Anxiety Wrap

[Patti]

I met with a trainer today one to one with Willow. The trainer is a member of the APDT and is very good.

Because Willow goes into flight mode when she sees people, and hears a loud noise, the trainer wants us to use the Anxiety Wrap.  She has had great success with this product many times in the past.

 

Has anyone here use it before and..... if so....?

 

https://anxietywrap.com/default.aspx

[Patti]

Day 1 - Willow doesn't mind having the wrap on. However as a pup she wore a rain coat so she is already adjusted to wearing something. She looks comfortable in it and it fit's her well.

 

Went for a walk to a very low stress area, saw 4 people and heard one loud noise.  I saw no difference in her level of confidence.

[Kyoko]

Mmmm... What do you mean by "level of her confidence"? Does she hide behind you? Try to run away? How about starting from your yard  and when she is calm, click and treat starting from few second interval? May be she is not ready to be confident in the public quite yet?

[Patti]

Yes, she has stranger danger, noise danger etc. She runs, or hides under something or behind me.

She has been well socialized from the age of 10 weeks. Went everywhere with us.  Was always treated very softly and with love from everyone she met.  We, as experienced pet owners never overwhelmed her, never forced her, always gave her well being top priority.  

 

But in all my 58 years, and with all the dogs we have had in our life, Labs, Australian Shepherds, Poodles, Jack Russell's, have never seen anything like this "fear" before.

 

And we pray that this is just a stage, because if it not, we will never be able to go anywhere with her. We have always taken our pets with us on vacation etc., never placed them in a kennel while we were gone.

 

We live 5 miles from town, so starting from home wouldn't work. 

We are worried and this breaks our heart.  Her sister, litter mate, has the same issue.

[Kyoko]

Sooo, Willow is 6 months.... I am not a expert on dogs or training or anything like that... But I can tell you about my Charlie ( 2 & 1/2 ).... We got her at 7&1/2 weeks from a very small breeder ( They only had her mom and dad ). And I noticed some awkwardness when we went to puppy kindergarten. She looked as she wanted to play, yet was hesitent to go to the other puppies...She also resource guarded water bowl, and did not want to share with other puppies. We went to puppy social, dog park, all of that with her, took her everywhere. She was not as fearful as you describe Willow, but she was just awkward. When stranger wanted to pet her, she would bark and back off from people, hide behind me, and possibly peed.etc... was scared of people's trash can, tree stump, anything that was new to her. By then, I tought it was the fear stage, or some hormonal change happened after being srayed. But the dog trainer said that it is hard wired, meaning this is who and how she is, therefore I have to train her to become more confident about stuff. We did series of obedience since puppy K until now, so she can rely on me to ensure that things are OK and she does not have to be fearful. One of my concerns was that her fear is going to turn outward and become fear aggression. ( She will still bark and try to lunge at the dogs she does not know.. I am constantly working with her and seeking different way to teach her to feel secure..) I don't know how much of obedience training Willow have had, but I truly believe that if you can find the dog behaviorist / trainer to work obedience along with behavioral modification, that will be the best thing....

[Daelene & Molly]

Hi Patti how is the wrap working now?  Molly is actually doing pretty good.  We have been click/treat training her to touch our hands palm facing up.  So now is someone offers her their palm she will touch them and sometimes she will even let them pet her under the chin and around the neck.  But if someone approaches her and reaches over her head to pet her she will bolt.  It's been some work but Molly is gaining confidence every day.  Molly sends hugs to Willow ♥