Bad experience today

Debi

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Between raindrops, I decided to walk to the neighbors. Since it's a bit far, I took Hammie with me. He kept me company and loves to walk..so I'm thinking this was a wonderful idea. Then when I get to their house, Hammie totally freaked out!!!! All they did was step out of their garage and he acted like he was going to be killed. Almost took my arm out of the socket because I was certainly not ready for that reaction. Remember the vet telling me he isn't socialzed..........WOW...he isn't. I never gave it a thought because he is wonderful at home. We sat on the porch and Hammie sat down and was being well behaved, so I thought everything was fine. We chatted a while, and then my neighbor just slightly moved and He freaked again. This time, I couldn't even control him. He was so very, very bizarre!!!! I couldn't calm him so before he could drag me down the stairs, I let him off the chain. Now I know that doesn't sound responsible, but at that point it was the best I could do. That made him feel better so that he went to the driveway and just waited for me. He was so happy to leave...walked beside me calmly the entire walk home...ran into our garage and just collapsed as if he'd been thru the worst trauma ever. I still can't believe how he was. He was so totally frightened. He doesn't act that way if someone stops here....I guess he feels ok on his own turf. He's fine when he goes into the vet's office. I have a feeling now, tho..that he is so well behaved because he is scared. Like I said before....I just don't have people around. Do you think he will out grow this???? or am I just grasping here? I just hate him being so frightened of every little thing. A frightened dog can be a dangerous dog. :( My poor neighbor tried so hard to talk to him and not make any moves suddenly..she really wanted to have him sniff her and relax some.
 

Debi

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#2
I totally agree that this IS a very serious problem, which is why it upset me so much. I also agree...I have to do something. This was the first time he had been to this house and met the people. I was just so shocked that he didn't even give them a chance to do anything. He reacted so severely....immediately. Addie has been in the same environment, yet she adores people. I guess that's why I was in such shock. I can deal with him acting a little timid at first....but nothing like this extreme. I'm gonna start tomorrow and just get him out a little. This will have to be slow because I see it doesn't take much to overwhelm him. I guess he hasn't really ever left his own yard and I hadn't given it a thought. I've had dogs all my life and I've never seen such behavior. He is so bonded to me that he hates when I shut him out of the bathroom. This all just isn't good. I'll keep you posted. THANKS Serena!!!!!!! I've been feeling bad about this all afternoon.
 
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#3
It's worth a shot to try to work through it, but it may not work. My old dog Gus was kind of scared of anything resembling a storm. When I got him, I had two older dogs and the first week was mostly getting the Lab to accept him, and once that was done, I thought "Great, now all I gotta do is housebreak him 100%!" I went to the bank one morning, and took all 3 dogs with me. I come out and there's bird crap all over the front of the van, so I go to the car wash, not dreaming what was going to happen. I had no idea he was so spooked in storms, as the weather had been ok since we got him. Even my Lab/Beagle, my "wussiest" dog to date, wasn't scared of the car wash, since she knew biscuits were at the other end!

As the van goes into the wash, Gus tried to climb into my lap, then got between the seats and rolled over on his back and I had no idea what was going on. He was shaking like a buzzer and I could feel his heart racing away. When it comes out of the wash, he didn't move until the Lab nosed him a few times and he finally came out of it. I never took a dog to a car wash again, until I took King as an experiment to see if he was scared of it. Nope, he looked at the water hitting the windows, and went back to sleep.

Gus never got over it really, but one bonus of his getting very deaf in his last year was he couldn't seem to hear the sound of the water hitting the roof of the car, so he was much less stressed in a storm from that point on.
 

Debi

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Oh Ratboy..........I only wish it were just noise (car washes scare me..lol) I think it's sooooooo very serious that Hammie is so frightened of people. That's a whole new ball game.

OK........can you deal with me fretting more??? I just realized that when I take him in for his neutering surgery on the 8th.......there is NO WAY anyone is going to just take his leash and walk away. I am calling the vet tomorrow to discuss this. I am very worried he will become so agitated that he may bite for sure. Has anyone dealt with anything like this???? Do you think they may sedate him........or should I just use a muzzle. He honestly can't stand when I walk out of the room.....even if my husband is still sitting there. I am not being dramatic. Ok....Dave sure is happy I have all of you to ask because needless to say........he is already weary of my fretting. lol Recently I walked outside and left Hammie on the back screened-in porch with Dave..................before Dave could react.......got some nasty holes in the screen where Hammie was trying to follow. He seems to be a one person dog. I did cuddle him endlessly when he was a pup (mostly so he wouldn't cry and wake Dave up..........hubby wasn't that thrilled at first to have a new kid) Sorry..........it's just that Addie has truly always been so open....loving to all (when I sometimes wished she weren't) This just was a very bad experience for me yesterday. I'll stop........but I am still upset over how very bad he reacted to just two people..standing still. I have grown children that visit. He has acted frightened at first, but my son in law did walk him this past weekend. I am certainly going to be more careful now, tho......I would die if he bit one of them. :(
 
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#5
Maybe your vet will let you stay with Hammie until he's sedated.

Another thing that might help with socializing him, since Addie's so happy to be out among people and is something of a social butterfly, is to get your husband to go with you some so that you can take both dogs. If Hammie sees that Addie's not afraid, it will go a long way to calming those fears.

When Bimmer was a pup - up until he was about a year and a half old, actually, he'd cry if I walked out the door without him. It sounded like I was killing him! What a racket. As he's matured, it's stopped. Part of it, I know, is that he's got the girls now, but I always give him a job when I leave - tell him to take care of the house and make the girls behave.

Now Shiva has started! She doesn't cry (that I know of) when I leave after Charley's already gone in to open the store in the morning, but in the evenings or on Sunday when he's home, if I leave I have to shut the door to keep her in the house or she will follow my car all the way down the driveway and out into the road, howling and crying the whole way. Charley says that she cries after me for at least ten minutes after I leave.
I just hope Kharma doesn't start! Poor Charley, imagine two crying critters!
 

tl_ashmore

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#6
Bula cries whenever I leave her too. and it is so funny, because when Bula starts
crying, Dixie will just stare at her with her head cocked to one side as if she were saying, "what is your problem?"
 

Debi

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That is soooooooo funny!!!! That is exactly what Addie does...looks at Hamme like 'what is your problem???' :D If only Hammie would be a bit more like Addie...except for the wild running......life would be sweet! :eek: Maybe when he matures a bit (and yes, I know that has nothing to do with him being socialized) but he may calm down some and just be like her. Right now.......EVERYTHING is such a big deal to Hammie......Addie is so calm..so quiet. BUT..she was a wild child when a pup.........so that's why I am grasping here. lol :)
 
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#8
Hammie will chill eventually. Shiva was wilder than a Jack Russell on crack when she was a baby, but now she's sweet, poised, well mannered, walks easily at my side on the leash (with no training whatsoever) and is just an absolute delight. Except, of course, for coming home and finding out she's figured out new places to forage for food in the house!!!!
 

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