Neurotic? Dog

Background:

A couple years ago, my family fostered a group of three puppies, each two weeks old, for a local animal shelter at which we were active volunteers. These puppies, all female, represented 3 of 5 siblings found abandoned. We raised them until they were eight weeks old, and shortly after returning them to the animal shelter we found ourselves placing a phone call to reserve one of them, named Koko, for our own. We picked her up a couple days later (being on vacation at the time) - one of her sisters was still unadopted and keeping her company when we picked her up.

As a puppy, Koko was the most energetic of her siblings (although not particularly hyper), and when she was just half a year old she impressed us with her amazing athletic ability to easily jump over things 2-3 times her height. She's also a very fast runner.

Koko, now 2 years old, is the youngest of the three dogs who are part of our family; a terrier mix, possibly part Keesh Hound (sp), she's about 25-30 pounds. Our other two dogs are a West Highland White Terrier (currently 9 years old) and a Golden Retriever (currently 4 years old.) Both are male.


Problem:

After we officially adopted Koko, we noticed she was a very loving dog - much more so than our other two dogs. Where they were a bit more standoffish, Koko loved to be with her family; strangers, however, petrified her. When a stranger (say, a family friend) arrived at our house, she would run up to them and bark - and as they walked, keep dodging back and barking from safety a few feet away. With some coaxing, though, we could convince her that the stranger was alright.

Then, when she was a year old, we noticed a strange new habit; whenever my mother (who has spent, by far, the most time around her, and who also usually feeds her) left the house, she would stare out the window and just wait for her to return. Often she would spend hours staring out the window.

Before long, she began to howl whenever she was left without human company during the day. She also acquired the habit of howling whenever our answering machine picked up, whether she was in human company or not (presumably as a response to hearing the recording of my mother's voice).

Half a year later, and she couldn't be left alone at night anymore. She would howl nonstop, and was even becoming destructive. So she, unlike our other dogs, got to sleep in my parents' room (sometimes on their bed, but she typically preferred the floor.)

And now, at the age of two, she's become so obsessively paranoid about being left alone that she will run upstairs to their room after dinner. Someone has to go up and coax her to come downstairs so she can be let out with the other dogs.


At first we thought it was just because we had first taken care of her at such a young age - but her symptoms have just grown much, much worse. The symptoms make her look like she's neurotic. My father joked that she was acting like a developing serial killer; while I'm fairly certain that dogs aren't capable of insanity, his words did ring true insofar as: if this problem keeps getting worse, we may have to put her down.

I beseech you, if you have any idea what might be wrong or what we can do, please help.

Okay- I know you think you are helping with this coaxing- with strangers, with being alone etc but the fact is, the dog is receiving this as praise. It may sound strange to you, but the fact is any acknowledgment to these behaviors is only reinforcing them more. As far as strangers coming to the door. Setting up someone to come to the house that is dog savy and will do what you say ahead of time, have them come in the house with you having the dog leashed. The person speaks only to you- level voice- pick a subject and ignore the dog- do not correct the dog or console. Do this several times with at first the same the person, then adding people. When you notice the dog is calm on the leash, try without the leash- but do NOT acknowledge the dog. Tell them not to make eye contact, no one says the dogs name or spell anything ( dogs learn real quick spelling might mean them) so leave the acronyms on the outside of the house..
Second upstairs- crate if you can not watch. The howling - ignore.. I know it sounds awful- howling is a form of sorrow- so either do not put her in that situation, or flat out ignore it. Remember consoling is a form of you having to reassure her, she got attention. Plus- she feels unsafe without you as you reassure- convincing her even more there is something to be worried about if on her own..
I say this because these behaviors are increasing- meaning the more you reassure, the worse it is getting. Assuring any dog when afraid only makes their thought of fear in concrete-...

Borzoimom is 100% right. In all honesty your family is creating these problems with the dog and is making them worse by how you are responding to it. I do not say this to be mean in any way honestly. She sounds like she was not socialized enough as a puppy, by being taken out to different situations where she would learn about new peopel and new things. I'm guessing if she did go out and got scared you would comfort her, or pick her up, etc etc. By doing that is is teaching her that she is right to be afraid of all of the things she reacts to. By your increasing coaxing and attention when she is behaving inappropriately, you are encouraing and in fact making the problem worse as time goes on, as you can see. She also sounds like she has separation anxiety. You will have to break her of the howling using a crate, and ONLY let her out when she stops for several minutes, AND comletely ignore her when she is in there. The dog does not need to be put down, she needs to be retrained and it's going to be hard work. You guys are putting her in a place of confusion in the pack. It might be wise to seek the advice of a behaviorist who can help you pinpoint exactly what is going on and give you advice on how to change it. Good luck!

That's very possible... I was actually wondering the same. Alright then, my sincere thanks for the advice on how to train her.