dog behavior

[taxi-maid]

Hi, Our old english sheepdog is nearly 2, he is becoming so nervous, he poohs constantly when hes out for a walk, backs away & wets himself if someone knocks at the door, hates cars,lorries etc even pulls us into the road if one passes while we're out. Nothing has happened to him to make him scared, is there any calming techniques we can try? It's got so bad our daughter won't take him out anymore 'cos she can't hold him when he takes flight. Thanks for any help.

[kita1]

The first thing I would do is get him checked over by a vet to make sure there is nothing physically wrong with him.

There is a technique called T Touch or Tellington Touch which can be used to calm animals.

It sounds like your dog is stressed over something, maybe something has unnerved him that is not obvious to you.

I would try and find a good trainer/behaviourist who can work through this with you. The more you force him into situations the worse you will make him. It may need you to totally back off from walking him for a while if possible, then reintroduce him slowly to things like people and cars etc. stopping the minute it starts to stress him out.

For more in depth advice immediately a good place is here:

http://www.ttlntl.co.uk/forum

They have a number of behaviourists/trainers who will give you really good advice - it is totally free to join and they are really friendly!

[divegirl]

Good advice given above......apart from the stopping as soon as he gets stressed bit. By doing that you will be re-enforcing that his nevous behaviour is OK. Instead when you come to a situation that 'stresses' him, walk him calmly through it....praising any good behaviour and ignoring the nervous behaviour.
Ask your vet to recommend a behaviourist if you decide to go down that route....word of mouth is your best bet to finding a good one.

Lisa x

[kita1]

You could try the Tellington Touch body wrap/harness/calming band. They all work to calm the dog when stressed and I have heard of seeming miracles with the body wrap - one dog was terrified of fireworks, they tried the body wrap one bonfire night and the dog was perfectly calm all night. They are all under 10 pounds.

Here is a link to the site (click on the dog picture then click on Merchandise):

http://www.ttouchtteam.co.uk/

[taxi-maid]

Thank you for your prompt replies, will try anything.