Rescue Advice - how to help a scared dog with behaviour/training issues

Alfie does a lot of quirky things, often he brings bits of washing into the living room from the laundry room and I normally just pick it up and put it back in the basket or machine and gently tell him no. He doesn't destroy anything so it isn't a big deal, but I am trying to show him that he shouldn't do it. Anyway, he did it again tonight and I said 'what are you doing Alfie' in my normal voice, not raised or anything, got up to pick up the washing and he just cowered and tried to cuddle me when when I was on the floor picking the washing up - and proceeded to wee on me in the process! I didn't tell him off for it, as he was scared enough. The thing is, when he does something that he shouldn't, he cowers and wets himself and we never tell him off harshly, we are very calm and gently but do tell him no or naughty and he seems to understand. He gets very clingy afterwards, like as if to apologise/seek reassurance.

I would be interested to hear from anybody with rescue experience or experience in dealing with this sort of issue who can tell me if this behaviour does ever change or if this is just the way he is now. Also, what is the best way of telling him off for something if he is like this? We do not even raise our voices to him and he needs to know when he shouldn't do things. He will put anything in his mouth, he doesn't destroy things, just likes to carry things around! We have given him a meerkat and a pheasant which has helped a bit, but he still picks things up, anything including magazines and coffee cups!! Seriously! We have 'baby' proofed our house as much as possible....

If he picks up something he shouldnt and we ask him to leave it or say no, he clamps on it harder and starts to shudder and wet himself. It takes ages to get things off him and not even the offer of cat food helps him to release! I feel awful as we have never treated him badly at all or shouted at him or given him any reason to react like this, but of course he has a past that I cannot alter. I just wonder if it is something we can repair and what the best way of going about this is.

poor guy!!
I would say firstly forget the idea of telling him off at all, he isnt being bad he dosent know

Teach things like 'leave it' and 'give' away from these stressful thing, as a training exercise using things he is alowed to have

For example for a leave it I teach it by holding something pretty boring like a bit of kibble in my open hand
If he comes close to the open hand I close it over. when he moves away I click and reward with something FAR nicer from the other hand

In a couple of goes he should start turning his head away when you show him the treat - then you can start to say 'leave it' and reward for him turning his head away
Then move the hand a little
put the treat on the floor (ready to cover with your foot)

dont be rough or angry or anything, he is just learning that choosing to look away makes good things happen

keep playing the leave it game until it is automatic the look away
and until that point make sure he cant get hold of anything you dont want him to have - no laundry, no mags, nothing

then you can try him with leave its with something you dont want him to have

Thanks, that sounds like sound advice and makes perfect sense. We have had him for 2 and a half months and we thought that he would settle at least a little with regards to this issue, but we are realising that although he is well settled as in he knows he is here forever, we need to address this now. We have 'baby proofed' our house, so most of the time there is nothing he can put in his mouth (much to the excitement of the mother in law who thinks we are baby proofing for other reasons!!). I have all the time and patience in the world for Alfie, I just don't want to get it wrong with him because I do not want to set him back. He is a wonderful creature!! I will keep you updated on his progress!

Aww well it sounds like he has landed up in a lovely forever home. I am sure he will come on in leaps and bounds as you understand and trust each other more

You don't basically. The best thing to do is set it up so that it's very hard for him to pick up the wrong things and very easy for him to pick up the right things. And you make him picking up the right things very rewarding. I restricted Rupert to the room I was in so that he couldn't wander off and pick something up. I made sure he had toys in each room and would make a point of praising him when he showed interest in them. It took a while but Rupert did start leaving our things alone and picking up his toys instead. He was never 100% reliable and would often bring me shoes or slippers but most things were relatively safe.

I'd either ignore Alfie when he's got an object he shouldn't have or I'd go do something fun and exciting with one of his toys. Basically change the subject, instead of getting the object off him get him to voluntarily drop it to join in with you. I tended to do the latter as Rupert lived to destroy things but was also terribly nosy and couldn't bear the thought I might be having fun without him.

I taught leave it and "oh what you got? Can I see?" separately from him picking random objects up. Once he was comfortable playing with toys I'd just say to him "oh what you got?" and start a game. This resulted in a dog who brought me whatever he had when I said those words. Bit long winded I suppose but those words were what came naturally when he picked something up Once he brought it to me I could exchange it for something really nice or give it back if it was appropriate. I taught leave it the way Ben McFuzzylugs describes.

Will he ever get over it? Maybe, maybe not. Rupert never did. He went to pieces if I raised my voice or even seemed annoyed.

Thank you for your reply Sarah. It is very helpful and does reassure me somewhat! I am ok with long winded phrases, if it does the job when he has something harmful in his mouth, then that is fine by me!

Awe, bless him. It breaks my heart when I see Alfie go like that.

Broke my heart to see Rupert like it too, always made me wonder what was done to him to make him like that. He did get a bit more confident but if I spoke harshly or even had the wrong body language he got so upset.

I think the main thing with a dog who shuts down like this when they realise they've done something wrong is to think of what you do want in a given situation and make it very easy for them to get it right and earn a reward. Very different from the whole punish the behaviour you don't want thinking that seems to be normal for humans.

all i will say is it does get better, in the scheme of things 2 1/2 months is no time at all, you will be getting the newsletter soon from Nessr, but i will tell Neams story here as well.

Neam has been with me 3 years she came from a gundog kennel that was downsizing, we weren't looking for another dog and have fostered loads didn't expect to fail with her, but we did.

She was so scared she wouldn't come out of her crate in the end i shut the door, try to cuddle her and she was rigid, no one had ever cuddled her, hoovers, ironing boards, traffic, she'd never seen them and god forbid you should tell her off, over time she has got better in fact i've got her competing at Flyball and so will Alfie it just takes time, springers are known for their submissive weeing.

I would give him something he can carry around so swap it, maybe something old of your own

Ignore the inappropriate and reward the appropriate, make it crystal clear what results in fantastic things and what results in nothing.

Was he a failed gundog? The reason I ask is becaause of the clamping down on the retrieve article whilst urinating. This is conflict behaviour and this could indicate the dog has been the victim of forced retrieve training,

If you want to take things off the dog, do not try to remove them from his teeth, but use tasty food.

The way this works is you just hold something really tasty n your hand and wave it under his nose. When the dog drops the item, throw the food a short distance AWAY from the dropped item then throw another bit and another bit so that the dog is concentrating on that and is not competing with you for the item.

You can then pick up item and put it away.

No voice is needed for this.

It appears there are two discrete issues here, the kleptomania and the possessiveness, (in this context).

Be warned you may see an INCREASE in this behaviour to start with, before he learns the "rules" but should then drop off as this will reduce general anxiety.

HTH

I just read up on forced retrieves. My god, some of those methods are abhorrent

I have nothing else to add, you've had such great advice. Just to say that Alfie sounds like an utter sweetheart and it must be hard for you to see him so scared, but I agree that just over two months is very short. I'm sure his confidence will improve but it can take a while. Time is a great healer