Labrador Puppy Shutting Down.

We got our black Labrabor Ruby back in April and knew from the start that she was not in great shape, she had been taken from her mum too early, kept in the garden shed away from human contact and fed on rice pudding and wild boar meat! When we got her home she simply slept most of the time which we naively thought was brilliant seeing as our other dog wouldn't leave us alone when he was a puppy and when she was awake she sat in the garden by herself which we thought was just an independent streak. In the first few weeks of having her she refused any human touch, she didn't like to be stroked, held or cuddled but she is a little better now however.
Our main problem with Ruby is that she completely shuts down when it comes to leaving the house, if she hears the noise of her lead she bolts for the back door and tries to hide and if it is shut she just shuts down. I tried treats but she won't eat anything as she is in this zombie-like state, what I tend to do is just open the door and try and call her out of the house, it takes a while but she eventually runs out of the house and i have to scramble to grab her lead and then I basically drag her around the streets as she puts her head in every house, behind every bin and in car tyres, anything to avoid the walk!
Recently we have been going to fun dog events and while our other dog absolutely thrives in that sort of environment, Ruby tends to just sleep the whole day and not want to take part in anything. Whilst at a dog lead stall at an event yesterday, a woman who is a Ttouch practitioner told us that Ruby was VERY stressed and pointed out that she was not asleep but rather just doing the dog version of crawling into a ball and trying to escape from the environment. She identified some scurf on Ruby's back and said that it was a sign of stress in dogs. We were absolutely horrified! We thought that her sleeping all the time was just good behaviour.
Does anyone have any advice? I feel completely guilty and sad for her as I feel as though I've been making her do things that are just causing her stress and anxiety.
I'll also add that Ruby is really small for a Labrador and she cries a lot, for apparently no reason but it is definitely directed at me and at the weekend we drive to a nearby wood/pond which she really enjoys and is pretty much the only time that she seems carefree!

I really feel for you that must be awful, I wish i knew a bit more about dog behavour so i could advise.
What do you think it is that she likes about the wooded area? And could the woman at the show not shed anymore light on her distress?

I think Ruby likes being in the woods because it is away from the town and she gets to be off lead! Unfortunately to get to the woods she does have to leave the house and for some reason she hasn't made the link that if she leaves the house then she will get something good!
The woman at the show was really helpful but she didn't really tell us why she shuts down like she does, she did hint that she wasn't socialised by her mum properly because she was taken away from her. She was also asking if Ruby was a cross because of her size and also if she had anything wrong with her legs and head as she thought they were 'weird'...

First of all i'd get her checked over by the vet if you can just to make sure there are no major problems and it is all physcological.
Did you see Ruby with her mother when you got her and how old was she when you took her home?
In the woods does she come back to you when you call her?

Yeah I think a vet visit is definitely needed. Her mum wasn't with her when we got her, we were told that she had been born on their farm in Scotland and they had brought the puppies down here without mum. She was 8 weeks when we took her home and her recall is really good, she comes back fine when she is called!

Well in my opinion if her recall is good that would mean she hasn't got a problem with coming back to you and enjoys your company so i would eliminate that from the problem.
Let us know how you get on at the vets
Sorry i couldn't be of more help

Yes I definitely will let you know the outcome, maybe the vet will have some advice for us Thank you

Yes definatly get back to us with any more info, please.

I have a very similar problem with my rescued wheaten.
He just 'fake sleeps' all the time, I have to drag him into the kitchen to eat his dinner or he'd just 'sleep' all the time,
He won't play with toys, the only time he comes alive is with other dogs.
I have him booked him into vets on thursday for a blood test to see if ther's a medical reason for his 'idleness'.

Yes I agree that the first thing you should do is get a thorough vet check. I assume that Ruby's had all her vaccinations now ~ did the vet not say anything at that time about Ruby's size/weight/age & her head & legs being "weird"? I would recommend that you write down everything you can think of before you go to the vet about Ruby's strange behaviour, her diet, her excessive sleeping & "shut down" behaviour, her fears of going out & what she does to try to stop you taking her out. That way it's much easier to remember everything, because if you are in the vet's consulting room, with a fearful puppy that you'll be concentrating on, it's very easy to forget things.

If Ruby was 8 weeks old in April, that would make her about 6 to 7 months old now? Has she been spayed? You should be thinking of this about now, so you could also use the vet visit as the pre-neutering check up.

Has Ruby always been like this about going out or has something happened that could have caused this behaviour?

With the sleeping lots ~ I would definitely mention this to the vet, especially as the amount of sleeping does sound abnormal & excessive.

It sounds as though Ruby has had a very poor start in life, possibly without the much-needed input from mother & siblings. This can have quite profound effects in later life, both physically & emotionally. If your vet cannot find anything physically or medically wrong, then I would suggest trying to find a good behaviourist that uses ONLY positive reinforcement (I don't think Ruby's in any state to cope with any punishment or negative reinforcement/punishment at this age & given her fearful state). If you PM me, I can recommend someone in Essex area who would be extremely good & understanding in these particular circumstances & who also has access to holistic veterinary advice, so they could treat all aspects of Ruby's problems.

For the time being, & until you can get some professional advice, I would suggest that you don't keep forcing Ruby to go out on walks. You won't stop her being fearful by forcing the issue, until you can get to the root of her problems & know what you are doing. And definitely don't take her anywhere that causes the "shut down" type behaviour you describe. Concentrate on doing the things that Ruby enjoys & can cope with. Maybe indoor games, or in the garden, if she can manage that.

Good luck with her ~ let us know how you get on.

I have a fearful dog and a previously fearful one. What I have found is that you need to allow the dog to set the pace.
I agree with the lady you spoke to that the dog was finding the stress very hard. However, it`s never to late to start a different method.
It may take months for your dog to gain enough confidence to go to town with you, but there`s no rush, is there?

Take your time and don`t put any pressure on the dog. Let her come to you, and gently reward if she does. Don`t encourage it - that adds to the stress.
Every time your dog makes a step towards you she is making a huge progress. Please give her time. And ask visitors to ignore her.
Don`t take her out to places she fears till she`s ready - the reason being that every time she is forced to confront her fear it makes them stronger.
I know I could force Raz my traumatised GSD out for a walk. But he would simply submit and tremble all the way. The fear would still be there and nothing would be gained.

There is a good support group for fearful dogs` owners - I can`t link here as Dogsey software blocks links to other forums, but it`s a Yahoo group called shy - k9s (no spaces round the hyphen).

TBH I doubt the vet can help apart from maybe recommend a behaviourist. If you do get a behaviourist, please get one with a proven track record and proper qualifications.

This is one of their advice posts on your current dilemma - hope it helps. PM me if you need a link

Many if not most dogs will become worse if forced to face their fears too quickly, and it's so hard to know over the internet the degree of our listmates' dogs' problems, or their degree of bite inhibition.

Think about it. Imagine you're afraid of spiders. Would you be more likely to learn to tolerate spiders if you were allowed to approach them at your own pace, perhaps accompanied by your favorite things in the world and perhaps starting with a cute, stuffed spider, then a picture of a spider, then a really small spider in an escape-proof
aquarium, and so on.
Or would your phobia more quickly extinguish if you were dragged screaming into a room crawling with large, hairy tarantulas, then heard the door lock behind you.

Some definitions that people working with shy dogs should know:
Desensitization:
Exposure to a feared object slightly below the threshold of fear. Remain at this level until completely relaxed. This is the "stuffed spider" treatment described above.

Counter-conditioning:
Sub-threshold exposure to feared object, paired with something absolutely wonderful, creating similar classically-conditioned response to feared object as to Wonderful Thing. Stuffed spider plus chocolate! Method of choice for most trainers working
with fearful dogs.

Flooding:
Exposure to feared object at a level that produces some fear response, (slightly super-threshold) but remaining in place until all fear is gone. It's a real spider, but
you know it can't escape. You don't leave the room until you're relaxed, even if it takes hours. Hard to manipulate all variables to be only "slightly over-threshold." You may just sit in the corner of the room quaking in fear indefinitely if there's a spider in it. Also extremely risky because if you are too far over threshold, there may be no time when all fear is gone, and if you leave before that point, you risk:

Sensitization:
Opposite of desensitization. Despite exposure to feared object at a fixed distance, animal becomes more fearful each time. BE CAREFUL of this with your shy dogs, people! If things are getting worse you're probably sensitizing them. You're brought into the arachnophobia therapist's room for your third session with the same tiny spider in the aquarium and you are sweating and ready to run away before you even enter the office, much worse than you were in session 1 or 2.
You risk sensitization when you force dogs over threshold, for example, by carrying them into feared situations. I recognize that sometimes there's no way around it, but IMHO, this sort of treatment should be minimalized, much better to use desensitization and counterconditioning, and help our shy dogs learn to enjoy or at least tolerate the things that scare them now. You risk blowing your dog's trust in you if you are perpetually flooding them. Better to leave these calls for the professionals who are working with these dogs, not to just throw out potentially risky advice to strangers on the 'net.

Pam Reid's book, Excel-erated Learning, goes into all of this in much better detail than I ever could. Highly recommended reading.