I had planned, after Tia, not to get any more dogs; I had 8 with her and my ideal number has always been 6! But life had other ideas. I'm a soft touch for a start, and a behaviourist for another; with a speciality in fear aggression for a third. So the next two dogs arrived in very short order.
Phoebe was first, coming home only two weeks after I lost Tia. I'd been working with her in her second home for a few months. Phoebe had the worst car phobia I've ever seen; and noise phobias to the extreme. She was scared of being on a lead, of traffic, of power tools, engines, any powered mechanical things (using the food mixer is always a military operation); terrified of hoovers. She was constantly stressed, every moment of every day, for her first year here.
She was with me for 7 years and it was quite the rollercoaster! Phoebe was one of those rare dogs for whom life was simply so frightening, so stressful that no significant progress could ever have been made without medical intervention but thankfully, I found something that worked at the 11th hour, right at the end of that first year when I was ready to throw in the towel for her sake. From there she made progress and was able to enjoy life as a house dog, searching for tennis balls in the garden and she had a huge love of treat dispensers in any form!
Phoebe was first, coming home only two weeks after I lost Tia. I'd been working with her in her second home for a few months. Phoebe had the worst car phobia I've ever seen; and noise phobias to the extreme. She was scared of being on a lead, of traffic, of power tools, engines, any powered mechanical things (using the food mixer is always a military operation); terrified of hoovers. She was constantly stressed, every moment of every day, for her first year here.
She was with me for 7 years and it was quite the rollercoaster! Phoebe was one of those rare dogs for whom life was simply so frightening, so stressful that no significant progress could ever have been made without medical intervention but thankfully, I found something that worked at the 11th hour, right at the end of that first year when I was ready to throw in the towel for her sake. From there she made progress and was able to enjoy life as a house dog, searching for tennis balls in the garden and she had a huge love of treat dispensers in any form!