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

[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!

[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!