[smoke20fan]

i wish homer wasn't such a scaredy cat of everything.i am at my wits end about what to do about it.we bought a large picture to hang in the kitchen and set it on the foor in there for a few days until we got the right stuff to hang it on the wall and he would not go in there.he has to go thru the kitchen to go outside and he was terrified by it.also his food bowl is in there he was so scared to eat but he did-when he got hungry enough.this went on for 3 days-we figured he would eventually get over it and sniff around it but no way was he going over there.we have started chaining outside for a little each day for him to get used it.it's a very long cable and nothing for it to get wrapped around out there.he has his water and toys plus numerous sticks and lots of shade.he loves being out there so we have chained him and stayed out there playing with him so he is used to being chained and then after a bit we go inside and leave him there to play on his own.well he won;t play just sits there and whines.today right after we left something spooked him so much he pooped himself and kept walking in it trying to get inside.i hate chaining up but i thought it would be good for him when we go out for a couple of hours instead of caging him and gram is here to watch him outside to make sure he is ok.will he grow out if it or get used to it?what can i do to make him not so scared of every little thing.we will be adding more furniture to our home and i don't want him to freak out and mt parents will be visiting for a week and i don't want him to be scared and hide in his cage all the time.it's breaking my heart to see him be like this.

 

[Spencer's Mum]

I think that it's good that you are able to tie him outside but if he doesn't want to be out there and you leave him out there alone, then it is becoming more of a punishment than a good thing. I would say to stay out there with him for now until he actually asks to go out. My dogs are at a point where they enjoy laying outside for a little while but then they want to be with us again (I have 2). Beagles hate to be alone so he likely won't like being in the yard all by himself.

As for the picture, change to dogs can be a very stressful scary thing. My dogs like their routine and any changes from that and they get very upset. Take it slow and don't force him to deal with what is scaring him. Maye he went near the picture and it moved and scared him.

 

[smoke20fan]

i think he might to a bit too clingy tho-we can't go any where in the house with out him at our feet-not to the bathroom,kitchen,even across the room to pop a movie in the dvd-he is right there,trying to stop him from doing that but he will sit and whine unless he can stand right next to us.poor guy won't even go potty unless we are no less than 5 feet away.i so wish he would be more independant.i know beagles need companionship but this is a bit much don't you think?we only leave him alone outside for 10-15 mins before he comes back in and he just freaks the second we are out of sight

 

[beaglina]

If I remember rightly he's still pretty young - so with a bit of encouragement may grow out of some of this behaviour - though I sure others with nervous beagles will have more advice. I hadn't realised how much Beaglina had grown 'til I was reading another post on here about baths - when she was little she would always try and get in the bath so she wasn't left on her own - beagle in bath is so not relaxing! These days she's more likely to go find something else to do like lizard hunting in the garden ;-) She's sitting outside enjoying the sun now - but I know that if I go and shut the door loudly she'll be straight back wanting to get in and see what's going on - so maybe if you haven't already tried you could tie him up but leave the door open so he can stick his nose in and make sure he's not missing out on anything?
Good luck

 

[Gingergoose]

It breaks my heart to read about poor Homer. I can't remember his age or if he was a rescue or you got him as a puppy.

Henry was an adult rescue picked up as a stray so we know nothing about his past. February 3 will be two years that we have had him. Since we got him, he has had exagerated fears that no amount of reassurance or love would make better.

Last year we couldn't put up most of our Halloween decorations because he was afraid of them before we got them out of the box. He is scared to death of flashlights or reading lights that you attach to books. Once he wouldn't go into the kitchen for ANYTHING for a week. It turns out that some pictures that my son had drawn and were hanging up high on the cabinets that moved slightly when you walked past them were scaring him and keeping him from the kitchen.

A year and a half later, I'm happy to report that Henry is still jittery sometimes and still afraid of flashlights but much better. We'll try the Halloween decorations again.

I think that having two other dogs around has given Henry confidence as well as company...even though my other two practically ignore him.

Like I've learned here on BW, beagles are pack animals and you and the family are the pack. Maybe he will eventually get used to being outside if you start slow...5 minutes until he tolerates it, then add a few more minutes and so on. Can he see you when he is outside? Just wondering.

As for visitors. That will get better. Henry did and still does on occasion hide from visitors but the last couple of times that we had visitors from home that stayed for a week he warmed up to them more quickly. I think that with consistent love and and knowing that you are there for him, Homer will get better. Tell your family not to push him, let him come to them.

'Scuse the lengthy post. Hope it helps.

~Denise

 

[Gingergoose]

One more thing...this lesson I learned the hard way.

When he is chained outside, is the chain on his collar or does he have a harness on?

I ask because frightened dogs can slip out of collars and this can be disasterous if you know what I mean.

If you plan on eventually leaving him chained outside when you leave, even if grandma is able to see him, I suggest putting him in a harness. He is less likely to escape out of it as easy as a collar. I think they make escape-proof harnesses.

Just (another) thought.

~Denise

 

[beagletails]

Where did you get your pal from and how old was he when he came to you? Could it be that he wasn't fully or properly socialized as a pup?

I do not have any problems with my purebred Beagles, but my Lab/Beagle mix that came from a shelter has some psychological problems. He was scared to death of fireworks for the first few years that we had him, but that is not so uncommon. At first we had to medicate him on the holidays. He has finally started settling down a little with them though and occasionally gets a little clingy, but for the most part he is okay. He is still scared to death of our electric bug zapper though and refuses to go outside if it is turned on. lol

The thing that I find with Sam though is that he does not like change at all. He becomes very clingy for awhile if we do something like re-decorate a room or even simply move a piece of furniture. If someone comes to visit he is fine, but if they stay with us temporarily (animal/human) he again becomes clingy. My husband says that he is definitely my dog as I also have problems with change. (Could our dogs be picking up on our own insecurities and fears?)

Now on the flipside to that...Sam is the first to respond to me when I am having a hard time. I suffer from bi-polar disorder and whenever my moods are changing you can sense it in my little buddy. He stays so close to me as if to try to comfort me. We have a very strong bond.

I think that you will find that some traits will not be able to be altered, but the most important thing you can do is offer re-assurance to your pal and be aware of the fact that he is sensitive to certain things. Hopefully with your re-assurance he will become less sensitive, but if not, the best you can hope for is that you all learn to live with his little quirks.

 

[smoke20fan]

we got him at 7 weeks so no baggage.he adapted very well to his new home even with him being sick with worms,vomiting and having the runs the first night until we got him to the vet the next day.he has always been skittish but seems to be getting worse.the pic got hung and he is back to his normal self.when i see is afraid of something i will pick him up and hold him and sit or stand in front of whatever he is scared of until he stops shaking.seems to help a bit-he will walk by it-but at a distance and will eyeball it the whole time but at least he will go by it.hopefully it helps and soon he will realize it won't hurt him.as far as chaining outside-i stopped it.i can't bear to see him like that.no matter how long we stay out there it doesn't help and he can't see up from the backyard.and we tried the front yard so he could see us in the window but only made it worse.and i didn't want to get a longer cable so it reached the door so he could peek in because i didn't want it to get wrapped around anything outside.so that's on hold for awhile-just can't do that to him /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif

 

[Spencer's Mum]

When he is scared of something the worst thing you can do is comfort him because he then thinks that there is a reason to be scared. If you know that he is not going to be hurt by whatever he is scared of, just allow him to deal with it and do not acknowledge the fear. Like with Spencer, when he was a pup, he would run to my feet if he was scaredof another dog or whatever. I would jsut say "you're fine" and leave him letting him use my legs to hide behind but picking him up actually would have encouraged the fear.

 

[smoke20fan]

well i think i have to pick him up because he won't even go near it.like the pic in the kitchen-didn't want to go in there and eat.and we had a box outside he had to walk by to go potty-didn't want to go outside.so i pick him up,take him to the item and let him sniff at it while i keep telling him"it's ok"

 

[Spencer's Mum]

You can pick him up and walk him to or past whatever it is he is scared of but I would avoid the comforting talks. It makes the dog think that there is a reason to be scared of it. I would actually just leash him and coax him along with treats or playing or whatever he is best motivated by.

Dogs can sense what you are feeling so if you are hesitant and expecting him to react to something, chances are he will. Believe me, this is what I am dealing with right now and honestly, if I can stay calm, so do the dogs.

 

[Spencer's Mum]

Another thing I just thought of, have you ever tried clicker training? It could be very useful in this situation. Like, if he looks at the picture, click & treat (C&T). Eventually, he will associate the picture as rewarding. Then if he walks in that direction, c&t. make it so that eventually he has to get closer and closer to get the actual treat.

I have started clicker training my two over the past couple months and it has done wonders on their walking manners, their heel and tricks. They both learned to roll over on command in about an hour.

 

[smoke20fan]

i tried to just walk him by stuff but i ending up having to drag him with the leash(he would not walk at all but try and run the other way) and he ended up peeing a little trail the whole time he was so scared.he loves fatty londion broil on the grill so i put some by the pic closer and closer with every next piece and he would not go near it at a certain point-even left it there for later and he never went to go get it.he is so funny about things-his room is our office and it was full of boxes.we got 4 large metal shelves to put in there and unloaded all the boxes.he had no reacton-acted like nothing happened even tho the room was totally different and we moved his cage.but break out the tv tables in the living room and you'd think we were gonna beat him with them.stressing me out cuz hubby is getting frustrated with him.loves to take him outside and play and they have a great time but as soon as a neighbor comes outside or something homer freaks and runs to the door whimpering and refuses to come back even when the coast is clear.he has missed alot of evening playtime(won't even go back outside later) because of this then gets all hyper in the house running around at like 12 or 1am when it's time to go to bed.

 

[BookerMoose]

Quote:Originally posted by Spencer's Mum:
You can pick him up and walk him to or past whatever it is he is scared of but I would avoid the comforting talks. It makes the dog think that there is a reason to be scared of it. I would actually just leash him and coax him along with treats or playing or whatever he is best motivated by. Dogs can sense what you are feeling so if you are hesitant and expecting him to react to something, chances are he will. Believe me, this is what I am dealing with right now and honestly, if I can stay calm, so do the dogs.

We have the same problem with our youngest beagle, Popcorn. and although I agree that NOT comforting her when she freaks out is next to impossible, absolutely everything I have read in the two years since we adopted her says that it is what you have to do for her to have any hope of overcoming her fears... and comforting Homer will only make him think he is right to be scared.

There have been times where I have been standing in the pouring rain while Pocorn is lying on her stomach in the middle of the road because she is too terrified to move and all I want to do is pick her up and comfort her (and get her out of the way of traffic, of course) - but instead I try valiantly to coax her to move by singing out "Yeah Popcorn" in a cheery voice and clapping my hands in a happy way. I'm sure people in the neighbourhood think I have lost it... and sometimes I do have to just give in and pick her up to avoid us both being squashed in the road.

I find there is really no rhyme or reason to what sets her off - a while back we had a birthday party for a friend and had a couple of helium balloons in the living room which totally set her off. Moving furniture can be a problem (the table is clearly only going to attack when it is THERE, not where it was before!) When she first arrived she was terrified of umbrellas (she arrived in Vancouver in late September... can you imagine how many umbrellas we encountered in her first few months with us?!), baby strollers, the metal strip on the threshold of many doorways, the dishwasher, stairs, firecrackers, mirrors - I'm sure there are many, many more I have thankfully blocked out of my mind.

I'm happy to say that two years later most of these object-based fears have been conquered - with the exception maybe of firecrackers but we've tried to avoid encountering them as much as we can. Now she is basically just afraid of "existing"... not specific things.

Good luck... and we're here for you when you need to vent.