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Nervous dog2007-11-25 2:13:15

My border collie is extremely nervous... She'd hide from her own shadow if she could outrun it. She's a big old softy & rescued as a pup. I assume she was severely mistreated and when I got her she was thin & covered in ticks. It took me days to rid her of parasites. Any loud noise, she's on my lap shivering like a leaf. Anyway, she is social, but doesn't do well with children or babies. She doesn't nip or bite... she hides from them for hrs at a time. She'll come out after a while, but as soon as a child or baby makes a noise or start crying, back into hiding she'll go.

I'm having a baby in three weeks, & while I'm sure I'll be able to introduce the chow (who loves children) I think it will take a bit longer with my b/c. Any suggestions on how to make her transition smoother? Obviously a crying baby is going to be a shock to her system.

Answers:

She may well have been hurt by her previous owners, or maybe they didn't socialize her properly. Poor girl! I'm having similar problems with my foster dog, who is super skittish and runs from loud noises. But over time, she is getting a little better with normal noises in our house, like soda cans opening, or refrigerator door slamming. It's important not to coddle your dog, and act like everything is fine. She'll take her cues from you. If you try to comfort her like you would a person, that actually makes her worse. Just be confident and that will help her more. She will adapt to the baby's crying, etc. If you haven't had a baby around before, she'll just need time to adjust to it. But she'll get there.

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Don't hold on to what happened to the dog in the past...your only making it harder for her to get over it. Dogs have an amazing sense of what a human is feeling...she doesn't seem to trust that you can take control of the situation so, she runs from it. If you stay calm and make sure she knows that YOU are in control, and will not let anything harm her, she will learn very soon not to be so afraid. The best thing you can do for her now is to get over what happened to her. Dogs and most animals don't live in the past, they move forward much faster than humans.

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I think when she recognises that it is your baby, she will be fine with it. Let her explore the baby when it's quiet. If it makes a noise let her run. But she will get used to this, and will probably bond very well. :)

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If nothing gets better before baby comes, talk to your vet...they do make anti anxiety pills for dogs. My llhaso Apso is on them and it calms him way down when company comes over. I believe it is called Calmical

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