Basset Hound Problem HELP

[patches]

I have had my basset hound, patches, for 2 years. I have head her since she was 4 weeks old. She has always been very sociable and outgoing. Recently, however, she acts completely scared of EVERYTHING. Whenever she hears a sound (not neccisarily loud) she takes off to my bed room and hides under the bed. Sometimes she gives you a look and just leaves. I hate that she wants to spend time under the bed and it bothers me. I don't want her to be afraid, and I don't know what has caused this. The last few nights she has not wanted to sleep with me at all. She doesn't even want to be on top of the bed. She usually sleeps with me every night. But now, she just wants to be under the bed. I know she isn't sick because she just came home from the vet. (Lets just say she likes to taste EVERYTHING....and sometimes it just wont come out!)...

I need help. I don't know what to do to make her not so scared any more.

[mrsgrubby]

Has anything changed in her life, haved you moved, has your schedule changed, has anything really scary happened to her?

What do you do when she is scared. Do you ignore her, do you beg, (coddle and coo her to come out?)

How is she on a leash walk? What would happen if you leashed her to you for a few days inside the hous and then just ignored her going about your business?

[britishbandit]

Good questions mrsgrubby
I know this is a bit off topic here, by how is it you got this dog at 4 weeks of age? Maybe you had reasons for it, but that is really far too young.

[patches]

She has always been fine. She is fine outside and on walks. She loves to go on walks and smell things. As far as anything different...not really. We have been living in this house for a while now. And I have kept pretty much the same schedule (Im a teacher, so she is fixing to see me a whole lot more). She stays indoors while I am gone. So I am pretty sure that nothing has happened to her. Though she has decided that she hates meeting new men (which isn't all that bad of a thing) I guess she is just going through a phaze. I did wake up with her on top of me this morning (all 50 pounds), so she didn't stay under the bed the whole night. Usually I just let her lay there and when she hears me do something in the other room she will come out. I dont think I would have to really leash her to me. Besides getting scared and going underneath the bed, she is by my side all the time. Shes laying on "her" pillow right now in the living room so I guess she will be ok.

I got her that young because her mom was having problems with the pups and it may have been closer to 5.

[mrsgrubby]

I am glad to hear she is doing better today. Please keep us posted.

Also, if you have other behavior related questions please feel free to post them in the behavior and training section below. I think more people might read and respond with suggestions if you post this type of stuff down there then in this area.

Please do keep us posted.

[bigdoglover]

This type of behavior happened to a friend's Doxie as well. She is a teacher, and one day when the trash men came, they were really loud...banging, talking loud to each other, etc. Even though it was outside, and KC was in, it scared him to death. He has been paranoid ever since (but she coddles him as well, much to my dismay). Wonder if a loud noise unexpectidly could have cause her to be a bit "off"...??

[Cassiepeia]

I was thinking that too BDL.

Maybe you had a visitor one day while you were at work and it frightened her? Perhaps someone tried to break in? Have you asked your neighbours if they noticed anyone around your house while you've been gone? Maybe it was one of them who went to your house?

Cass.

[Barrett]

When she was at the vet, did she have to stay over night or was there surgery involved? Did any of this start before seeing the vet and is your vet a man? One of my dachshunds is scared of meeting new men. She had to have a few surgeries on her shoulders and since then has been scared of lots of things and men in general. I put her back in a few refresher obedience classes and made sure I practiced with her everyday. I wanted to make sure she looked to me for guidance when she was scared and took her cues from me whether to be worried or not. We also continue to socialize her around strangers and mostly men as much as possible. I stepped up my role as leader so she would look to me if she was scared of anything and this worked out wonderfully. It took over a year to get her to the point that she would calmly sit at my feet when she meets someone new. We recently adopted another dachshund that is going through the same training. We have been working with her for a little over a month and have already seen big improvements. She recently had major surgery so we had to settle her into our house and let her heal before training could begin but things are in full swing now. I think her training will go much faster since I have been through this with my other dachshund. It takes time and patience.