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Opinions On Taking Layla To Picnic - Updated


Guest RobinAZ

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Guest RobinAZ

We took Layla today and she did good. She was scared (she's not a wiggly dog when she's scared - she statues). Rob had to carry her in, but once we were in she did do some walking on the leash which is a HUGE step forward for her. It took her probably an hour and a half to get across to where the nail trimming area was, but she did it a little step at a time. She didn't mind people petting her, even little kids. And she loved seeing all the other houndies and she saw her litter mate Travel! And Travel's new sister Echo. When we left I couldn't believe it but she walked out to the truck like she's been walking on the leash forever! Yay Layla! I am so proud of her!

 

 

 

 

Our annual greyhound picnic is this Saturday. We are going and definitely taking GreyCee. I want Layla to go SO badly because I think she would love being around all the other dogs. However, she still won't walk on a leash and is still a bit spooky with people. My husband said he'd carry her in if she won't walk and he will just sit with her. I honestly don't know if this will be too much for her or not. We are taking 2 cars so Rob can take her back home if needed. I don't want her to miss out on the opportunity to have some fun, and maybe it will be a good experience for her.

 

Opinions?

Edited by RobinAZ
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Guest cwholsin

If the hubby is happy to look after her, it could be a great opportunity for socialization with dogs, people, and whatever other noises she may come across.Hope you have fun!

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Guest PhillyPups

My personal opinion is that I would not take her, but for me, my hounds comfort is the most important thing. If she is spooky and terrified, what would she be missing out on other than a very scarey day??

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I don't have the experience that a lot of folks at this site have but I have a spooky one also and I have been told that along with positive reinforcement and lots of hugs, etc, etc small exposures to socialize them really helps. If I'm wrong about that let me know because I have been taking mine to the park and he seems to be improving......sometimes. I keep thinking that just small doses that don't terrorize will be reinforcing to him. Maybe the same for Layla??

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Guest Shermanator

Oh, little Layla! I have been thinking of you guys!

I am taking Travel (Layla's spooky littermate.)

 

Travel has been making steady progress. (Travel came to us as spooky as little Layla.) Travel LOVES to walk, and has made a lot of progress coming out to spend time with us (rather than hiding in the bedroom) and is starting to come up to us, and nudge us for ear scratches. :)

 

We also are regularly going to the bark park on a regular basis for socialization, and for some good exercise.

 

That being said, she still is spooky out and about. While she loves her walks, she spazzes out if a car drives by fast, while we are on the sidewalk. (Its like a mad scramble of trying to get away from it.) And if there are a lot of people in the house at once, she immediately tries to retreat to the bedroom, and hide, and trembles. She still statues out in public at times, for example, it the pet store, and tucks that little tail, and trembles. (We're working on that.) :) She reverts back to being super spooky when she is nervous over a new situation.

 

However, we are taking her to the picnic. I am thinking her out and about with lots of greys will be ok. I am going to have a lot of treats at the ready for positive reinforcement. We are working with a behaviorist to help bring Trav out of her shell, and the behaviorist said do not coddle her when she is being timid. If you stand confident with her, and act confident with her, and she will feel your confident energy. However, if Travel has a super spooky meltdown, we'll take her home. :)

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My Heidi was quite spooky when we first got her almost two years ago. She still doesn't care to be around unknown people, but she is a very different, more-outgoing dog when she is around other hounds. While I agree that we shouldn't tramatize spooky (extremely shy, not true spook) hounds I also believe we shouldn't shelter them and feed into their fears. I truly believe Heidi would still be afraid of the entire world if we hadn't pushed her to slowly come out of her shell.

 

We have always gone to any kind of gathering with the plan of leaving if Heidi seems to get too upset. It sounds like you have a great plan in place just in case Layla needs to leave. In the beginning when people would come over to talk to us I would ask them to just ignore Heidi and talk with us. She quickly got more comfortagble with people just being near and would sniff them without feeling scared of them touching her. Other times we would just stand off to the side and let her watch the gathering from a distance.

 

You will be able to tell when Layla is just outside her comfort zone and if she gets panicked to the point of shutting down. Just keep her from escalating into panic mode and she will be fine. We all need to get out of our comfort zones occassionally to obtain any personal growth. Slowly showing her the world isn't such a scary place could be a good thing. I would say take her and see how she does.

 

Please let us know how she does. I'm always interested in hearing from other people with extrememly shy dogs.

Christine- Mum to Betty (Nitro Ugly Betty), Hannah (Rj Have I Told U) and missing Heidi (Sendahl Eve) 04/21/2005-06/19/2013

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As the owner of a bonafide honest to goodness real spook, I say take her. Watch her and if she seems to be overwhelmed take her home. Keeping her secluded and isolated at home will do nothing but reinforce to her that the world is a very scary place. Take her. Watch her. Listen to her body language and act accordingly. Don't fret over her and have fun at your picnic.

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Guest Swifthounds

As the owner of a bonafide honest to goodness real spook, I say take her. Watch her and if she seems to be overwhelmed take her home. Keeping her secluded and isolated at home will do nothing but reinforce to her that the world is a very scary place. Take her. Watch her. Listen to her body language and act accordingly. Don't fret over her and have fun at your picnic.

 

:nod

 

Exposure to positive experiences is the only way a spook ever improves. IF there are two of you who can go that helps. With my spooks, I take a pocket full of treats (watch out though - social dogs will try to "mug" you!) and treat all along the way - something really tasty, not a milkbone. An ex pen is a great things as well if you have one and a place to set it up. She can go there for a break that's not totally out of the action, and you can sit with her and take a rest.

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Guest RobinAZ

Thanks everyone! I think I will try and take her. If she gets too upset, Rob will bring her home. I just know she will love to see the other hounds. When we took her to the bark park to meet her sissy Travel she did very well (except she wouldn't walk on the leash, we had to push/pull and then carry her into the park). The other day we had a guest and Layla came running out of the bedroom and jumped on the couch and cuddled the guest - who she'd never met before! So I think she might be ready for some exposure. I will bring treats too. Another good thing - I can get her nails cut while we are there..LOL!

 

I think Layla would love to see Travel again too :)

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Guest RobinAZ

How long has she been with you?? That would have a lot to do with it. Moe was unable to do a whole lot until she was with me for a while.

 

She's been with me since August.

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Guest zombrie

Like most people have said, take her! By secluding her to your home, she will never break out of her shell.

I don't know if I'd get her nails done while there though, it might trigger the fear if she doesn't like it being done. I wouldn't risk her taking a step backwards instead of showing her it isn't scary going out in the world. That's just me. :dunno

Good luck!

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Guest PhillyPups

With Moe I started taking her with at least another hound for rides for a drive through burger. She was with me for 6 months before I took her to an event with other folks and hounds there. I did small things with her, slowly, to gain her trust. She is still insecure without one of her pack with her.

 

Please use a secure harness on her if you take her. When I started taking Zeus if he got freaked (he was a little spooky and a fear biter) I would walk him away to a quiet place, calm him down, then walk him back while stroking his ears so he would learn I was always there for him and the situation was okay. As you said, if she is too freaked you can take her home, so you seem to have all bases covered. I don't like to push their comfort levels too far too quickly.

 

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

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Guest Swifthounds

If she's a wiggle worm, I would use a harness as back up and put a well-fitted martingale on her, then put a leash on each. I know lots of folks think a harness is always more secure, but there isn't a harness made that my baby girl can't get out of in less than 3 seconds. What she can't get out of is the adjustable martingale with attached leash (pressure on the least tightens the collar much, much faster than a separate clip leash and a standard martingale). Just a thought.

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Definately use a harness and take her, JJ was a major spook when we got her in January, but she loved other dogs and was happy to be with them. At GIG I asked the hoomins on the other end of the leash if they would mind letting her schmooze with their pups but could they not try to pet her. This worked out, they understood and now she is better about people as gradually we let people approach, she was never agressive toward them, just afraid of them.

 

Have fun and big hugs to your DH for going the extra mile for her.

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Guest Shermanator

We took Layla today and she did good. She was scared (she's not a wiggly dog when she's scared - she statues). Rob had to carry her in, but once we were in she did do some walking on the leash which is a HUGE step forward for her. It took her probably an hour and a half to get across to where the nail trimming area was, but she did it a little step at a time. She didn't mind people petting her, even little kids. And she loved seeing all the other houndies and she saw her litter mate Travel! And Travel's new sister Echo. When we left I couldn't believe it but she walked out to the truck like she's been walking on the leash forever! Yay Layla! I am so proud of her!

 

 

 

 

Our annual greyhound picnic is this Saturday. We are going and definitely taking GreyCee. I want Layla to go SO badly because I think she would love being around all the other dogs. However, she still won't walk on a leash and is still a bit spooky with people. My husband said he'd carry her in if she won't walk and he will just sit with her. I honestly don't know if this will be too much for her or not. We are taking 2 cars so Rob can take her back home if needed. I don't want her to miss out on the opportunity to have some fun, and maybe it will be a good experience for her.

 

Opinions?

 

 

We LOVED seeing Layla and Graycee today! I think they remember each other! (Travel and Layla.) I was so proud of them today! For being such spooky little girls, they did great! Their eyes were bright, and they showed no signs of the terror we experienced when we adopted them. It just warms my heart to see how far they've come. And we had a major breakthough with Echo today. We brought her in with her muzzle on, but by the end of the picnic, we were able to remove it. She's a very insecure little girl, and when she feels threatened, she lashes out and bites. However, even with all the new people and houndies, she showed no signs of fear. She was a happy little girl, showing none of the fear signs we have seen in the past. I am so proud of her!!

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I'm chiming in her a bit late but Bailey used to have to be carried in and out the door just to go out into the backyard, that's how timid she was. We used to take her to public places to desensitize her so she would become more social to help reduce her fear of the whole world.

 

I would always watch though, even with Brooke who is also very timid, and if she was starting to get overwhelmed with fear, we'd leave because I didn't want to undo all the progress we made. I do that with Brooke as well. If something terrifies her, we leave. If something is mildly scary, we work through it with calm assertive voices and treats. I knew what I was in for when I adopted her. With Bailey being so afraid, I got really intuitive at knowing when was enough.

 

I'm glad to hear she's come along so far.

Jan with precious pups Emmy (Stormin J Flag) and Simon (Nitro Si) and Abbey Field.  Missing my angels: Bailey Buffetbobleclair 11/11/98-17/12/09; Ben Task Rapid Wave 5/5/02-2/11/15; Brooke Glo's Destroyer 7/09/06-21/06/16 and Katie Crazykatiebug 12/11/06 -21/08/21. My blog about grief The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not get over the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same, nor would you want to. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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Well reading this has made me feel more confident about Micah's progress. I've been asking advice on his spookiness since we got him in Feb. 2010. We are still not where we would like to be with Micah but the dog we live with today is sooo much more comfortable in his skin than the dog we took off the transport van! You guys are so right when you keep repeating that you have to keep taking them out into the world. Sometimes that's hard to do because it does take a lot of extra effort. Every time we come home after having taken Micah somewhere successfully, I feel just as good as he does!! We had company last night and instead of running into another room or hiding in his crate he came to the door to see what was going on! That's big! We still haven't been able to get him to come all the way to us. He comes often just out of range to be petted even though when he wants ear scritches he comes right over. Just hesitant when we want him to come to put coat on, give meds, etc. Sorry to talk so much about my dog on this site as I know it was Layla's mom that wanted advice....just started runnning off at the mouth. Anyway, I've read that nothing feels better than having made a spook feel comfortable in the world and that's my goal as well as everyone else that lives with a shy, spooky pup.

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Guest RobinAZ

Well reading this has made me feel more confident about Micah's progress. I've been asking advice on his spookiness since we got him in Feb. 2010. We are still not where we would like to be with Micah but the dog we live with today is sooo much more comfortable in his skin than the dog we took off the transport van! You guys are so right when you keep repeating that you have to keep taking them out into the world. Sometimes that's hard to do because it does take a lot of extra effort. Every time we come home after having taken Micah somewhere successfully, I feel just as good as he does!! We had company last night and instead of running into another room or hiding in his crate he came to the door to see what was going on! That's big! We still haven't been able to get him to come all the way to us. He comes often just out of range to be petted even though when he wants ear scritches he comes right over. Just hesitant when we want him to come to put coat on, give meds, etc. Sorry to talk so much about my dog on this site as I know it was Layla's mom that wanted advice....just started runnning off at the mouth. Anyway, I've read that nothing feels better than having made a spook feel comfortable in the world and that's my goal as well as everyone else that lives with a shy, spooky pup.

 

It's such a fantastic feeling when these dogs make progress. Even if it's just a little baby step. I love hearing about the other shy/spooky dogs and the progress they are making :) it just warms my heart.

 

Kelly, it was so great seeing Travel and Echo. Those three little black girls standing there together were so cute!! And you are right, Travel and Layla's eyes were bright and they didn't show fear. Layla was hesitant, but there wasn't that horrible fear any more. Going to try to take her for a walk today. Just down the street and back.

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Good for Layla.

The best advice I ever got for dealing with my spook was to have her do what I want her to do (Mike McCann). Of course within reason.

Keep taking Layla out and about.

Don't make a big deal of anything. Reward her confident behavior and ignore her spooky behavior. And stop carrying her! :lol

Nicely done.

Edited by gazehund
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