Lucy did it!
We have slowly but surely been building her confidence in not only herself, but also in us. She has learned to trust people, that Mommy and Daddy will protect her (that she does not need Oliver to do that), and that she is safe in our home. One major feat that we had not been able to accomplish is walking alone however...until this weekend. While it may seem like a small feat for many, I am so, so happy that my big girl went for a walk with Mommy this weekend. No Oliver, no Daddy, just Mommy and Lucy.  Way to go Lucy! I'm so proud of you!  |
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| veru cool lucy good job |
| Well done all of you. I can well imagine how much work you've put in with Lucy, you rock.   |
Mim wrote: Well done all of you. I can well imagine how much work you've put in with Lucy, you rock. Thanks Mim, I'm sure others would have gotten to this point faster, but at least we are here! She has overcome alot in the past year (her severe anxiety to noices and objects being out the norm;yes, walking on trash day was a nightmare for months). We have a ways to go, but I am so proud for how far we've come! |
Congrats to you and Lucy!  A big accomplishment! |
| YIPPEE!!! |
| What a good girl!!! |
| Beautiful work...all the little successes add up. Walking without Oliver is a huge step. Good for you for having the patience to to see Lucy through this challenge. peg & pup howie |
That is wonderful!!!  Fighting those ingrained phobias is hard work. Maybe now she can start going and doing some fun stuff without her brother - that will really cement her new independence. Even though we had Riley from a puppy, he never was that brave and very reliant on another "family member" dog going with him on outings. It made me just as happy when he got over his car anxieties this past year and was able to go to rally class all by himself and have a good time. It is HUGE! |
| I admire your patience and admire Lucy for being so brave! |
| Congratulations on your victory...those of us that have furkids with particular problems appreciate how special this is for you! I have a question...how do you make a dog more confident? My Maggie who is 2 1/2 has been submissive since getting her from the breeder at 8 wks. We took her to training and still she continued to roll over when approaced by human or dog? I ignored it and still nothing. Rosie was 8 and of course in charge when Maggie came to us and I always felt that was part of it as she always approaches Rosie with tail down and cautiously. They sleep together, hang out together go out together etc...I have spent individual time with Maggie and tried really hard to make her feel confident...just don't know what else to do? I have read alot and some say it happened at the breeder by her place in the litter? I have to feed her in separate room also as several times she has attacked Rosie when around food...makes no sense since she acts submissive most of the time. She is scared of any new object in the house as well...a box will make her bark and act like it's something bad. We moved the grandchild's crib to another room and she would sleep with it in the room??? She has been great with the baby and 2 year old until Zoe started jumping, running and talking loudly...she actually backed up and growled like she was going to bite her the other day...this after 2 years being great with her? I have since gated her when Zoe visits now as I can't predict what she will do and certainly don't want Zoe bitten. Please give me tips on how to make her more confident and less submissive? I know a scared, submissive dog can be just as dangerous as an aggressive dog. My husband and daughter think I am being overly cautious as she loves Zoe and has always been so good with her. I just know as Zoe has become louder and more active Maggie seems to be afraid of the behavior and it's hard to explain to a 2 years old not to run, sing loudly etc.. |
| Thanks everyone, we are so proud of her! My goal is to eventually get her into agility. I think she'd really enjoy it. It's been difficult to train her though, as we would generally just sign up for some group classes. She is terrified of those situations, so we have to do 1-on-1 training. lhall15 wrote: I have a question...how do you make a dog more confident? Lucy's situation is a bit different then yours. She isn't submissive, she is just terrified. If something scares her, she tries to run away from it. Our first step was to teach her that Mommy and Daddy will protect her. If something scared her we touched her, stepped between her and the object she was terrified of, and quickly walked away from it. This really worked for us. We eventually got to the point where we could back off the "protecting" and encourage her to explore the new object. I'd walk up to it, touch it, talk in the high-pitched voice she likes, and praise her like crazy when she investigated it. New people were another big issue for her. We don't make her go to anyone. Lucy decides when she's ready to meet new people. We tell anyone coming into our house to let Lucy come to you; don't force her to meet you. She's never growled, snarled, or barked at anyone, but you never know what a scared dog will do. It used to take days for her to meet a new house guest, now it's generally within 10-15 minutes of them being at our house. We also have a 2-year old niece. Lucy still isn't too fond of her for reasons you mentioned above. Kylie just knows that she can play with Oliver, but to leave Lucy alone. Kylie has been taught from day 1 how to act around dogs. My sis is really good about teaching her too. If Kylie is being too rambunctious, she doesn't get to pet the puppy. Still, we never allow them to be unsupervised, but Kylie just knows now. Every week hubby and I each take one sheepie for special time. Sometimes it's just playing one-on-one in the backyard, sometimes it's a walk in a new park, or going for ice-cream. Every special time is controlled, fun, and has lots of praise. For Lucy's situation I really think much of what we've done stems back to her knowing hubby and I will protect her. Oliver being a social butterfly (literally loves every cat, toad, person, dog he meets) has helped too. I have to give props to him, he is terrific big brother. I think you have to figure out what works for Maggie. Pick her situations apart; I'm not an expert (I'm actually a newbie at this kind of thing) but, it seems like Maggie has a few different issues that she needs help with. Good luck. It takes a lot of time and patience, but it's so wonderful to seem them blossom! |
| YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FOR LUCY! |
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