Ideas for nervous rescue?

[ForeverWaitingInForParcels]

We rescued a one year old dog a few months ago and probably due to the horrendous life he lived previously he's permanently afraid. Of everything.

We've set a good, solid routine, got him an Adaptil collar, shown him consistent love and care, sought advice from both our vet and a professional dog trainer to give him some stability but I feel like he's still living in misery.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to at least give him some reassurance? Every noise, touch, rumble or outside voice sets him barking in fear. His ears are permanently back and he looks terrified most of the time. I have no words about his previous owners who have created such a scared little soul but feel I am also failing him that he doesn't feel safe with me.

Any ideas?

Have you consulted a behaviourist? Have the rescue been able to offer any advice?

Behaviourist. May benefit from medication.
For what it's worth, genetics and early pre-weaning environment are likely to have at least as much to do with this dog's anxiety as anything else.
Hope you can achieve some improvement - it's a pretty bad existence living in constant fear. Realistically this is never going to be a confident dog but hopefully it can become content.

I'd def look at medication. One of my former fosters really struggled, and on lemon balm, rescue remedy and skullcap and valerian he was able to start coping and after a year in his forever home is absolutely flying though he still has wobbles from time to time

White noise or radio on all the time will really help block out the jumpy noises so might be worth trying if not already

YouTube have some great ddoggy music on...used it whenever I had to leave dpuppy and sometimes still now!
Type in- dog calming music.

My rescue (we've had her just over a year now) is nervous and scared of really odd things.
She likes to be covered and the rescue advised us to get her a thunder jacket which has worked wonders. She also has a bed made up with old duvets so she can crawl under.
We always have the radio on when the house is likely to be quiet too.

A dog that is in a permanent state of anxiety is going to struggle to learn new things.

Your dog may be a good candidate for behaviour medication - often this is an SSRI such as fluoxetine, which is commonly used for treating depression and anxiety in humans too

We did the same and it was hard work. Things didn't seem to reach a good point until about 9-11 months.

1. See a behaviourist immediately, set up frequent appointments
2. Enrichment activities depending on what seems to motivate your dog (toys, praise, or food)
3. Buy a thundershirt - it's a compression jacket that really helps
4. Possibly medication, go and see a vet, they can advise on how to treat anxiety

The behaviourist may well teach you a few things but you need to show the dog that it can trust you. E.g. if there's a loud noise outside, can you go and close the window? If a car drives past him and makes a loud noise do you pull him close and vocally reassure him etc? Things like that to show him you are firmly in his corner.

How long is a few months? If he was so very frightened by previous owners, it could take a long time for him to start to recover. It may be that you just need to relax about it and say something reassuring to him in a friendly voice, then just carry on with reading your book or whatever, hopefully he will learn to pick up on your calm attitude and unworried demeanour and feel reassured. Is it possible that your anxiety about his nervous state is somehow inadvertently being transmitted to him? (I think dogs are very quick to sense their owner's emotions). I second others' suggestions of a proper dog behaviourist but I would think that the less new people he has to deal with the better at the moment so perhaps behaviourist could give some over the 'phone advice in the first instance rather than in person. Have you tried having some music on (my animals like classic FM when I have to leave them alone) as that might mask outside noises and have a calming influence.

My puppy is like this and it’s been months now and has gotten worse. She won’t go for a walk because she’s so scared of everything and we don’t have a garden so it’s a real struggle. I’ll probably go down the medication route but unfortunately if no improvement we’ll probably have to rehome her to someone in the countryside for her own good.

Hi op, your poor dog . My dog is very anxious and reactive; probably a mix of genetics and early life experiences. Been a bloody nightmare tbh but finally got a referral to a vet behaviourist (by our normal vet) who prescribed fluoxetine and a rehab plan. We have sessions every few weeks on teams with the rehab trainer. We've still got a long way to go but after 6 months we are seeing massive improvements. It does sound like your dog might need medical help initially after such a traumatic start.

In my experience, a trainer will be of limited value until you can improve your dog's emotional state - he can't learn anything while he's so distressed and anxious.

Agree with pp that white noise machines are great to help them relax; I've got 3 on all the time in rooms where he tends to settle - Lumi on Amazon, they look nice too.

Hope you can find a way to help him feel safer x