When I rehomed Totts she was very nervous and timid. She wouldnt even sleep lying down! I dont know if the things I done were wrong or I should be recommending but its the little things that worked for me. So if you dont feel comfortable trying them please dont!

Totts was scared of everything and everyone. we used "positive" stroking which is meant to make her feel good about herself. Apparantly if you rub under the chin and chest upwards its meant to make them more confident. Just something I was told, dont know the theory. But with Totts when you storked her her ears would lie flat against her head. Apparantly your to avoid stroking the top of the head because its worrying for them. Stroking her that way they wouldnt.

Rather than towering over her on recall we would get down to her level. This still works today. (Should note she is a JRT cross-possibly chihuahua or patterdale)We lie flat on our back and call her, it think its less threatening. Possibly shows submissive. She is still unsure of my partner, he needs to do this to get her to recall. Of course this is not practical outside but its just temporary until can progress. Would only do this when alone with the pup so you have each others complete focus, and to be honest im not to sure about it altogether because it is putting yourself into a vulnerable position. It was due to the extremety of Totts nerves that we used it, but it worked with her. (only had to do this for a very short period of time until she realised that good things happened when she cam to us, never bad. Would only do this in our house, she didnt get off-lead until had 100% recall.)

We done bags and bags of positive reinforcement training. She had no training prior. It worked wonders with her. She loves her training now and is very eager to please. She is now top in her class (which is the highest level training class)

She would never come near us. Now she spends majority of her time cuddled into me on the sofa (she waits till I allow her to come up). She nudges me for strokes now.

I used positive reinforcement to start teaching her how to play.

The last big step with me and totts was to do something extreme after building some trust. We climbed Ben Nevis. Obviously i would never recommend anyone to do that but maybe something simalair like agility or something that requires working as a team and building on the trust established.

everything was baby steps but I have a totally different dog now. Wish the people who owned her before could see how much they damaged her.

Dont know if any of that will help, but as I say just what has worked for me. Get in touch anytime if you need to. I know how difficult it can be.

Probably complete jibberish but I can empathise so even if a tiny fraction of that helps, worth it.

not that i know of.. he is with me all the time, i have older children who are great with him and he plays with them, i just find it rather sad that he is worried with us. I have just been in the kitchen and just randomly stroked his mum which she loves then i bent to stroke him, his tail went in between his legs and was unsure. So i stopped and carried on what i was doing, he jumped up and wanted more fuss, so i tried again to stroke him on his back or head and again he looked and acted worried ... oh well i will just persevere and hope he will get more confidence as he matures.. thanks for your help x

Something to try - instead of bending over him to stroke him, try crouching down to his level and then an under chin tickle rather than the top of his head just to see if it makes a difference.

That's such a lovely tale & very well done to you for helping your dog overcome her fears. It's so good to hear about kind people like you that show such understanding ~ sounds like you've done a fantastic job with Totts & congratulations for climbing Ben Nevis too!