Poor Bella is nervous of so many things.
The gentle and loving two-and-a-half-year-old Rottweiler loves a cuddle and is eager to please. Her life is blighted by her being constantly nervous and on edge. Both at home and when out.
Our plan of action is to help her to become calmer and less jumpy all round. This requires action on several fronts at once. It’s very much like a jigsaw. The more pieces we put in, the better the whole picture.
In our online meeting we found as many individual things that alarm the nervous Bella that we could.
Things that scare Bella at home.
Triggers for nervous Bella include:
The doorbell and at people entering the house. Having seen them walk up the path and barking, her arousal levels are already on a high before they enter the house.
The post person.
She’s very skittish around new objects. She may either refuse to walk past them or run away and hide. Object that make her nervous can be carboard boxes or pillows.
When she’s left alone she may howl for the first few minutes.
Things that scare nervous Bella when out.
She barks and lunges at people and dogs. Also bikes, e-scooters, big vehicles and, in the dark, random objects such as trees and bins.
Their garden has a walkway on two sides. Bella barks at passing dogs and loud passing trucks
She’s afraid of a thrown ball though rolling it is ok.
She shakes and pants in the car.
Building confidence starts at home.
Bella sits up the stairs watching through front door window. She barks at passing people and dogs – in her mind no doubt sending them on their way. She is particularly frantic on seeing the post person.
If someone comes into the house, she runs downstairs barking.
My first suggestion is to cover the door window with frosting. That is essential to avoid the build-up of arousal and stress.
One suggestion when someone comes into the house is to give her a soft toy. She loves a soft toy and something in her mouth will help give her confidence.
Basic to any progress with when out is dealing with her barking at passing dogs from house or garden. Using food, they will counter-condition her and ‘how’ is part of our plan.
At any noise when she may run or hide, a quick ‘OK’ and chuck food. As soon as there is a sound – don’t even wait for a run or bark.
Building confidence when out.
Firstly we looked at her walking equipment. The principal of counter-conditioning is to pair something she’s scared of with something she likes. At a comfortable distance if possible.
They walk her on a head halter. Not only does this make her feel even more trapped than necessary, it means, when she lunges, she will feel pain or discomfort. This is the very opposite to what we want.
We discussed the benefits a harness with rings on the chest as well as the back.
They need to choose better places to walk. It will mean going by car so we worked on a plan for her to overcome her fear of the car.
General tips
One thing they should start straight away. They need food for working with. At present they leave it down Food down all the time. The lady even gets up to eat in middle of the night to get Bella some food. With a ‘running buffet’ food will have little value.
It will be hard work to start with. They will do their best though they can’t control everything. Bit by bit, drip drip with consistency and effort, things should improve.
If, after a few weeks of hard work, her confidence isn’t much improved I suggest they add medical help from the vet.
