Sophie and Me

Give her time --

You have her on adult food right?  There really isn't a whole lot of difference -- they have to heal, and you don't want her "stretching" a lot -- but if she has stitches just watch for them to loosen in 7-10 days and have them removed ... but a lot of vets use skin glue now so there may not be stitches to remove. 

I like to keep them on white sheeting so it's easy to launder. 

As soon as you can -- take her BACK to where you got her spayed.  Take a bag of treats and just let them make "happy" with her -- in other words you don't want her to be so fearful of going back to the vets.  Just in, say hi to the receptionist and let them give her treats.  It's actually worth a few visits just as dry runs -- hopefully getting to meet the vet and/or techs JUST so they can pet her and show her it's not a deathtrap!

Socialization will come if you consistently take her out, give her opportunities to interact with others.

With a shy fearful dog - HUNT for "opportunities" to debunk scarey things.  Keep good yummy (high value) treats (bits of hot dog, package of mozarella string cheese, etc.) and then when you see things she's not experienced with you -- everything from stairs, bridges, clanging gates, noisey garbage cans, flapping laundry, etc. -- investigate things with her -- show her how something makes noise and as she approaches offer a treat ... let her see YOU survive touching it ...

Just climing a long set of steps (museums, etc) can be a real training session for a fearful dog.  But as you set out to "show her" there's nothing to fear it becomes an adventure. 

HAVE FUN!!  You two have met at just the right time!!

And I will add -- some dogs are rambunctious as heck after speutering -- (either) and some are a bit more sedentary.  I have a feeling she's just a bit traumatized and may not feel wonderful.  Some dogs react differently to anesthesia than others.  It's not a dumb thing to discuss with the vet -- to find out what sedative/anesthesia they used -- if she's really woozy still you may want to have them note that.

I wrote about Sophie in another post but I am very worried about her. She wwas very severly abused before I gogt her on Labor Day and would not eat drink and bit anyone who came near her. I got her after a wonderful girl fostered her for about 2 weeks and she had made wonderful progress. I realized that she didn't trust and was probably very afraid. after almost two months she really was doing fine. I had to get her spayed since the shelter did not. Took her to the vet and had the surgery Monday... She tried to bite the vets before and after the operation. And when we came home I knew she was again traumatized again thinking she was being abondoned again. When in the apt. for a few hours a UPS man rang my bell.. She was barking and barking so muchg that I put my hand toward her snout and said BE QUIET. She bit me then looked ver sorry and just lay down. A little bit later he went into the bdroom and crawled under the bed. She only comes out now if I offer a treat or goes to the bathroom on the newspaper it seems she does not want to go outside at all. I am so upset that she relapsed like this but was told by the vet to just be patient and it will get better she needs time to trust me again. She is about 1 and 1/2 or two and part collie and maybe a bit of chow (she has a black tongue).Am I getting he right info has anyone had this expeerience. I believe she is what is called a fear biter

What I told you in the email is the start.  *you* have to devise ways to handle her.  And just letting her drag a long ribbon (not even a heavy leash -- you can do the same wtih a 6-10 foot long piece of pretty wide satin ribbon)

The problem is once a dog has bitten you then YOU get nervous about handling them.  So devising ways of keeping hold of her is important.  It sounds like she's VERY hand shy -- every time you get your hand in front of her face she bites you so you will likely have to devise a different method for getting her attention and disconnecting her from a potentially negative situation.  She's probably been hit -- very likely for barking and yet probably at the same time she was probably put IN a situation where she was made into being a barker.  So she doesn't realize you are trying to stop the noise -- she perceives you are trying to hurt her for protecting herself. 

If you don't think you can GET a leash on her you may need to muzzle her and you may need to wear a thick pair of garden gloves/leather gloves to get your hand around her muzzle so you can PUT a muzzle on her long enough to get a collar on her with a ribbon tied to it.  In this particular case, I might suggest a Gentle Leader rather than purely a muzzle (so it's touching that dominance trigger point but it allows her to open her mouth, eat, etc. and yet when you grab the other end of the leash/ribbon you will have control of her head from far away. 

THEN you can take her outside to eliminate just in a routine manner.  You can get her out from under the bed. 

I wouldn't let her have free access to a room where you then can't retrieve her (like if she goes SO far under the bed you can't get hold of her ribbon).

In order to help her brain return a bit to normal you may want to use something to calm her.  Either something like Hylands Calms Forte (which is a homeopathic and not habit-forming) or even something herbal like St. John's Wort (which is a relaxant but which also has some emotional soothing overtones).  Another really good one would be Oat Seed tincture (HerbPharms is very good).  Any of these things can be mixed into peanut butter or into her food so you don't have to pill her.

I'm also betting from what you've told me/us that she may also have issues with you bending down in front of her face while putting your hand in front of you -- the fact that you are "over" her boxes her in and then makes her feel "trapped".  It could also -- with a fear biter -- get you bitten in the face!  But more goes into fear-biting than JUST being hand-shy.  it can be a whole complex series of events (like you walking up from *behind* her when she's AT the door barking and you THEN bend over her and put your hand in front of her to show a quiet/no type of command and she thinks you're going to strike her).  In other words -- analyze the physical aspects of where you are and how you have approached her before she nailed you.

Will she let you touch her at all??  I'm thinking T-Touch might be a good thing to use on her.  If you've never used it you can do an internet search for "T-Touch" and "Linda Tellington-Jones" -- it's really incredible stuff and works very well on nervous animals.

If you want to chat with me about her I'm happy to help you -- don't just dismiss something and think 'Oh I couldn't do that because I can't get my hands ON her' -- if I know more what the situation is, we can then figure a way around it so you CAN put it in motion.

AT this point she's likely effectively boxed YOU in so you don't dare touch her -- and she's protecting herself by staying in a place where you can't reach in to grab her.

So -- you set down her food with something as a calmative IN it, and you go and shut all the bedroom doors and gate her into the kitchen or into an area where YOU can't be avoided. 

Because at this point you can't train her until you can put her in a situation where you can manipulate the situation so she HAS to make good choices and CAN'T make bad ones.  Does that make sense to you?

All I can suggest is that you listen to what the vet said, be patient and give her time.  You might consult with a behavorialist, and perhaps discuss with the vet what herbal remedies but help.  Valerin is one that comes to mind.

It has been about one week since I wrote about Sophie a dog I rescued and had terrible fright. She had been abused and was very traumatized I had her since Labor Day and she was doing quite well but I had to have her spayed the Animal Control Center were supposed to do that but I discovered about three weeks into her being here that they did not. She went into heat. So I waited until Nov and got her fixed, unfortunately the operation caused her to relapse , bit me and then hid under the bed and would not come out except she did when I slept to go on the paper, very smart dog. I spoke to the vet and was given advise and Callie of this forum gave me advise also. Well I was patient and she came around and now is so much better. She no longer hides , plays with her toys etc. Goes under the bed to rst or sleep but comes out when called and I find her either next to me on the bed or sitting next to me in the morning. I will always have to be careful because she does have the tendency of being a fear biter but I love this dog and she deserves a good life. She is my fifth dog (the other four lived good lives until 12 or 13 . In January my husband died , we were married 40 years , no children only our dog at that time, Domino our belovd mixed border collie. Three months Domino died and I never thought I would smile again. But the power of a dog cn do wonders and I am better now. I miss my husband terribly (he was only 67) cancer and Domino he was ten and also died from the disease. They r together now and I know are happy my husband loved Domino so and vice versa and I have my Sophie and she is filling the hole in my heart.Just wanted to write this to all of u who have lost someone or something

I am glad Sophie is doing better. I thought she would come around. Its good that you were patient with her.

A bit of advice for the forum. If you want people to respond to your posts, you need to be a little more creative with your thread titles. Besides, how are you ever going to find them again, if you call them all Sophie and Me? If you want to just update on the same thing, you could alternatively just find the old thread and reply to it, which will bump it up to the top of General Chat and we will know something new was added.

Edit: Well, doesn't this make me look dumb... Regardless, I'm glad Sophie is doing better, and welcome to the forum by the way.