towards the gate, rolled onto her back whenever anybody reached for her, and basically just shut down. She wouldn't take treats (I use roast beef, hot dogs, and turkey) and wouldn't do even the most basic of commands. After about fifteen minutes, and finally getting her over a couple of jumps (on leash, but not pulling her), we put her in the car. When I got home, she was 100% normal. Happy, loose, tail-wagging. She ran through the weave poles perfectly.
The next morning, she refused to get out of the car at work (the barn where she got shocked). She stayed shaking in the backseat, wouldn't take treats, and tried to crawl away if I reached for her. I called a trainer friend of mine crying, and she advised leaving the truck open, not reassuring her (which I knew, and hadn't done), and just matter-of-factly handing her treats every once in a while to try and boost her confindence. After an hour or so, and a few treats, she slunk into the barn, and pretty quickly started acting like herself.
That afternoon, I brought her back to the agility field. She was still "slinking" and not taking treats. I turned her loose with her best dog-buddy, and Meg warmed up and starting playing a bit. She ended the session by doing most of the equipment and taking her "special day" treats (McDonald's double cheeseburger ). No more issues with agility since then.
Yikes, it's getting long. Quickly - #3 - Last week, I was housesitting. She and their two dogs were snacking on manure in the paddock (yum) when the horses got spooked and started running. None got anywhere near her, but she bolted for the backdoor of the house, and for the rest of the week, would not come back out near the barn, even for treats.
I now live with a constant, nagging worry that I'm going to make her shut down. I've never seen a dog react as severely as she did at agility, and neither had the trainer. I'm looking for advice on a)How to boost her confidence so it doesn't happen again, and b)how to deal with her when it does happen.
I know not to reassure her and feed into the fear, and I don't. I now know that in all but the most extreme of circumstances, she will take cheeseburger. She never gets snappy or aggressive when she is scared. She is normally very clicker-focused, and she is very focused on me. She's darn near perfect when she isn't panicked.
Thank you to anyone who read through this whole thing. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Quick background: I've had Meg since February '06. She is a little under 2 years, and is a Mountain Cur. She came from a very crowded shelter in West Virginia, and was shipped to my friend's rescue here in Vermont. The only background I've been able to obtain is that she was an owner surrender. She was a bit timid when I got her, but not frightened (if that makes sense). I don't think anybody has ever abused her, but I get the feeling she was an outdoor dog. She didn't know stairs, and wasn't housebroken. She wouldn't go across wooden foot bridges when hiking. She got over all of that very quickly thanks to the clicker and treats. She's turned into an absolute monkey, climbing on everything she can. I've encouraged it because I knew I wanted to do agility with her. She has no problem with the equipment, including the banging see-saw. I don't think anybody intereacting with her would describe her as timid anymore.
The three recent issues:
#1 - She hit the electric fence at the barn. I wasn't at all surprised by her fear to that. She spent a couple of days refusing to come out of the barn unless it was to go to the car. She has gradually gotten to the point (with treats and following the other dogs) where she will wander pretty freely around the parking area, but still will not go near the fields.
#2 - Occurred about 5 days later. We were working on the weave poles at agility class, and I stepped on her paw. Not hard, mind you. She didn't limp for a second, and didn't seem bothered by any palpation. Her reaction was extreme. She crawled on her belly towards the gate, rolled onto her back whenever anybody reached for her, and basically just shut down. She wouldn't take treats (I use roast beef, hot dogs, and turkey) and wouldn't do even the most basic of commands. After about fifteen minutes, and finally getting her over a couple of jumps (on leash, but not pulling her), we put her in the car. When I got home, she was 100% normal. Happy, loose, tail-wagging. She ran through the weave poles perfectly.
The next morning, she refused to get out of the car at work (the barn where she got shocked). She stayed shaking in the backseat, wouldn't take treats, and tried to crawl away if I reached for her. I called a trainer friend of mine crying, and she advised leaving the truck open, not reassuring her (which I knew, and hadn't done), and just matter-of-factly handing her treats every once in a while to try and boost her confindence. After an hour or so, and a few treats, she slunk into the barn, and pretty quickly started acting like herself.
That afternoon, I brought her back to the agility field. She was still "slinking" and not taking treats. I turned her loose with her best dog-buddy, and Meg warmed up and starting playing a bit. She ended the session by doing most of the equipment and taking her "special day" treats (McDonald's double cheeseburger ). No more issues with agility since then.
Yikes, it's getting long. Quickly - #3 - Last week, I was housesitting. She and their two dogs were snacking on manure in the paddock (yum) when the horses got spooked and started running. None got anywhere near her, but she bolted for the backdoor of the house, and for the rest of the week, would not come back out near the barn, even for treats.
I now live with a constant, nagging worry that I'm going to make her shut down. I've never seen a dog react as severely as she did at agility, and neither had the trainer. I'm looking for advice on a)How to boost her confidence so it doesn't happen again, and b)how to deal with her when it does happen.
I know not to reassure her and feed into the fear, and I don't. I now know that in all but the most extreme of circumstances, she will take cheeseburger. She never gets snappy or aggressive when she is scared. She is normally very clicker-focused, and she is very focused on me. She's darn near perfect when she isn't panicked.
Thank you to anyone who read through this whole thing. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.