Scared of everything Chow Chow

[norwichdogtrainer]

Hi I have a client to see the end of this week with a Chow Chow that is ""afraid of everything", telephone boxes, wheelie bins, bus shelters and more! I cant find anything on this, Chows should be headstrong, wilful and stubborn, that I can deal with, but this is something different. Let me give you what I have so far from my conversation with the owner :
Fine off the lead, great with other dogs, doesn't like people though.
Terrible on the lead, tail down, anxious fearful and unhappy.
Pulls on the lead.
Jumps up a lot, big greeting ritual, especially the to the mum (owner).
Barks at everything when in the house.
Barks at visitors, but will not approach, just barks and runs away.
Brilliant with child
Not a resource guarder
No problems with food, toys or treats, willingly gives them up
Owner has had 2 x Chows before, this dog is 9 months old, and from Russia, (cost the owner £1500 so far) and has been in house for 4 months, with owner, husband and 8 month old child. Was held up for three days in Europe due to passport problems and not delivered by the person it should have been, but brought to UK by a third party (two Polish 'blokes') in a small crate, in the back of a van, and delivered at 2am in the morning, (maybe the first clue?).

Please let me know what you think, all ideas welcome
Phil

[lucyandbella]

I'm in between classes right now I'm sure others will have good advice but the best thing I have trained my afraid of everything dog as far as fear of objects is kikopups check it out. If something scares her on a walk now she immediately looks at me and I give her the check it out cue and she will happily investigate. It has gotten her over her fear of trash cans, garden statues, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5BjvNScFPs

Note this is for inanimate objects only, not to get a dog to greet a human or other animal. My dog too is afraid of everything, in that she is scared of ANYTHING new, even a cereal box. Once she has seen it and investigated it she generally is no longer afraid unless she sees it in a different area/context, then she is afraid again until she has a chance to investigate/get used to it. After using this method, with lots of treats and praise she will now investigate things herself sometimes, like if something falls she used to run to her crate and hide, she now goes to see what made the noise and even will sniff it.

[norwichdogtrainer]

Thanks for the link Lucy went some way to help but the problem runs deeper, I've seen the Chow and sure enough it's tail was down the whole time we were out for a walk, only briefly coming over its back when off the lead. It also displayed anxiety at several pieces of street furniture, particularly the green cable tv boxes that BT, Virgin and Sky use for cable routing in the UK, (I suspect the dog can hear and smell the electrics). As usual most of the dogs fear was the owner tensing when approaching regular items that triggered the dogs behaviour, but there were other items such as a fallen branch, an empty poo bag, and a plastic bottle that also spooked her. When I arrived the dog was a barker and groaner (not a growler) and was simply telling me to clear off, this presented as fear anxiety when we went for the walk, but after it had been off lead for a while I was slowly accepted and could give treats and eventually was allowed to touch her, but when we arrived home (with me walking her on lead) I entered the house first and she was ok until I got ready to leave, and the barking and groaning returned. It only presents in men and I believe that comes from her journey to the UK (see above), I think that due to the delay in customs, the two Polish men (who were coming to the UK anyway) agreed to bring the dog over just for the cash. The dog arrived in a crate so small she could only just stand up in it and her fur was "poking out both the sides of the crate" according to the owner. I also suspect the two men were not great dog lovers and may have put the dog on the lead just to go to the toilet and were either verbally or even physically abusive toward the dog, and that's where the lead anxiety comes from? Guess work I know. The other fears I believe are purely down to the fact that her first 20 weeks of life were confined to a kennel in Russia, the owner has photos of her in a run with a grass area and a kennel, that's all, so she has never seen street furniture or litter etc., confirmed by her wariness in traffic and response to motorbikes and heavy lorries.
My advice? Among other things the first was to concentrate on training at home, using part of her daily dry food as treats so as not to overfeed her. The only snag there was teaching the 'Sit', as the owner wants to show her and not have her sit in the ring . Second was to keep the walks short and away from bad stimuli and traffic for a while, trips to the park and off lead areas can be done by car for now. I've asked the owner to be calmer and watch her body language, not to hesitate or react to anything that spooks the dog, and to lead by example, and simply ignoring anything that causes anxiety. The only thing I don't want to happen is that the Chow gets confident and turns into a Chow I think it may be a good idea to continue to use her wariness to our advantage. I say that because at the moment she is great off lead and never goes too far so her recall is brilliant, so un Chow! Would love to hear your comments and will answer any questions.
Phil

[ScarletSci]

Short on time, so can only briefly mention something for now, but I'm wondering about this showing idea. I realise she's spent a lot of money on a dog presumably for this purpose, but this doesn't sound like a dog who would love the show ring!

I understand her potential disappointment, because I really wanted to train my spaniel as a PAT therapy dog, and while she'd be suited to it in many ways, right now I know it isn't right for her. She's friendly enough with people, but still a tad nervous if strangers pat her head or are too keen to meet her - not PAT material right now. Perhaps when she's older. But I've given up on that dream for now, because while I would love to do it, I have to do what's right for the dog, not for me. As Nettle so rightly says, you have to work with the dog that's in front of you, not your dream of what you think the dog should be.

From a quick scan it sounds to me as though you're on the right track. I hope someone more experienced in this area will come along soon with some more ideas. Good luck!