boosboss Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Ok, I'll start at the beginning. Last september my sister rehomed Rosie, an ex-breeding westie. Since the beginning, Rosie has been afraid of my 18 year old nephew Jamie, but is fine with my sister, my neice, my mum and well any other women. If Jamie enters a room, Rosie leaves (she does venture back in after a while). If he gets up from sitting, she shakes, spins and hides. If he goes upstairs, she barks like mad and spins. Jamie is away at university during the week and is home every week-end. Rosie settles down again by tuesday, then starts getting anxious thursday evening. She knows he's coming back friday! Jamie was home for a month over Christmas and Rosie got worse. He tried to walk her, but she just froze and wouldn't walk. She won't take food from him and if he puts her food down, she'll wait for him to leave the room before eating it. Jamie is a big lad, he's over 6' a bit gangly and clumsy (not to the point of treading on the dog though). He also moves quickly, jumps up, flops down, is loud etc. typical teenager really. He's tried to be calmer around Rosie, tried ignoring her etc, but nothing is helping. Jamie is starting to dread coming home as he hates the way it's affecting Rosie. He feels like he's being cruel by just being there! Jamie has also started to avoid playing with Boo and Gyp, both of whom he adores as he's afraid that they may change towards him. It really does seem to be men in general that Rosie is afraid of. She won't come near me either, but isn't quite so terrrified. Any idea on how to deal with this situation will be more than welcome. My sister has emailed the rescue behaviourist and is currnetly awaiting a response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katie92 Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Ok, I'll start at the beginning. Last september my sister rehomed Rosie, an ex-breeding westie. Since the beginning, Rosie has been afraid of my 18 year old nephew Jamie, but is fine with my sister, my neice, my mum and well any other women. If Jamie enters a room, Rosie leaves (she does venture back in after a while). If he gets up from sitting, she shakes, spins and hides. If he goes upstairs, she barks like mad and spins. Jamie is away at university during the week and is home every week-end. Rosie settles down again by tuesday, then starts getting anxious thursday evening. She knows he's coming back friday! Jamie was home for a month over Christmas and Rosie got worse. He tried to walk her, but she just froze and wouldn't walk. She won't take food from him and if he puts her food down, she'll wait for him to leave the room before eating it. Jamie is a big lad, he's over 6' a bit gangly and clumsy (not to the point of treading on the dog though). He also moves quickly, jumps up, flops down, is loud etc. typical teenager really. He's tried to be calmer around Rosie, tried ignoring her etc, but nothing is helping. Jamie is starting to dread coming home as he hates the way it's affecting Rosie. He feels like he's being cruel by just being there! Jamie has also started to avoid playing with Boo and Gyp, both of whom he adores as he's afraid that they may change towards him. It really does seem to be men in general that Rosie is afraid of. She won't come near me either, but isn't quite so terrrified. Any idea on how to deal with this situation will be more than welcome. My sister has emailed the rescue behaviourist and is currnetly awaiting a response. Sorry I dont have much advice. Just wanted to send Rosie lots of hugs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted February 7, 2009 Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Hi, I have been through the same problem with my semi-feral dog Chloe. She would back away, bark and growl whenever men came near her, she was slightly better with women but not perfect. It has been a long hard road that has taken about 3 years to travel along and still if she has a stressful time with new experiences she will regress to some of her old behaviours but most of the time she just appears to be a normal dog. You need to start with the person who she feels most at ease with and that person will be the one who rewards her to start with for the good behaviours and you have got to work within her comfort zone to start with. So if her comfort zone is Jamie somewhere just about within eyesight, then that is where you start. It sounds as if you have tried to go a little too fast with Rosie and therefore you need to back off. I think seeking guidance from someone experienced so that they can guide you first hand is a good idea if you were nearer I would be more than happy to help but I am afraid I am in Derbyshire and therefore waaay to far away to be of practical help. Good luck - you will get there - it just takes patience Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosboss Posted February 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2009 Thanks Katie Thanks Anne, will pass this on to my sis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizzie Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 We've fostered several dogs who were quite phobic about men (and have adopted two) As Anne says it's just time and patience and gradually things begin to improve, although you have to let the dog set the pace and only push the boundaries a tiny bit occasionally. Things that have helped us are :- Giving the dog a safe place to retreat to - we've used a crate & gradually moved it from utlity room into the lounge with us Being completely normal & happy with our other dogs, eventually the timid one learns from this & gains confidence Using a lead indoors. If the nervous dog has been happy with me I have let them sit on lead by me while the person they are scared of has quietly entered the room & sat down Encourage Jamie to stay positive. He's actually helping her on her way to a more normal life where it is quite hard to avoid men forever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosboss Posted February 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 I saw Rosie yesterday and just like sods law, she was a different dog! She sat happily by Jamie's side, played like mad with Gyp even when Jamie was there and came to me to be petted. I'm sure this is just a blip and she'll be back to how she was before, so we're not going to be running before we can walk. My sis will be taking all the suggestions onboard and working hard to resolve the problem. Thanks again and more suggestions welcome. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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