Maya is acting deathly afraid of us today........

[Guest maya's mom]

Since 9am this morning, Maya has been acting very afraid of us today. Specifically, it is towards my husband. I am not 100% sure what happened, but they were playing together before I got up, and something he did totally freaked her out. Now, my husband does the typical male play with her........a little rough housing, getting her real excited, etc. (I know a lot of people are not in favor of this type of play, but he's played with her this way from day one, and usually, she LOVES it.) After this experience though, I am telling him it has to be eliminated. He says that while playing with her, she was on her side resting, and he tought he'd try and teach her a trick. He was doing something to the affect of the "bang-bang" thing. Again, I didn't see it. He said she was fine for a few times of doing that, then she just ran away, scared. And now, all day long, she has been acting very timid, and scared around him. It is even rubbing off onto me a little bit. She will not play with us the way we normally play inside, with her frisbee, and she just goes and lays under a table. If she isn't doing that, she is just sitting, staring at my husband with her ears back and her tail down. We have gone outside today for two different 30 min play sessions, and there, she is fine. Playing with us like normal. She even went out once, with just my husband. But, once we are back inside, she is all scared again. I even just had him do a training session with her to try and snap her out of it. She did everything he said, and took treats from him, but when he tried to get her to chase her frisbee, or any other play thing, she won't do it. What can I do? This is making us both feel horrible and I am worried it will go on indefinitley. She walked by a door about a month ago, that b/c of a draft from open windows, slammed shut right when she was next to it, and now she is afraid to walk down our hallway! Please help! We love our dog more than anything and don't know what to do. Thanks.

[nancy in AZ]

With a frightened or timid dog, any imposed interaction, not of her choosing will produce anxiety. Maybe just leave her be for a while. Don't look at her, don't talk to her, don't approach her. Let her decide when she wants to interact. Try not to hover when she does. Does she have a crate or "safe" place she feels comfortable retreating to?

[urge to herd]

Nancy's got it right. Cool it way down with Maya. Anything you must do with her should be done calmly and quickly, like leashing her to take her for a walk for potty. Other than the 'have to's' ignore her for a day or two. When she does come around, looking for affection or interaction, keep it brief and calm, end it before she does. That leaves her in a calmer state as well.

 

Perhaps it is just border collies who are so extremely superstitious. A few years ago, I was at a friend's house who had 3 border collies at the time. For some reason, I was making a 'ppbbt' noise, just trying to play with the dogs. Two of them were fine with it, and the third got so worried he had to leave the room. He wouldn't look at me the rest of the evening!

 

Don't make a fuss, don't force her into anything, but don't baby her either. Your Maya maybe one of those dogs who doesn't do well with social pressure, so take it easy and she'll come around. You can try tossing yummy treats down the hallway for her to chase, when she's warmed up to you a bit.

 

Good luck,

 

Ruth

[Guest maya's mom]

OK, thanks. I will just let her be and not worry about it for the rest of the night. She does have a crate, but she rarely goes in it to "get away". She seems to prefer to just lay under a table, etc. We will be at work tomorrow, so she will be crated most of the day. I come home at lunch for a play and potty session, then my husband is the first one home in the afternoon. Hopefully by then she will be better. If not, I guess we will just wiat for her to come around. I hope it doesn't take long! She is not herself!

[mattinky]

Yesterday when I let Kate in I accidentally hit her in the head with the door, and pretty hard too. She tweaked and shyed away from me all day, I just let her have her space and today it's like it never happened and she's just fine. I think your dog will forget it pretty quickly. I'm no expert but I've had several BCs and they can be very sensitive at times. In my experience it's pretty common for them to get upset, get shy, or get their feelings hurt but they usually get back to normal pretty quick. I'd be willing to bet Maya will be fine in a day or two

[Guest maya's mom]

It's funny, b/c about a half an hour ago, she ate a treat, then started doing her "happy back rubs" all over the floor. Then she popped up and had that look in her eye, that we know she gets right before she wants to play. We grabbed her frisbee and she started playing with it like normal. My husband is talking her out right now, and we are going to give her a bully stick, which we usually do in the evenings. I hope that was the end of it! Maybe posting on this board was the magic touch! Thanks all.

[mattinky]

That's great! and fwiw, Kate is backing the hell up when I open the door now LOL!

[Lewie'sMom]

That's great! and fwiw, Kate is backing the hell up when I open the door now LOL!

 

 

 

Whoever coined the phrase "dumb animals" never had a pet or particularly, a BC.

[Guest maya's mom]

I totally agree!

FYI--Maya is seeming to be back to normal tonight. Thank goodness.

Still having troubles with the hallways though. It's killing me!

 

 

Whoever coined the phrase "dumb animals" never had a pet or particularly, a BC.