Has anyone experienced idiopathic fear and withdrawal in their dog

[ExplorerChick]

We have been having many problems with Ginger's transition into our household. She still has an extremely fearful response to my boyfriend after 2 and half months he gets home and she runs and hides in her crate and refuses to come back out when called. When she does come out she creeps around the house like someone is going to hurt her. If he gets up she runs back and hides in her crate again or behind the couch. He is simply ignoring this behavior as am I. We know just let her go where she wants and come out whenever she is comfortable. As small a movement as him moving his foot or arm can cause her to tear down the hall like it's life or death situation and go back to hiding.

I'm going to take her to the vet this week to rule out any health problems but when I spoke with them about the issues she's having they said Huskies are known to sometimes have idiopathic fear and withdrawal. I have never heard of this before but I've done a little research and have found a few articles but there doesn't seem to be a lot of information on this. Not sure if this is something that's genetic or caused by her past which I don't think was great.

We love Ginger and want to make her a happy dog not one that is constantly afraid and running from everything. I've had a dog trainer working with her for socialization with both people and dogs and that's not working either the issues are staying the same. She is happy go lucky with me but anyone strange (male or female) create the same fearful response she's luckily not biting anymore she was for a bit.

She spends most of her time during the day with me we walk quite a bit 2+ hours a day. And I quite often take her to my friends house because the only other dog she will tolerate at this time is his 2 year old pit bull mix so I take her down there to play.

Edited October 6, 2012 by ExplorerChick

[Rosemary]

Something terrible must have happened in her past to have her react is such an extreme manner I am so sorry I have no advice for you as I have never had this problem, and would hate to give you advice that would do more harm than good. The only thing I can suggest is that you take her to see a behaviorist and see if they can give you any advice. Good luck, I sincerely hope you will be able to help her overcome this debilitating fear.

[Biggles]

[MENTION=91]raindog[/MENTION] has a rescue in who has an appalling history. When I first met her over a year ago she would crouch in a corner of the couch and have all of her legs tucked under her to make herself as small and as invisible as possible. She even got fearful if she was looked at, especially by a man. Wouldn't even think about touching her she was such a nervous wreck. One year on she now lays out on the couch and I had the honour and privilege of her allowing me to pet her as she laid stretched out next to me. She is a different dog, still probably has some issues, but considering her appalling history it's wouldn't be surprising. What I have seen is that with love and understanding a dog can come back from being a skinny, abused, nervous wreck into a contented and happy husky. This is all down to Mick, Terry and family and the amount of time and effort and hard work that they have put into rehabilitating her. I would say it is still early days for you, but all being well your patience will be rewarded.

[mydiamond]

I think you shouldn't ignore this behavior and just let her be. Fear is not a genetic issue, and I've never heard that withdrawal and idiopathic fear is common in huskies. In fact, I've never heard it being common in any breed. She can be cured from her fear even if it seems rather impossible now remember though you need lots and lots of patience. This gonna take time

First of all your boyfriend needs to spend more time with Ginger. He doesn't have to pet her all day long, but he needs to be in Ginger's sight every day. No, wait, scrap that. More like most of the day, every day. If your boyfriend is rarely home, he'll always be an alien in your husky's eyes. Remember that in a doggie's point of view, strange or new things are terrifying.

Next up, try to let your boyfriend feed her. Again he doesn't have to get so close to Ginger, but at least Ginger has to know who put that bowl down for her. Once she grew more confident and trusting, your boyfriend can start offering her little treats feeding her from his hand might be a little too far right now so maybe throw a little piece of treat into her crate? The idea is to let her know that your boyfriend equals good food and lots of fun

At this point I believe you start to get the hang of it and has your own ideas on how to work this out, so I'll jump over a few small steps and get straight to the higher level: walking. Your boyfriend has to walk Ginger often. Might sound odd, but walking is one of the best bonding times with your dog. Oh brushing's good too but since there's a chance she's also afraid of brushes, let's leave that idea alone for now

Now for some little side notes:

1. This process is gonna take time. LOTS of time. I know I've mentioned it before but since it's important to be patient throughout the whole process I guess I'll repeat my words. My little boy Diamond used to be the same he's afraid of every single thing you can think of =\ umbrellas, kids, cats, elderly people, the sound of footsteps behind him... You name it. It takes him about 2-3 months only to beat his fear of cats and other dogs. Today, a little over two years since the day I adopted him, he's still afraid of large crowds =\ but on the other hand he's a lot more confident now and has a group of doggie friends he became the star of the neighborhood because he's always so friendly to everyone you see it IS curable

2. Make sure you appreciate every little progress Ginger made treats may be included in the training sessions, but if you can just use verbal praise then put the treats away

3. Good luck and keep us updated on her progress

[Emma]

Agree with the others. There's clearly been an issue in the past with men, personally I'd bet money that she's been yelled at and probably hit with some regularity but that's just my opinion. You sound like you're doing the right things, you just need to be patient. The damage sounds psychological and will likely take many months for her to rebuild her faith and trust in men, slow steady steps, taking each day as it comes. She'll figure it out in the end. X

[Bec]

She may have been abused but she could also genetically have extremely weak nerve. I'd recommend a behaviourial assessment by a professional ASAP to put a behaviour modification program in place.

[Michelle Sopi]

We have the 'twins', Taiya is always fine - Leon flinches at anything and seems frightened of everything - we think he has been abused and has possibly taken some stick for his sister. We still after 2.5 years can't even empty the dishwasher without Leon legging it upstairs what has my poor 'fluffy bunny' had to suffer in his past life - I dread to think!!!!!