Advice Please/leaving Seker alone/ her behaviour since the accident.

Hi All, for those of you that know the story of my dog seker, she is now 100% ok. We seem to be having two problems with her at the moment and wonder if anyone could shed some light.. Its probably normal after what she has been through but here goes.
She Barks and anyone and anything, even the slightest little noise and it sets her off, she hates cats, other dogs and very strangely - children. She has never harmed any of the mentioned but can get vicious with her growls, bares her teeth etc. She is very protective of us and her property and wont let anyone come near.
The other problem we have, is that she is very very whiny, she cries a lot, it was very hard to leave her for a second after her accident and i am wondering whether i may have caused this by being with her ALL the time? I dont leave her now as i am afraid to so basically we have no life as seker is with us everywhere we go. Am I doing things wrong, can can I stop feeling bad when I leave her and see her cute little face starring up at me? If anyone has any advice about what I can do please can you help me

Thanks so much
Laura

Hi Laura I am delighted Seker has made such a great recovery. I will split this reply into two ...
Firstly leaving Seker alone,
Dogs are very social animals and I think it is natural for them to dislike being alone, some cope better with separation than others , I think this depends partly on their disposition and also how they have been taught to cope with separation from being puppies. Because of the accident Seker will have got used to the extra attention so being left may be difficult for her to cope with, I would now try to get her used to your absences gradually.

What you want to achieve is to teach Seker...
..your not being there is no big deal,
..when you leave you will always return,
..when you are with her she will not automatically get your attention all the time,
..she will get attention when you are ready,

You can only do slowly and it may take some time.
First take Seker out to relieve herself, then using the room she spends the most time in and where her bed is, go out of the room closing the door and ignoring her (The bed should be comfortable with a toy and something you have worn like socks or a tee shirt).
..after a moment return to the room and do something like going in the cupboards still ignoring Seker, no word no eye contact,
...go in and out of the room a few times always shutting the door and ignoring Seker both when you leave the room and return, also try to go back only when she is quiet, if she is making a noise wait for a moment until it stops.
...eventually go back in the room and perform some task or sit with a book still ignoring Seker, remember no word no eye contact,
...when she is quiet and not bothering you speak to her and give her lots of praise,
...you need to do this exercise a few times each day, vary the length of time when you are out of the room and gradually increase it. Progress to leaving the house for a few moments following the same ignore/no fuss routine.

Also try leaving the radio on with a voice programme, this will mask the sound of your movements and be comforting for Seker.
If you have not already done so get an interesting toy to occupy her like the ones with small holes that allow treats to fall through.

Seker is still very young, gradually her confidence should grow and she should find your being away less stressful.

There are advanced forms of desensitisation to absence using 'cues' but I think these are best demonstrated by a behaviourist.

Laura again the accident and its aftermath have taken up a large part of Sekers early months, this is a time when she should have been learning her socialisation skills. Also she may have felt the need to protect herself from further pain,this could have made her fearful of unknown situations/things

Seker needs to be taken out as much as possible to places where there are other dogs / children/sights and sounds while she is still young. Children should not approach her, instead ask them to crouch down and call her to them then give her a tipbit so that she learns children are a good thing. Do you have any puppy /training classes around there where Seker can go to meet other puppies and learn to read their body language ?
If she hears a noise that scares her it is best not to react in any way, pretend you have not heard it or you may reinforce her uncertainty.

Here is an article about shy dogs that may help you.
http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=8050

Mini haha thank you so much for taking the time to write such a long note, i have learnt so much from it and will certainly take you up on everything that you have mentioned. Before I got seker i did do lot of reading up on pupies and dogs to make sure that I ws making the right decision, unfortunately those books dont prepare you for the worst to happen but luckily with lots of love, help and patience seker pulled through and we are so lucky to have her here today. I will keep reading and looking things up as no amount of knowledge is too much. Thanks again for all your help, you have been great.

Laura

i can't add anything to what Mini has said, fantastic post again Mini! I just wanted to say good luck, it sounds like you will get there as you sound like a very dedicated owner. Keep us posted!

Hi again, just one more thing that i forgot to mention in my post, I am going home to the uk for a couple of weeks to see my family for christmas, i know this will be a hard time for seker and my absence may cause her some stress, is there anything that i can do to comfort her through this time (there will be people around her who she is close with)
Thanks again

I have read, that if you are leaving your dog in kennels or somewhere different that they don't know, it's best not to leave them with too many familiar things. The temptation of course, is to leave them with cuddlies, clothing, bedding to remind them of home, which of course it will and so it can take longer for them to settle to a new environment. I don't know how true it is, but it does make sense. I don't know where you are leaving her, if it isn't in your home, then I would say, don't be tempted to leave her too many reminders, let her settle to her temporary residence which she will do within a couple of days. Get her carers to treat her normally and not cosset her too much, as hard as that may sound or be. She will be fine and surprise you, once she realises she is still being fed, still getting tickles and still has somewhere warm and safe to sleep, she'll be absolutely fine. :smt002
Hope this helps!
Axxxxx

Oh thats so reassuring to hear thanks. Thankfully my partner is looking after her at our home and I can guarantee that she will be getting tickles, treats and lots of love and affection!! Its so funny how much one small little dog can make you so happy in life.