Im starting to get more and more concerned!! please help!

[coco-bean]

even before we got a new puppy cainan has acted scared of everything! i know some dogs grow out of it and some dont but i just dont know what to do with him anymore, it's getting a little much, and i dont know what to do! a little about cainan...well... he's scared of people most of all! i could be on the complete opposite side of the room...more then 4 feet away and i go to get up from the couch or to even switch positions on the couch and he automatically thinks im coming after him, he gets up his ears back and his tale between his legs and he takes off for his kennel! majority of the time his kennel door is open so he hides in there almost most of the day, even when nobody is moving, he just likes to sit in there and hide! we could be telling another dog no...name included and he still gets very anxious! any sudden noises freak him out! When his kennel door is shut and he realizes he cant go in there he is automatically fine...his ears go back to normal, tail back up in the air wagging and following me or my boyfriend around! we eventually got use to it because this is an EVERYDAY thing, there isnt a day that he doesnt seem anxious, if he were a person(no joke at all) they would find that he has ADHD mixed with some sort of terets(sp) is unlike anything i've ever seen in a dog before! we pretty much got use to it and some days he seems better then others so it doesnt really cause much of a problem, but lately we've been going on more walks since the house is much more cramped then usual with the new puppy, were still teaching corona the ropes of leashes so Andy(my boyfriend) walks behind me, coco, and cainan while teaching her the ropes and we just walk along just normal! well coco is normal while cainan walks relatively normal for about 2 seconds....whatever side cainan is on, when my foot moves forward(of course to walk) on that same side he automatically drops to his feet and ears back, tail as far between his legs as it can go! almost like he thinks im going to kick him or something! and when my feet arent scaring him when the leash sways back and forth from walking, when it swings back towards him and it touches him, he thinks someone is coming after him and he does the exact same thing! im at a loss for words with him anymore...i love him to death but i almost think he needs a behavorist or something to help him get over his fears...but andy and i have been trying to help him...he's just constantly scared! he RARELY gets in trouble because he's basically potty trained now, he plays regularly, gets bathed, petted and personal attention as equal as the rest but he just still is almost unmanagable! please help! Sorry so long, thanks in advance!
p.s. i know bringing a puppy into the situation prolly didnt help a whole lot but i honestly didnt think he would ever change since he's been like this since we've gotten him! and nothing's helped!

[critter crazy]

Did you get him as a puppy?? or was he previously owned?? Duke acts the same way in certain situations. If I raise my voice at all he hides, if I Pick up something, as simple as a piece of paper, and walk in his general direction he runs and hides. We got Duke when he was 4 months old, and i think he was abused. I have never struck him, or made him think i would, yet he still behaves this way. he is 1 1/2 yrs old now. I just accept it and try my best to comfort him when he feels scared. I realy dont know how to fix the problem.

[coco-bean]

we got cainan when he was almost 3 months old! he was born and raised for that 3 months on a farm and there really werent any kids for the puppies to play with! All the males were stuck in a hen house and the only female left was seperated about 6 feet away in a pig cage(thing) the family was farmers you could tell, the wife worked in town all day at the hospital and the husband was out in the fields all day! they reassured us that they wouldnt have any of these issues because they have grand kids who come over sometimes to play with them! BUT i really dont know how "often" these kids came over! while we were picking out a puppy, none of them had personalities of their own, we let them out of their coop and they all took off running for the field and didnt give any of the "humans" a second look!! we never strike him or abuse him, of course when he was a little younger we'd flick his noise for chewing on feet, clothes and such and when he went potty in the house he'd get a swat on the butt but nothing ruthless! im affraid when we are out walking and he acts this way people are going to think we honestly hurt him and he isnt safe in our care! it's kind of embarrising because we have two normal puppies who walk and play and get excited when we play rough and go for walks but then we have cainan who is just a lab of another color(so to speak) i wish he'd join in when we wrestle and play and crawl on the floor/run around and things of that nature, but he simply runs and hides!

[borzoimom]

Have you tried the " dog ignore " method. With a dog a glance then slowly look away, means I accept you, alias kid " whatever" look. When you go to move etc., do not even look at the dog- nothing- as far as you are concerned- WHAT DOG.. if you make eye contact, slowly look away and exhale.. Exhale in dog language means like a release time to relax.. Try it..

[coco-bean]

BAD NEWS....i do it every time i go to get up hoping he would think i want nothing to do with him! he still freaks out!

[borzoimom]

just try it... Also remember exhale means " you are are relaxed" and it spreads to the dog. Even if you have to make the exhale ( its gentle long and slow and relaxed) before you move, it works.. There might be a mental problem here if the dog was abused.. but lets try this..

[coco-bean]

okay ill give it a try tomorrow morning when i get ready for work! he's pretty relaxed right now, there all 3 a little tired from their walk and then they came home and wrestled with each other for about 2 hours! The morning time is the worst! as if he is in mad sprint as soon as he leaves the kennel! It's kinda like someone hits the fast forward button as im opening the door because he tail goes 50000 miles a minute and his head swings around, feet pattering with every step and then jets out the back door, jumping all 4 steps to get outside before anyone else, finding the perfect spot to relieve himself then racing around like nascar until we tell him to come inside....then sprints around inside...as long as we let him! he use to be a really good eater but he gets too excited now when he eats! He'll sniff it nibble some pieces and take off around the kitchen not knowing if he should eat it....like this morning he thought he was going to get in trouble for eating so he didnt even start eating his food until about 25 minutes past and coco and corona were already done!(might i remind that the food bowls around about 2 feet apart(coco wont eat her food unless it's about 2 to 3 feet away from everyone elses) and they eat at the same time everyday so im not changing anything on them!) I know cainan might be full, he gets like that sometimes, so does coco-but-when he is full he doesnt nibble, or sniff...or even jet around the kitchen...he simply goes and lays back in his kennel or drinks the water from the bowl...COMPLETELY CALM too!

[agilityk9trainer]

You're describing my American Eskimo. I got her at the age of two, and she had been both abused and neglected. Neglect at a young age can cause dogs to act like they've been abused. I suspect this poor pup was not socialized at all in the first important three months of his life. It has left this emotional scar.

First, you must be patient. Working through issues like this takes years. Please note that. In fact, I'll repeat it. This takes YEARS to recover from, and your dog will never fully recover. However, in the home environment, Cainan will recover quite nicely. I don't think it said in the post how old Cainan is.

First, I'd keep the kennel door closed. My dog, Laika, used to run to her kennel, too. If I made any movement, swoosh, she was off. I also began using baby gates to block her into whatever room I was in. This kept her from running off whenever I made a movement.

You're reaction to hear fears will either help increase them or decrease them. Are you comforting her, saying something like, "IIt's OK. Don't be afraid. I'm here." If so, you are making the situation MUCH worse. Dogs interpret that as, "It's OK to be afraid. You're good to be afraid." They think if you think it's OK to be afraid, then, man, this must be a terrible thing!

Your reaction should instead be one of joy when she gets scared. When Laika gest scared, my immediate reaction is a happy, joyful tone. "Did that noise scare you? You silly girl! Look, it's just me setting down a soda can! See, that's not scary at all!" All done in a happy tone. Now, she'll still sometimes get scard, but as soon as I start my happy talk, her tail comes into a slow wag and she gets a sheepish look as if to say, "Boy, I was silly to get scared over that!"

My strong advice to you is to get the book, "Help for Your Shy Dog" by Deborah Wood. She'll have TONS of good information in there on things you can do. You can get it through amazon.com, I believe. It's a very easy read. You will find it incredibly helpful.

Also, enroll Cainan into an all-positive obedience class. Doing obedience work with shy dogs makes a huge difference. However, the class MUST be all positive. Adding any negative punishments into the mix with a dog this soft will have disasterous effects. If you don't know what all-positive is, ask me, and I'll tell you. Swatting him on the butt for peeing or flicking his nose are both too much punishment for this boy, and indeed, they did play into his problems. Some dogs can't handle any physical punishments. You need to learn how to train using NO punishment at all. It can be done, and it can be powerful.

As shy dogs learn obedience, they gain confidence. They begin to believe in themselves, and they begin to unfurl like a flower opening. I loved watching Laika grow in confidence as she learned obedience. With each task she completed, you could see the fear and shyness slowly begin to drip off of her. It was so cool. Training is extremely important for such dogs.

So, get the book I mentioned, develop patience, get baby gates, change your tone of voice and join an all-positive obedience class. There is much hope for your baby!

[freckledimple]

I had a Great Dane that was just like that. I got Gypsie at three months old, and everyting scared her. The slightest loud noise, too harsh of a tone, too fast of a movement, and she would cower like she was going to be beat. I never struck her or anything. We were always kind with her. When I got her some obedience training, that helped some. It also got better as she got older. She was always a bit jumpy all of her life, but not as bad as when she was a puppy. Hopefully, yours will get better, too. Just remember to have patience.

PS. I talk about Gypsie in the past tense because she died 3 yrs ago at the ripe old age of 12.

[coco-bean]

cainan is just about 7 months old! it's good to know that, about punishment by flickin his nose and swatting his butt is too much! i've just gone about doing things, teaching things to all three of them the same and i guess i never realized little things like that can be hurting his confidence!! thanks everyone for the advice!
I didnt go out to petco and got a chain for him to be on when he is outside now! which it has def. helped i can tell! he doesnt get as excited while he's outside since he doesnt like the chain but it is so much better when he comes back in the house! he's calm, cool and relaxed! We've never needed a leash or a chain when we let all three of them out because one of us has always been out there with them! but wow did that little but help a ton!
thanks again!

[areias]

I would like to ask..didn't you and your boyfriend have previous problems regarding the dogs? Is there the possiblity that he could be smacking the dogs around and causing a problem?

Other than that...I would HIGHLY suggest an activity for you and Cainan. Agility-flyball-even cart pulling for fun-just get out there and do something as a team. Activities like those builds confidence and a partnership.

[angelchampy]

I agree with agilityk9trainer. You have to use a happy voice when there is a noise or if something happens that would startle the dog. Something like "what was that you goofy dog" and use it as if you were talking to a child. But happy. Punishing will make matters so much worse. The dog is too skiddish for that. Just say "it's okay, but you tell mommy next time you have to pee, okay?" Then show him the door. That tells him it was wrong and what to do to correct it without yelling or hitting. It seems to me that this dog was never socialized and definitely neglected. They don't necessarily have to be abused to act like this - but definitely neglected. The only thing I'm not sure about is closing the kennel off. That's the dog's "safe place" and I don't know if that would train the dog better to be less scared, of if you block the kennel off, you are blocking off his "safe place." That might terrify him. That one I'm not sure about but I don't think I would do it. Agility may know better on that one than me though. One thing I would definitely do is give the dog a job. They love having jobs to do. My Sherry used to follow me into the laundry room and I would say, "come on help mommy do the wash" and she would stand right next to me while I loaded the washer. When I planted flowers, she helped me, cleaned the yard, etc. I always talked to her like she were helping me and I praised her for such a good job and gave her a treat. Dogs love to work. It gives them something to do and all they want is to make us happy. Put him to work! :p

[luvofallhorses]

you must socialize puppies when you first get them and keep on socializing them. that is the key. pups go through a "scared" stage and it is very important that you socialize them when they do go through that stage. perhaps obdience classes would help you at this point. Do you have a dog park? and a petsmart? perhaps that will help socialize him better.. obdience classes, going to the dog park, and to petsmart so he's used to being around other dogs AND people. make sure you do this with your other 2 pups, too. it is very important to socialize them and keep socializing them.

Buster my hound is like this.. he used to walk so well on leash and he went through the "scared" stage and now it's hard to take him for walks. He tries to back out of his collar. we don't have a dog park or anything like a petsmart except Quality Supply. he is better now, though. :) I wish you the best of luck with your 3 and hope this helps Cainan. and please socialize the others the same if you haven't already! :)

[coco-bean]

when do they go through this "scared" stage? I socialize them all the time! thats one of the weird things! i take him bi-weekly with me to work to get their bath's, when we get dog food, all three are with us! and sometimes cainan and i have our "time" he loves to snuggle with me...or at least tries, because he is too big to fit on my lap anymore, but he sure tries really hard to get himself all settled like he use too! I do know that my boyfriend sometimes thinks its funny when he gets scared of the little things and so he yells real loud and runs after him...like a game! coco likes it but cainan isnt to sure of it yet! once he realizes that coco likes to play this silly game, then he joins in....i tell my boyfriend to stop, so he does! i know he doesnt do this while im around him anymore because he knows it makes me upset to see him being so scared, for the most part he seems to be doing alot better! we took a break from the walks and he seems more hyper(of course) but less scared! we still take him to petco when we go, and with me to work also! but for the most part things are slowly getting better :D!! thanks everyone!