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Paul G.
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27-04-2006, 12:06 PM

"Fly" - A case study

I've asked for advice in the past in dealing with my rather timid 4 year old rescue Border Collie. You may recall that she is a "one man dog" who fears and rejects all other people. My thanks to everyone who replied, many of your ideas have proved helpful.
A local veterinary student specialising in animal behaviour has now agreed to carry out a case study on this rather unusual dog. Hopefully some useful information will emerge as a result. I'll let you know as we progress.
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bluemerle lover
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27-04-2006, 12:27 PM
aww im so glad that you have got someone top envolved to study your dog wish youiboth all the luck and look forward to hearing of her progress
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alexandra
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27-04-2006, 01:05 PM
good luck, kep us posted!
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Flipper
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27-04-2006, 02:32 PM
Originally Posted by Paul G.
I've asked for advice in the past in dealing with my rather timid 4 year old rescue Border Collie. You may recall that she is a "one man dog" who fears and rejects all other people. My thanks to everyone who replied, many of your ideas have proved helpful.
A local veterinary student specialising in animal behaviour has now agreed to carry out a case study on this rather unusual dog. Hopefully some useful information will emerge as a result. I'll let you know as we progress.
Sounds like my dog, scared of life in general, shes fine with me...now....took months though, is there a link for another thread about your dogs issues, Id be interested to read it.

Thanks
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Molly2606
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27-04-2006, 04:42 PM
Good luck keep us posted
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Paul G.
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28-04-2006, 02:27 PM
The original threads are long expired but the story briefly is this :-
Fly came last summer from a dog pound in Wales and was brought to Hertfordshire by a local rescue society. We don't know her background but she was in an extremely poor state of nerves. No-one could do anything with her, she just crouched on the ground and trembled. I was a volunteer dog walker at that time and managed to take her out for a few short walks in the woods where it was quiet. After only four or five of these short sessions, a total of no more than three hours, she suddenly became attached to me, like glue, it was instant. I don't know why it happened, I didn't work at it and I have no special skills with dogs, others had tried and failed. Of course I had to adopt her and she has been with us now for about 9 months. Right from the beginning she has been completely normal with me, happy, lively and responsive, good on the lead, easy to train, relaxed in traffic and in vehicles etc. almost the ideal pet. However, two things stand out. Firstly she is fanatically attached, in other words she won't leave my side if at all possible even for a moment and follows me everywhere, place to place, room to room. If I get up out of a chair she tries to guess which way I'm going and often runs ahead to avoid being left behind. Secondly, and this is more of a problem, she won't allow any other person near her. There is no agression, she just keeps her distance or hides behind furniture or bushes. She won't take food or attention from anyone but me. This even applies to my wife, who has endless patience and understanding, and although some progress is being made there is still a long way to go. We have just started taking her to training classes, maily to get her used to other people and other dogs. Strangely enough she is a star at obidience, agility courses etc. just as long as people don't try to approach her. Its very odd indeed. No-one has yet come up with an explanation for this behaviour, nor a remedy (if there is one). The theory is perhaps not that she has been abused but has been brought up in isolation by perhaps just one person. Maybe I'm the replacement, we simply don't know. Things are improving slowly with time but I guess she will always be a "one man dog". I have had other Collies in the past. As a breed they tend to be very loyal to their master but I have never seen such instant and obsessive devotion before. In one way its quite rewarding but I would much prefer her to be at ease with the world in general. Do you have any ideas ?
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Trixy
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29-04-2006, 12:50 AM
All the best
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Vicki
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29-04-2006, 06:06 AM
I have a similar problem with Mya, but on a smaller scale. She was a kennel bitch, and is fine with all other dogs, just terrified of people. It's hard work, but I've seen a big improvement in the three weeks we've had her with us. She is much better with us now, but still totally petrified of strangers. Walking her is not pleasant when there are people about, and unfortunately, apart from first thing in the morning, there are usually some about. We're hoping she'll improve. Her case is not as severe as your dog, and I wish you luck with her - she sounds delightful
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Flipper
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29-04-2006, 01:52 PM
Fly does sound very similar to my dog although she is a basket case with everything, traffic, trash cans, butterflies flying too close.

One of the theories I came up with is that she may have been a feral dog, then maybe trapped....then maybe the fear issue wasnt something that whoever had her could handle so she was maybe tied up in a yard somewhere with little to no human attention, I dont think she had ever been inside a house before as everything was scary to her, the TV, the flooring, a cup on the table...it took months before she would relax if something was 'out of place' or like if I brought in a new plant or ornament and placed it where nothing had been before, I bought a small centre peice ornament for the coffee table....she wouldnt come near the coffee table for about a week, just approached it cautiously, staring at the centre peice and then bolted away again. Shes improving slowly.

Its interesting that you mention the agility, with my dog, she is absolutely great with other dogs (no question that she was adequately socialized with dogs, her body language and ability to read other dogs is spot on), the shelter that she was at has enclosures that the dogs spend most of the day in, she would be in there with about 6 or 7 other dogs, always happy, running around, playing, jumping up on top of the dog houses in there...as long as there are no humans around. Ive been wanting to take her to agility classes, I think it will give her something else to focus on rather than 'all the scary humans around her'....which in turn will desensitze her. Unfortunately there is nothing in the area I live, the closest place is about 10 miles away 'off the beaten track' so no buses going there and I dont have a car. (Hopefully that'll be changing in the not too distant future though).

She will now take certain treats from other people but only if Im right there....I taught her to 'take it'....just a little trick we do, real basic, I put a treat down in front of her, tell her 'leave' and then tell her 'take it'....its only since shes got the hang of this that she will now take something from someone else. When I first brought this dog home....it had taken a week or so of working with her daily....or rather being in her run at the shelter with her, before she would actually keep still long enough for me to touch her, anyway, I brought her home and it was 3 days before she would eat anything at all, spent the first 2 days trembling in her crate although I managed to get her outside for walks....soon as we got back in and the leash came off....straight back to trembling in the crate, I actually had tears in my eyes the first time she played with a ball (took about 4 months), and I cant even tell you how happy I was the day she ventured that extra step from the hallway onto the tiled floor in the kitchen and stuck her nose in the trash.....I was like "YES.....she did a normal 'dog thing'"

Thinking about Fly and the way she attached herself to you, I have a theory on that (and not to discount your own in any way), Ive seen this happen with dogs that have been passed around a lot from home to home, generally a dog with abadonment issues will tend to take a bit longer to bond to anyone, sometimes they never do manage to form a good bond but there are some that will instantly attach themselves to a particular person and there are difficulties in trying to get them to accept another person as a 'safe' person but I havent seen a case yet where it cant be worked on, it takes a loooong time, a lot of patience and perseverence.

When your at the training/agility how is she if your wife takes the leash? I would think that would be a good way to go about desensitzing her, when she's comfortable with your wife see how she is with someone else and rotate people. You mentioned a veterinary student that has taken Fly on as a case study, does he/she come over to your house to make observations etc. If not would that be a possibility?

I wish you all the very best of luck with Fly, a lot of people for one reason or another cant take on a dog with severe psychological problems or sometimes they give up too soon.

BTW, Ive had Krissie since last July and she was showing some good improvement but then in December I had to go away for about 2 months, she was boarded at the shelter while I was away, my friend who works there said she could interact with her for the first couple of weeks...to a point, but then she reverted back to the way she was before, by the time I got back near the end of January it was almost like we had to start all over again.
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