Search the Community

OK we've had our rescue bc nearly 16 months, she was 7 months old when we adopted her from rescue, Initially, hated tractors, bikes, joggers, anything like mowers, strimmers and the shrill of ice cream vans music, would literally dart under a hedge and stay there til the threat (she thinks its a threat obviously we know it isnt) had gone. We would stand there, give her time and she would come out herself. Over time we have gone from bush hiding to wanting to leap at joggers and cyclists (we are mid training in this so it isnt my biggest issue) When we are out and about walking we find places to do agility, run around play etc, tractors she hates still, training by me is still on going, she is very social with her favourite fur friends. Our biggest issue is the ice cream van. In the home she will go to her safe place, (by/in our bedroom or under the dining room table on her bed) when out walking it is horrid, she has no safe place, she can hear the chimes before us, there are no set days and tizzy will dart under a hedge or sit at the side of the road. She really wont move and those chimes (as theres' two villages including ours that she visits) can be heard on and off for nearly an hour :( So sitting at the side of a country lane isnt always possible, sometimes I have had to pick her up and carry her to a safe wide grass verge and sit it out there, shes 16kg at least which isnt great on a day where its 17oC. I am not bothered if people see us or question why, but I need some way of getting her to carry on? HELP! Please! It isnt too bad if it is in a field away from livestock or a verge by a tow path, we can sit and relax for a bit, but when it is country roads it can be dangerous. I just feel so upset for her, all the other fight or flight issues like tractors, and walking along roads in the area are not 100% accomplished now but we are getting there its just the bloody ice cream van. We have also tried to go out during the day and get back before the chimes are out. If we go out at a certain time she gets to meet up with other doggy friends for socialisation but we miss it alot due to dodging the damn ice cream shrill :(

Hi all, My fiancé and I recently took the leap and adopted a Merle Border Collie female named Rogue. A few months before we got Rogue, her previous owners had ‘accidently’ bred her when she was less than a year. She gave birth to beautiful puppies, but the pregnancy happening at such a young age stunted her growth. She is a little bit smaller than your average adult female BC, weighing in at about 30-35 pounds. We were told she was mildly anxious but warmed up fairly quickly to new people. Of course, we fell in love! We made the two hour trip to get her and bring her home with us. From the beginning, it was very evident that she was not just fearful, she was extremely scared of just about everything but women. She adores people, but is a little weird around men. She also has a continence problem when people touch her. My boyfriend made the mistake of sternly telling her “Rogue, no” when she had put her snout in our cats litter box and was shuffling the litter around, that she peed herself on the kitchen floor and ran to hide under our bed. We have never once lay a hand on this beautiful dog, but it is becoming evident that she has serious anxiety and I am doing everything I can to help her and make her feel at ease. For the most part when I call her name she will come, hesitantly, into the living room for some snuggles and pets. She LOVES being pet. There are some times that she comes up to put her head beneath my hand so that I can pat her head, and as soon as I do her tail will wag and she will pee all over the floor. I haven’t gotten mad at her, though sometimes it can be frustrating. It is as if she knows she has done something wrong and will go running underneath our bed again. Today, I finally got her into the bath. Because she has had some continence issues since being with us, she was well overdue for a scrub. She was scared of the water but once I put shampoo on her and coaxed her good behavior throughout the bath, she seemed to not mind it so much. She has never shown any sign of aggression towards me. She is just really scared and I need to know ways I can let her know that whatever happened to her before, won’t happen at her new home. She has been eating grain-free dog food. When I pour her food into her dish, she does not come right away like our smaller maltipoo. She is very timid. Sometimes I will call her name and she will slowly come to the kitchen and I will shake the bowl to let her know it is there. It isn’t until after I leave the kitchen and turn the light off to relax on the couch, that I will see her walk slowly towards the dish and eat. I am happy she is eating at least. She makes small bounds everyday, like when we visited the dog park. I wasn’t sure how she would do with her anxiety, but she had a blast and seemed like a completely healthy dog! She played chase with the other dogs and greeted them with her tail up and wagging. She approached other dog owners at the park for a pet (mainly females), and ran around and played with the other dogs for a solid thirty minutes. She has done well in those areas, I just want her to be comfortable enough to approach us in our home whenever she feels like it. I don’t want her to be so scared when we pet her that she keels over and pees on herself. This was an extremely long post, but I feel a connection with her and I feel horrible that her previous home might have been abusive. I care about her well-being and want her to enjoy her dog life with our family so that can act just like that: a dog.