my very shy Sheltie.

Poor Belle, shelties are so sensitive, I can only imagine how traumatizing it must have been to her to be abused by that man. :mad:

I don't blame your husband one bit for being frustrated, dealing with a shy dog can be EXTREMELY frustrating. Its really imperative that he remains calm and not take it personally, Belle will sense that he is tense which won't help matters.

Everyone gave good advice. Dropping treats when he's near Belle, hand feeding her and having her on umbilical are all things that will help her greatly. If your husband does do umbilical work, have him completely ignore her, unless she seeks him out (which by the sounds of it might take a while) and then treats before verbal praise might be better. Also, none of that crap from the show 'At the End of my Leash,' where the dogs get dragged around by their necks, that would be REALLY bad for Belle. Your husband just wants to get her used to having him near her so she can see that she won't get hurt, that's it.

I just got a thundershirt in the mail for my sheltie Toby yesterday. Toby was never socialized as a pup and while he's very friendly with people, he has issues with anxiety and has trouble calming down. I put the thundershirt on him last night for the first time and he turned into 'blob dog.' I've NEVER seen him so relaxed. Mind you, he wasn't having one of his anxious episodes at the time so I'll be interested to see how it works then.

I ordered mine fro B.C, I have no idea if this is near you or not. If it is maybe you can stop by.

She might benefit from TTouch too. Its a kind of massage that helps with anxiety and promotes healing. The place I ordered the Thundershirt from also sells books and DVD's about TTouch, it might be worth looking into. I realize that she's too afraid right now for your husband to do it, but you may be able to use it on her and when she's more comfortable with your husband, then he can take over. TTouch really does work, I highly recommend it as well as the Thundershirt, which has an 85% success rate and money back guarantee.

Here's the link to the web site where I got the Thundershirt:

http://www.tteam-ttouch.ca/shop/index.php?productID=178

Also, someone else on the forums was dealing with an extremely shy sheltie and had good success helping him get over his shyness. There's a lot of good information in the thread, here is the link:

http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=5508&highlight=Sheltin

Keep us posted on how Belle is doing, we love progress reports!
 
Last edited:
danisgoat said:
Infiniti's suggestions all sound really really good.
Click to expand...

Absolutely !!! --- classical conditioning or counter conditioning as it may be in this case. I've just watched a Kathy Sdao video on this. To start with, tiny, special treats (perhaps even a unique treat just for DH's appearance) should "rain down" and appear within a second of DH's appearance / entrance.
 
A couple of thoughts I had while reading the great suggestions.

1 Thundershirts sound cool but for an after operation shirt I would think they are the wrong choice. You probably want something looser. Others can give a better idea on this since Sca did the cone of shame instead of a shirt

2 Shelties herd, they love to herd, a LOT. So maybe if your husband sometimes ran from her instead of the other way around. I know Sca cannot resist chasing things and when he is wound up has to be behind me when I walk 'directing' me.

Good luck and be patient she will get there with time. The success stories of loving patience are legion.
 
SheepOfBlue said:
1 Thundershirts sound cool but for an after operation shirt I would think they are the wrong choice. You probably want something looser. Others can give a better idea on this since Sca did the cone of shame instead of a shirt
Click to expand...

The surgery was on her ear, not her body, so the Thundershirt wouldn't interfere at all. Even when its being put on, there are only two openings which have velcro, so nothing gets pulled over their heads.
 
OntarioSheltie said:
The surgery was on her ear, not her body, so the Thundershirt wouldn't interfere at all. Even when its being put on, there are only two openings which have velcro, so nothing gets pulled over their heads.
Click to expand...
That was for Bellesmom who commented on the Thunder Shirt and that her pup was going to get spayed and a hernia operation. I do have to say though it is cool that it worked for Ginny and Toby and I look forward to hearing how it does for Mia, Sca doesn't need one but I always like to hear about things helping make pups happy(ier) :biggrin2:

Bellesmom, it sounds like the breeder was beyond her abilities and might not have known about the hernia due to her lessened mobility. I get the impression that she was stopping breeding, maybe because she realized she needed to scale back for the pups benefits.
 
SheepOfBlue said:
That was for Bellesmom who commented on the Thunder Shirt and that her pup was going to get spayed and a hernia operation. I do have to say though it is cool that it worked for Ginny and Toby and I look forward to hearing how it does for Mia, Sca doesn't need one but I always like to hear about things helping make pups happy(ier) :biggrin2:

Bellesmom, it sounds like the breeder was beyond her abilities and might not have known about the hernia due to her lessened mobility. I get the impression that she was stopping breeding, maybe because she realized she needed to scale back for the pups benefits.
Click to expand...

Ok, I gotcha now. I guess I read too quickly. :biggrin2:

It depends where the incision is. I would say pick up a Thundershirt and wait and see. If the incision will be covered, I would hold off using it till after she's healed from the surgery. Another thing that's helped Toby calm down is Rescue Remedy. I honestly didn't think it would work as well as it does, given its ingredient list, but its great. Here's the link to it, I highly recommend picking up a bottle. You can get it at most health food stores and only put a drop or two under their tongues. This week it brought Toby right out of one of his anxiety episodes.

http://www.bachflower.com/Rescue_Remedy.htm
 
Last edited:
thank you all so much.. regarding the Thunder shirt, Belle did have the operation to take the pellet out of her ear, but she has spay and hernia repair surgery coming up in January.. so perhaps a looser shirt might be better for that. The breeder is still breeding, and she did know about the hernia, she just didn't tell me about it when I looked at Belle and I didn't think to go over her whole body. I found the hernia on the same day I bought her after we got home, immediately phoned her and told her that Belle had a lump on her abdomen and she admitted that it was a hernia but that it was small and she would have even bred her with that hernia :no:

last night husband took Belle for a walk and I walked beside him. Belle was very relaxed on a loose leash and went to the bathroom. It is like she is one dog outside and another dog inside.

we are going to put into practice the suggestions given.. the biggest obstacle I see is the hand feeding. Feeding Belle is another thing where we have a big issue. I feed her Wellness Super 5 chicken and I don't know if it is that she doesn't like the taste, but if she hears any noise while she is eating, she stops eating. a squeaky chair, a sneeze, the cat meowing, she stops eating. Should I be hand-feeding her her daily food? My husband can give her the treats during the day, but I know he won't have patience to hand feed her her daily food. When we first got her I mixed high-quality canned food in with her dry food, but most varieties gave her loose stools, should I go back to mixing in canned food?

its hard for me to believe that I have had 4 shelties in the past and never had these feeding problems, or social problems, and although 3 of them were puppies when I got them, one of them also came from a breeder where he mistreated his dogs, but this one didn't have many of the issues that Belle has.

I do so appreciate having a place to talk about all this.. :yes:
 
OntarioSheltie said:
Ok, I gotcha now. I guess I read too quickly. :biggrin2:

It depends where the incision is. I would say pick up a Thundershirt and wait and see. If the incision will be covered, I would hold off using it till after she's healed from the surgery. Another thing that's helped Toby calm down is Rescue Remedy. I honestly didn't think it would work as well as it does, given its ingredient list, but its great. Here's the link to it, I highly recommend picking up a bottle. You can get it at most health food stores and only put a drop or two under their tongues. This week it brought Toby right out of one of his anxiety episodes.

http://www.bachflower.com/Rescue_Remedy.htm
Click to expand...

I'd like to ask about the Rescue Remedy.. we did have some but it was past the expiry date so I tossed it. I did give it to our rescue kitty when we got her, put it in her water and it helped her.. how often did you give your dog the drops under the tongue.. and do you think it would also help with car sickness? I'm going to buy some today.
 
we just bought Belle a thundershirt at Tysol.. when I took her into the store, a little girl wanted to pat her and Belle curled up into a ball on the floor.. after the shirt was on her, in just a few minutes she seemed much more confident. She did not lie on the floor, but my husband was holding the leash and she was sitting quietly beside him, that in itself was a change. she wore the shirt on the way home, but I phoned the vet because the shirt is over her hernia, and the vet thought that it might cause a problem for the hernia. Belle is having her surgery on January 3rd, so I put the shirt away until after she is healed from that, but I do have high hopes for it.

we are off to buy some Rescue Remedy and I am going to put it in her water for now..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top