New 2 year old Sheltie - Question

H

Howie

Forums Novice
Hi

I just got a 2 year old Sheltie - our 13 year old Sheltie had to be put down.
It broke my heart - loved that dog.

Howie our new sheltie - was at a breeder - used to a country environment and crated.
We have both a cottage and a townhouse - so weekends at cottage and weeks at townhouse.
Howie is so sweet but so timid and scared - I cant take him for a walk very far because he has a melt down with the cars on the road.
We haven't crated him but feel that maybe this would be the best.
Any thoughts?
 
Welcome, Howie! I hope we can help you with your boy, and I'm sorry about the loss of your older guy.

Most breeders crate their dogs routinely because they have so many. It also depends on how much your boy was socialized while he lived with the breeder. If he wasn't, or not much, expect it to take some time and work to build his confidence. It does and will happen, but requires patience on your part.

In the meantime, he probably would be more comfortable if you gave him a crate since it's what he knows and where he'll feel most secure. You can even leave the crate door open for him when you're around, although it might be best to close it when you leave the house for a while.

He probably isn't used to cars and traffic, so when you walk him (always, always on leash of course!) use lots of praise and treats when cars are going by. Start him slowly with just short walks on light traffic roads. You want him to associate walks with fun so he gets used to them. This would be part of his socialization as a puppy if he'd had it, so you might have to start from scratch. Take him places with you when you can...the pet food store, etc., and encourage people to pat him or give him a treat.

Give him time to adjust and lots of love and pretty soon you'll have a happy, confident Sheltie. Good luck!
 
Thanks Ann

I will try your suggestions - he really wants to see people - so I know it will take time - but I love this breed.
 
My dog prefers high backed chairs to a crate. I think he likes being up higher :) Just a thought if you don't have a crate yet.

If Howie is food motivated.....treat him for snuggles, too. It's a great bonding experience. And have strangers (to him) treat him, too.

For timid dogs, I totally recommend getting down on the floor with them. Tall people leaning over them is not exactly encouraging. My dog immediately comes to me if I squat down and open my arms (no voice command required) because it is more welcoming :D
 
If he's used to a crate, then by all means, give him access to one. If you feel guilty, just leave it in a quiet spot with a soft bed inside and the door open, so he can go in and out as he pleases. It's what he's used to.

You may find that having access to a crate, or a crate-related routine (eg. into the crate for bedtime at 10pm, breakfast in the crate then a walk at 6am, dinner served in the crate at 4pm) may help his self-confidence. It's true what they say about dogs thriving on routine, and if his routine has always included a crate, he may be feeling a little disoriented now.

How long have you had him for? It can take some time for a dog to really settle in and feel at-home in a new environment. Patience and routine will help.
 
Ann said:
Welcome, Howie! I hope we can help you with your boy, and I'm sorry about the loss of your older guy.

Most breeders crate their dogs routinely because they have so many. It also depends on how much your boy was socialized while he lived with the breeder. If he wasn't, or not much, expect it to take some time and work to build his confidence. It does and will happen, but requires patience on your part.

In the meantime, he probably would be more comfortable if you gave him a crate since it's what he knows and where he'll feel most secure. You can even leave the crate door open for him when you're around, although it might be best to close it when you leave the house for a while.

He probably isn't used to cars and traffic, so when you walk him (always, always on leash of course!) use lots of praise and treats when cars are going by. Start him slowly with just short walks on light traffic roads. You want him to associate walks with fun so he gets used to them. This would be part of his socialization as a puppy if he'd had it, so you might have to start from scratch. Take him places with you when you can...the pet food store, etc., and encourage people to pat him or give him a treat.

Give him time to adjust and lots of love and pretty soon you'll have a happy, confident Sheltie. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I'm going to echo what Ann said about slowly introducing him to new situations and giving him tons of praise and (small pieces!) of treats so that he starts to put together- "hey, when I go for a walk, I get some taste treat, or extra pets, or a special toy."-- whatever does it for him... he's a sheltie, so probably treats :wink2:

I'll also add to it that since he is so afraid right now, to make 100% certain his collar or harness can't be backed out of. I don't know how your first sheltie was, but I can say from experience how important this is... the first weekend we had Watson, he was frightened by a basketball bouncing pulled out of a harness and collar and bolted across town.. it was Easter Sunday and some very nice random people helped me (I don't normally get in a van with strangers but this was dire- and they had their little boy, golden retriever, and deviled eggs on the floor). We had to drive and cut him off then two of us herded him back to me. He will absolutely still bolt if he were to be off lead and got frightened... just something to keep in mind.

Give Howie some time and with some treats he should eventually come around.
 
We got our sheltie at around 8-10mo (shelter picked her up as a stray) and she had similar problems. A couple of things worked for her:
- If she tried to bolt with cars or trucks driving by, we put in her in a sit-stay and distracted her. Two years later she still steps sideways away from a semi barreling down our street but no more dashing sideways, even the metro line doesn't bother her (freight trains overhead are another story but that is understandable)
- We have a crate with a bed in every room. It's a little excessive but it's a sheltered place that's all hers and it makes her feel safe. When we leave we'll close her in one crate with a coop cup with a little water and ice cubes and a kong of green beans. She also road trips in the crate with the crate buckled in with Kurgo straps (bungies would probably work just as well but we had a coupon)
- If she ever seems overwhelmed by a situation, have her focus and run through what she knows (sit-stay-front-down-crawl-up-back-spin-sit-stand-sic'em-jump-settle-sit, repeat)
- Highly recommend a well fitting martingale collar if you don't have one already. We have a separate collar for her ID (plus microchip) in-case a freak accident happens to the martingale or we're using her running harness (its great but she's ducked out of it twice when DH has put it on her)

*edit* I forgot to mention that it did take sometime for my Olive to settle completely, at least a couple of weeks before her personality really started to shine through, a couple more months before I could really not worry about a furry blur dashing in-front of my feet during a run (she also had no idea what a leash was when we got her...)
 
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You could use desensitising methods to help him deal with the noises. Get a recording of traffic sounds (record it on your phone when you're walking or there's often sound files to download on the internet). Put it on a loop and play it while he's having her dinner, start with it down low and increase the sound level every day. The idea is for him to get used to the sounds as 'background noise'. It won't help with the movement but at least he won't be overwhelmed by both sounds and sights.
 
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