Hi everyone, I've been looking for an online chatroom, but I wound up here. I'm hoping someone can offer some suggestions. We adopted Stella, a redbone coonhound almost 3 wks ago. She's an awesome dog, very well behaved. The problem is that she was horribly abused (almost to death) during her first year, and now that she's two, she's healthy and almost at appropriate weight, but afraid of everything. When I say everything, it's a light being turned on, a loud noise, a shadow, a quick movement, etc. Last night my computer monitor freaked her out when the webpage opened up. She has but only 2 instincts showing thus far when this happens... 1. she tucks tail and runs away, tries to find somewhere to hide, or 2. she begs and cries to be let outside into the yard.
Stella is very well behaved but needs some work on basic training. I have no clue how to accomplish anything with her if she's afraid of everything we do and everything around her. Treats don't work to conquer the fear. We have tried love, h
Try hand feeding her all her meals outdoors, using a pushing exercise. Basically you put one hand, palm up, lightly against her chest, and let her eat from the food in your other hand. As she gets comfortable eating with your other hand against her chest (which may take a few weeks with a dog like Stella), you can start gradually moving the food hand away while she's in the process of eating, which will "force" her to put pressure against your other hand. Right now she doesn't feel she has the capacity to overcome her fear, believe it or not, this exercise will help her do just that. The only drawback I've ever come across from clients is they don't think it'll work, and refuse to do it. Those who do, see a very quick results in terms of confidence, lack of fear reactions, etc.
Here's a link for a further explanation from my friend and colleague, Neil Sattin: http://tinyurl.com/3balu6
Best of luck with Stella!
LCK
http://www.leecharleskelley.com
http://LeeCharlesKelleysBlog.blogspot.
bettababy (CH) 2/15/2008 4:59:29 PM
Re:Re:rehabbing abused dog, can someone help? Hi Lee, and thanks for the quick response. I wasn't sure what to expect when I signed up here.
I took a look at that website you listed, and found it very interesting. However, I have some concerns because it is accomplished by using food and withholding food from the dog for it to work. Stella was starved badly, and even with the year the shelter has had her in rehab, she is still very underweight. I was told she had to be on a restricted diet due to her eating habits. She was said to inhale any food in front of her, anytime it was there to the point of making herself sick. She's been here 3 wks today and we have that problem fixed, she now has food available all the time and knows how to walk away when she's full, but sometimes we have to coax her just to make sure she's getting enough to gain some weight, and we also have been supplimenting with a lot of treats when we work on training. The vet says she needs at least another 10 - 15 lbs, I think she needs closer to 20. Is there another way to acc
Lee Charles Kelley (NY) 2/15/2008 5:13:01 PM
Re:Re:Re:rehabbing abused dog, can someone help? I think you might have read the article on the pushing exercise too fast. You don't HAVE to restrict the dog's intake of food. That's only applicable if the dog doesn't show a strong enough appetite to really push into you while eating.
Please do the hand feeding exercise; it's going to make an enormous difference in her ability to emotionally process new experiences.
LCK
bettababy (CH) 2/15/2008 5:17:12 PM
Re:Re:Re:rehabbing abused dog, can someone help? Is there another way to accomplish that same thing? Using her food isn't an option... but that technique is exactly the kind of things she needs. The issues are fear/trust, other than that she's a treasure.
I was able to find out some of the abuse she suffered, and it is extreme. Apparently while trying to "train" her, he used a cattle prod and some other equip on her, and she was considered untrainable because she wouldn't retieve. She's a redbone coonhound, her job isn't to retrieve, even though she does fine here with a ball. This poor pooch has been thru hell, and she still has spirit when she isn't afraid... but that is so seldom. Stella also has a good nose, and I am convinced that she can make a good tracking dog if we can conquer the fear. I would love to train her for search & rescue.
I appreciate any/all help anyone can give us. I know this will take time, but some things have to come soon, because you can't train a dog that is afraid of everything around them.
I'm sorry, but I'm not getting a clear picture of why this is so. She has to eat, right? And didn't you say that she has a good appetite? So why can't you hand feed her? Is she too shy to take the food from your hand? Because there are ways to get around that.
Since, as you say, she's very playful (when not freaking out), have you ever tried to play tug-of-war with her? If she'll play tug outdoors (or even indoors to start), that would be the next thing I'd prescribe after you've done the pushing exercise for a few weeks. When fearful dogs learn to play tug outdoors, their fear almost always starts to dissipate, as if disappearing on its own. I should know, I started using these techniques on my own dog 15 years ago when he started having panic attacks at any little noise on the street. I was able to cure not only him but many other dogs with fear issues since then.
Best of luck,
LCK
http://www.leecharleskelley.com
http://LeeCharlesKelleysBlog.blogspot.com
bettababy (CH) 2/20/2008 8:14:25 PM
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:rehabbing abused dog, can someone help? The reason I say using her food isn't an option is because she is so timid and shy, she would rather walk away from her food than to allow someone to hand feed it to her. I've been working with her, it's just been very slow going.
As for being outdoors right now, the temps just won't allow for us to do that yet either. Tonight the temp is supposed to drop to -12, and the past few wks haven't been much better. She's having a hard time staying out long enough to go to the bathroom without her feet freezing, and it makes things very difficult for me to go out with her. I have health problems and can't handle being out in extreme cold.
Are there any other options?
I have managed to get her to play tug of war for a few minutes with one of her toys, but it seems the minute she realizes what we're doing she's done... she drops it and walks away. I've tried this daily for the past wk, and thats the best luck I've had... it lasts all of about 3 - 4 minutes and she's off again.
I understand that. I've seen this before. She's a bit like a wounded animal. It would certainly take some time for her to be able to trust you to the extent that she'd not only be able to eat from your hand, but actually push into your other hand in order to eat.
One thing that often helps is to lie on your back, on the floor, in a part of your home where she feels fairly secure and comfortable. Have some really tasty treats available. Just lie there and talk to her in a soothing tone, and hold out one hand, with a treat in it, but not so that you give her the impression that you're offering it to her, just that it's hers if she wants to come take it. You can't let her feel that you're "pushing" it on her. Sometimes I won't even talk to the dog. I'll turn my head away and ignore her so that she feels like she's sneaking up on me in orde
Lee Charles Kelley (NY) 2/21/2008 11:00:32 PM
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:rehabbing abused dog, can someone help? in order to steal a tasty treat from my hand. If even THAT is too much for her, I would toss a treat a foot or two away from my hand, so that she doesn't have to come into direct contact with me physically, but she DOES have to come into my psychic space, what psychologists call a "psychic buffer zone," and what we tend to think of as our "personal space."
It might take a few days, it might take a few weeks of doing this, but as she eats either from my hand, or from a few feet away, she'll begin to feel less and less conflicted about taking food directly from my hand. In fact, once you get past a certain point in this kind of exchange, things tend to go pretty quickly.
The next step would be to put the food on top of your chest or tummy so that she has to actually put one paw (at least) on your body in order to eat. When THAT feels safe to her, you'll probably be able to hand feed her.
I hope this helps,
LCK
http://www.leecharleskelley.com
http://LeeCharlesKelleysBlog.blogspot.com
MegsNMadison (CH) 6/25/2008 8:29:02 PM
Re:rehabbing abused dog, can someone help? It sounds like this is a really hard experience for you. Stay hopeful and believe in Stella :) She'll come around soon. Has she been around other dogs?
nycdreamdogs (NY) 6/27/2008 1:21:38 AM
Re:rehabbing abused dog, can someone help? This is a matter of reintroducing her to anything that makes noise or moves, but doing so in a very (very) gradual way, where she has the opportunity to overcome each of her fears systematically without overwhelming her.
I would suggest hiring a trainer who has experience with basket cases like this.
