New dog causing me so much anxiety....what do I do

[Allelbowsandtoes]

I posted a few weeks back about our new 3 year old whippet (privately rehomed, we didn't get her through a rescue) who has separation anxiety.
We've had her for 6 weeks now and while the SA is very slowly improving she's now started showing resource guarding behaviour.
This is only towards other dogs and it's not so much about food or treats, but she angrily guards anything she sees as her space.....she's an angel on walks as long as we're on the move but as soon as we sit down anywhere she starts guarding that as her territory and hates other dogs coming near, barks at them and would probably try to chase them if she wasn't on the lead.
It's a tricky combination of problems as we can't just leave her at home if we're going somewhere she'll find triggering, as being home alone is terrifying for her too.

I feel constantly anxious wondering of things will ever get better and thinking wtf have we done. We're looking at behaviourists but I'm so scared this won't get better

Why was she rehomed?

Do you have treats with you when you walk? She could be guarding those.

You can train an “ignore” command. Or if she likes toys give her one to hold when you are sitting down. She might not bark if she is holding something.

Disclaimer I am not a dog trainer.

We were told that the old owners had to move home and couldn't find somewhere to rent that accepted dogs. Who knows what the actual truth is.
They'd had her for three years since she was a pup, that much is true.

I wouldn't call that resource guarding. I'd think of it more as territoriality. I have had similar experiences on a walk with a previous dog, not to the extent that it was problematic. Just enough to make me realise that it is a 'thing' with some dogs to behave differently when they have set up temporary camp in a space, rather than just passing through it.
6 weeks is very early days, and I would try and make sure you don't move ahead too fast with trying to get the dog to tolerate these halts during walks. Could you try having lots of very short halts, moving off before she rehearses the problem behaviour? It may be that stopping at cafes. etc, is something you have to leave until she is more settled.

Oh, OP. I think I remember your post about this originally and several posters said more unfavourable behaviour was likely to emerge because private rehouse are usually very dodgy. I won't bleet on about it, but it might be worth re-checking that post? There was some good advice on there from what I remember.

Honestly, I think this is going to be a matter of time and patience and recognising that this dog was probably not treated well or trained properly. You'll need to go back to basics with positive reinforcement, leaving her for only 10-20 seconds at a time and working up from there to deal with the SA.

On the other issues, some dogs just cannot handle too many stimuli at once, and they never can (one of mine is like this - likewise a rescue dog, age three). So this may well need to be something you just accept. However, lunging at other dogs - you need to muzzle here now before something serious happens. And get in a decent behaviourist - possibly even speak to your local vet practice as they might be able to recommend someone good.

I'd advise that you contact a qualified behaviourist (APBC) for advise. This could be a potentially very serious issue.

It sounds like she's incredibly overwhelmed and overstimulated and probably absolutely terrified to boot.

I think you need to really reduce the expectations you have of her. You've not even had her for two months yet and have no true idea of her background.

I know it's really difficult when your dog has separation anxiety and also can't really be taken out with you but the reality is you can't keep putting her in situations where she reacts because you're just reinforcing the behaviour.

I'm glad you're getting a behaviourist but until then I would just stop putting her in situations where you know she's uncomfortable, and unfortunately that probably means either staying home with her or socialising separately for now.

Whippets are sensitive souls and I expect the 'guarding' is simply her anxiety. 6 weeks is no time at all, she has been through a huge upheaval and sensitive dogs can take months to settle. All my dogs have been rehomed and it's often only after a year that their true personality shines. If you're stressing about it too it won't be helping.
I'd suggest just taking things slowly, give her the security she needs, praise her good behaviour and just try to relax with her. Time and patience can cure loads with sensitive dogs.

It's such early days. You need to try to manage her behaviour so don't allow her the opportunity to guard. It's not territorial. It's fear. Realistically you are looking at 6 - 12 month for a rehomed dog to settle.

It will get better but it's a case of manage, deep breath and crack on. It wouldn't hurt to counter condition her to other dogs so if one approaches chuck a treat on the floor near enough so she can eat it quickly. This has multiple benefits - sniffing for the treat is calming, dog = good thing and also can distract.

It would be worth you working with a trainer on this - you probably don't need a behaviourist as all good trainers would be able to advise.

I remember your first post. I won’t flog the point but private rehomes often are dodgy and I’d be very surprised if this was new behaviour.

Have you heard of the 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months rule? It can be good and bad, my rescue was very shut down so 3 months in his lovely funny personality had come out but so had his reactivity…

Id go for a behaviourist rather than a trainer if nothing else because it’s actually regulated.
A lot of trainers are awful and hide under the guise of being “balanced.” And while I fully subscribe to force free training you need to get the timing perfect or you’re just giving high value food to a scared dog.

Our dog showed similar behaviours as a puppy and was anxious etc.. went to the vet and we were referred to animal behaviourist. On the way out the vet receptionist recommended an Adaptil collar. Bought that and it really, really helped. With a few behaviour tips from internet based sources we didn't need the consultation with the behaviourist. I appreciate your dog is older, but it's worth a try.

Personally I won't start chucking treats on the floor around a dog who is already showing signs of stress - by all means hand feed them but if the approaching dog tries to go for the treat you've chucked, you could end up with a massive fight on your hands.

She likely feels more vulnerable while being sat at cafe etc as is on lead and will also have movement options blocked by more objects than when on a walk so when worried a dog may approach she'd rather try to scare them off than risk them getting up close when her escape is limited.
If she's anxious dog anyway it maybe her bucket overfills much quicker in that environment when there's a lot more going on to cope with than walking where sniffing and movement can naturally help to reduce stress.

It's hard when you need to take her everywhere due to separation anxiety but if make some sacrifices to deal with this now there's a chance she will improve, if keep putting her in situations that push her over threshold the fear can quickly spread and may end up with reactivity when sees dogs on walks too.
I'd seek a qualified behaviourist as I think you'd benefit from that general overview to help with her anxiety. It also helps having someone to observe owners behaviour as this can have a knock on effect as they are sensitive to our mood and body language, an anxious dog needs confident reassurance and trust built in owner to take care of things for them.

I've had a dog that was worried by some other dogs coming up to her and would lunge/snap if didn't like it so avoiding taking her to pubs/cafes and went out with own pack up or a drive thru pitstop when wet. Our girl gained confidence from our other dogs who were relaxed and she was a total foodie which helped as relatively easy to distract her focus back to me, but if too stressed they won't eat treats even if high value. Gradually we were able to add back in outdoor seating if decent spacing from dogs and later on in life quiet pubs indoors if not busy. She was worried by some men but kids fine

Thanks for all the replies everyone and for reminding me that I need to be patient 💙 I think I needed to be told that I am expecting too much from her and I will definitely stop putting her in situations that will make her anxious as much as possible! It's so sad seeing her stressed and frightened and then I get stressed and it's a vicious cycle.

I don't have time to respond to all these helpful replies but I've read them all and totally taking it all on board. I've contacted a few behaviourists who come well recommended and am hopefully setting something up ASAP so we can make sure we're doing everything we can to help her. She's such a sweet little thing when she's not scared 😭