Dog is scared!

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone can give me some suggestions on teaching Yankee not to be afraid of Cody when he has a meltdown. Cody's meltdowns consist of throwing things. That's pretty much it except for the occasional door slamming if I send him to his room.

Yankee knows when Cody is about to get angry and he runs and jumps on my lap if I am sitting down. He is scared and I'm not sure why. Cody has never hurt him. If I am not sitting down, Yankee runs to me and gets between my legs. If I get angry and raise my voice to Cody, Yankee leaves the room and waits for the dust to settle before he comes back. I don't want him to be frightened. Lately there have been a lot of meltdowns to deal with and poor Yankee just cowers. Any ideas how to put him at ease?

[2mio6slenmu5g]

Hi Linda,

I went to your site and Yankee is a beauty!

Ok, this is how I see it... and I am not saying what I sugget is easy, but I think it could help.

I read on your page that you initially bought Yankee for your grandson, but somewhere along the way he became yours. Well, that 's pretty easy to figure out why! I think it's time you make Yankee your grandsons again. Yankee needs to learn to be comfortable around the GS and GS could use Yankee.

I suggest you turn over the care to GS. You may have to assist him, but Y needs to have his basic needs filled by GS.

Y needs to learn to retrieve, from GS. When he retrieves, he gets a treat, so he learns to love retrieving and he learns GS throws things and it's ok. GS benefits because he has a job with Y then.

Y needs to sit with GS, not you. Start with treats etc. Eventually it will come naturally to Y. And GS will also learn he has an unconditional friend in Y... not an easy thing to come by at his age!

Summers are a hard time for children with autism. Their structure with school is disturbed, so melt downs can really increase! I can blab and blab about this, if you ever want to read it! I have gone through that.

I really think that you have the opportunity for good theraputic companion for your grandson, but it will take work. A good personal trainer is a great resource also.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I agree with your comments. Cody used to feed Yankee but doesn't anymore. He kind of lost his enthusiasm for the most part. I need to get him to do that again. Sometimes they play ball together but not enough and not like they used to.

Cody doesn't allow anyone to sit with him or too close anyways but I get your drift.

I'm not sure why the increase in meltdowns. People keep saying "Hormones". I know he totally dislikes his educational assistant this year at school but he's had her all year. Maybe he's fed up and knows the end of school is near. Hope it passes or I'm going to have a long long summer.

Thanks for your input.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

Cody is 11, turns 12 at the end of this year and yes Anxiety is WAY up.