REscue dogs can you manage to work through all their issues

[mrsjay]

because we are stumped stressed and sad for jaydog,
he came with loads of issues which the rescue centre didnt know and neither did we but with patience help from the dog house and the rescues brilliant behaviourist we have worked through them.

the only one we cant manage is his fear of cars well it is noise of the exhaust especially if it is a boy racer car, he is terrified and it makes walking difficult as he stalks and jumps at them . we took him to an enclosed park yesterday to play with his ball , he is always on a training line he was fine but heard a loud bang and just bolted towards the noise, so dh ran after him and somebody stood on the lead for us, but that was poor jaydog stressed redeyed and not switched on we had to come home, so what do we do how can we help him ?

oh the rescue centre gave us a programme to work though months ago and it isn't working or we are doing it wrong

Cant advise you but we have resuce dog I had her from 6 months she 7 now and still very needy ( follows me everywhere) doesnt like loud cars/bangs shakes when traveling in car I worked around her give her reassuring talks and cuddles am sure someone will come along though just hang in there my dafty dog is very very loyal

thank you i needed to hear that I think, I am sorry your dog is still having problems though, oursis nearly 2 and a great dog he was hard work , I just think like you we just need to work around him he will never be able to be off lead though which we wanted but it is for his own safety really .

It took 3 yrs for me to even try recall with dafty dog as thought she would go and not come back shes very good though I have only once tied her up by a shop seeing her and the bin running up the middle of road has put me off for life !! Also had to teach her to play she seems to just like to been cuddled up and get cuddled

I even stayed with the first time when she went to the dog palour just over a year ago but now she runs in all execited

oh no at the bin

Jaydog seems to switch off when he is highly anxious iyswim there is no getting him back nothing motivates him when is in that state we just need to either bring him home or drag him along till it all passes, he is fine when he is on his walk dds/dh take him to a wood but it is the roads to get there that is the problem,

I wonder if a slow, steady sound desentisation programme might help? I was thinking about perhaps using a Desentisisation download or CD. (These are just examples, there are lots of others on the market.)

What breed is Jaydog? The only spanner in the works of trying a sound desentisisation programme would be if part of the problem is also due to visual overstimulation. This could be the case if he was a Border Collie or Sighthound mix.

It might still be worth trying though. Basically you play the recording of the problem sound/s at a time when the dog wouldn't ordinarily hear it, starting with very quiet, almost inaudible volume for very short exposure time. They you very gradually increase the length, frequency and volume of the exposure, only moving on/up when the dog is completely comfortable at the previous level. If the dog is calm and relaxed, it will help to speed the process if you reward and therefore positively reinforce the calm behaviour as you will be pairing the reward to the sound, which is effectively counter-conditioning the dogs automatic response to the sound.

The only thing is, you would need to completely avoid the 'real life' sounds while you were carrying out the process, as one bad experience would set the process right back. So if you could change where the dog is walked and perhaps take him there in the car, to avoid having to walk along the pavement by busy roads it would increase the chances of the process working.

Here is an example of a programme recommended by one of the CD producers.

In some cases, if the phobia is really bad, you might need help from the vet in the form of a prescription to help your dog cope through the early stages of desensitisation, but not all dogs will need this. It really depends on how deep seated the phobia is. From your post, it does sound like he is shutting down when confronted with his fear, in which case you might well benefit from a chat with your vet before undertaking a desentisation programme.

Shockerdog was awful with cars, she would almost pull me into the road and she would snap and bark at them. It took a while, but I took her out early when there weren't as many cars about, so I could hear them coming. I would make her sit when I heard an engine and hold her attention with a treat. If she let the car go past without fuss, she got the treat.

Oddly, she didn't react to lorries or buses, just cars.

We are trying the same method with black dogs now... this dog came with issues!

Some good advice on here, re desensitising to traffic noise and understanding counter-conditioning.

Don't give up you can make tremendous improvement with any dogs issues (not just rescue dogs!).

For example today I have been at an agility competition with a dog sooooo reactive he would growl and lunge at stuffed dogs Today he was happy calm and relaxed in a competition with 100's of dogs.

It takes time, it takes consistent positive reward based training, it also takes time for the owner to work out how to manage the situation. Some situations may be too much for the dog and when to back down with the training BUT dogs are really up for change

oh thanks for the great advice he is a collie mix with well another collie we think I will download some of those suggested and keep working with him we took him out in the car yesterday and not his usual walk so he would be away from cars, and it was a car in the distance that set him off, he just bolted, I will try these