I have one of those. My Brussels/Yorkie and other mix has all sorts of issues. He couldn't be adopted out for a while because he would poo all over anyone who picked him up. He has come a looong way but will always be weird I think. I have a doggie door and Monkey was very easy to train with the door. He yaps excessively at everyone who is not immediate family and comes near him. I have a code word I use with my Rottweiler, when I say Friend it means go off guard. I use the same code word with the little dog and then put him in the arms of the person he is yaping at. I didn't start doing that until he started feeling secure in his environment. It has helped. I still can't stop him from going berserk when a car passes during walks. It takes a lot of patience with rescues.

My little dog came from a sort of hoarder home and was kept in a crate without being held or taken out for the first six months of life.

Edited to add: there are a lot of bad animal behaviorists out there. Talk to your moms vet for recommendations.

Or, I love Cesar Millan. I think he has videos.

Bless that poor boy’s heart! He is so lucky that your saint-of-a-mom adopted him! Poor little guy! I don’t know of a good book or video. My only advice is dogs like this really, really need continuity. That calm sameness in their routine every day is a balm to their poor troubled psyches.

First of all, bless your mom for adopting a rescue and you for wanting to help her. Where I would start is to contact the rescue where she adopted The Troll and explain what she’s dealing with. Most rescues have behaviorists they work with. I also think the rescue may ask to take the dog back so they can try to rehabilitate him. Best to you all.

If can afford a behavior specialist,please consult one. Poor baby doesn't know he has nothing to fear. A good trainer will educate your mother on how to train and socialize the dog,they won't require endless amounts of expensive training with them. Make sure you get references. Maybe the vet knows someone. Bless her for taking in such a baby. Not many people would. You can check youtube, but who knows where these people get their expertise from. I've found Caesar Milans advice helpful for one of my dogs, but her problems were not as extensive as your moms dog. Poor baby.

Look into CBD oil for pets. Best of luck to your mom and The Troll!

Have you tried a thunder shirt? It doesn’t always work, but it immediately calmed my Aussie when he suffered a bout of extreme anxiety when we went on vacation without him.

Maybe a drop or two of lavender oil on him Or even in a diffuser. Rather than pet him, touch him lightly on the top of his hair.

Have you looked into obedience schools in your area? We have a rescue pit mix "hand me down" from our daughter.

We took our dog to a class for aggressive dogs. They helped with general issues as well as specific to your dog. For example, I couldn't touch my dog's collar. It's an automatic reflex for me to grab a dog's collar to guide him out of the way etc. Mine snapped at me. I was able to train him so I could do this.

Vet and grooming visits. Mine starts with a muzzle and I don't escort him in. He comes out of the room without the muzzle! Grooming is done at the vet's office. Again, he is muzzled for part of it. Last time we were allowed in with the groomer.

One vet suggested medication to calm him down beforehand, we didn't do this but it might be something you can do.

We also hired a personal trainer who specialized in aggressive dogs. We also hired a trainer from Bark Busters. So, I learned many different approaches.

What surprised me was the complete opposites of philosophy. Obedience school, yes, treats are great!!!! Bark Busters, no they are not because you don't find treats in the real world. On this one, I combined the two. Treat inside, none on our walks outside.

Each gave me valuable information and I used what made sense to me in my situation. I'm not recommending this to you because it cost us hundreds of dollars.

IMHO, you can't "love out" certain behaviors. My job, as I see it, is to keep my dog out of trouble and to keep those around him safe. He has improved greatly, but nowhere near where I would like him to be.

We have him six years and I sometimes say this to him, "Get over it, you have been with us for six years!"

Sorry for the hijack -- Nicole -- someone recently suggested CBD oil to me for my dog's arthritis and anxiety issues. Do you know if you have to buy it specifically made for dogs? There is a smoke shop up the street that sells it - I was wondering if I could buy it there. Sorry to hijack! Your mom is very sweet to have taken on Troll! I had to put my dog on prozac for a little while because he developed an extreme noise fear. It seems to have gone away and I've eased him off of the medication.

+1 for Prozac. We never thought in a million years we'd put a pet on this type of medication but we were at our wits ends with inappropriate urination around the house. Multiple vets, diagnosis' and actions on our part with no resolve brought us to try it. Best thing we ever did . She now plays, cuddles with our cat, and doesn't get scared at every move we make. She still has her moments but her personality now shines instead of seeing the anxiousness.

Our vet prescribed it and we fill our compounded orders through 1800PetMeds

WIshing you & your mom the best

All these recommendations are valuable. Getting really good with a clicker can really help, as can starting slow. Lower expectations, be patient, and try to see it from a scared pups point of view. I also agree with eld to try different approaches, different trainers. And binge watching Cesar Milan won’t cost much.

Oh I'm sorry to hear the poor Troll is having such issues. My DD and her DH had an adult chihuahua rescue who exhibited similar traits and after all kinds of therapies, trainings and medications, he calmed down a bit, but was never what you'd call a 'good' dog. He trembled constantly, was fearful of everything. But they got a daschund puppy and he bonded with her and that helped him come out of his shell a bit. He finally moved on over the Rainbow Bridge earlier this year after living with them for 10 years.

Thank you all for sharing thoughtful ideas and your own experiences. My mom is one of the most soft hearted souls when it comes to animals. If love alone could heal an animal’s past, her seven pound Shortie would be one amazing pooch. I feel bad for her that he’s not the happy go lucky cuddle-cake that she so strongly desired. (But isn’t he cute?!)

Right now I’m thinking of getting Mom a 1.5 hour private consultation, and let her decide if she wants to take things further. The trainer I found sounds really good, very gentle, has multiple certifications, and specializes in rehabilitating fearful and aggressive dogs.

Sounds like a great plan! My parents have an extremely fearful greyhound and they adopted a very outgoing greyhound to complement her, it actually worked and she is a lot more outgoing

Troll is indeed a cutie-pie!!!

Right now I’m thinking of getting Mom a 1.5 hour private consultation, and let her decide if she wants to take things further.

Not knowing your Mom's finances, I'm not sure whether this would work out well. Although worthwhile, some behavior specialists are quite expensive. If the behaviorist is a success and suggests ongoing consults, could your Mom manage the cost?

He’s so adorable. I can see why Mom puts up with Troll’s issues. Again, before I’d do anything, I recommend your mom contact the rescue she adopted him from to get their opinion/advice.

What a cutie-pie!

My friend adopted a mixed-breed with anxiety, fearful, and super shy. As part of training her they went to an agility class, and in time the dog found self-confidence and calm, and fun. Eventfully they even started competing! Good exercise for my friend, too lol.

Awww, quite a cutie!

Gail618 - you can buy it there, I think it's all the same formulation for people and pets. At the shop I go to there are flavored ones for people and "natural" which is probably the same as the one marketed to pets. They both cost the same.

Wanted to share my experience because I’ve lived this for 12-ish years now.

I recued my Yorkie before she was a year old. She had bounced five times, including the pound and back and forth at rescue. She was a mess, but trusted me and my neighbor immediately. The fact that she liked the neighbor was a good sign that there was hope.

First thing I did was identify her triggers; men, children, uniformed people, anyone coming on the property, deep voices and female dogs more than male. She needs to know what is going to happen to her, so we take the same routes to our destinations. Anyone coming over was called “Auntie xxxx”. Auntie is a happy word and she still knows her aunties. She also quickly became over protective of me, which was really domination. I still never let children get near her. She is always worse when with me, that hasn’t changed.

I immediately started training. Most people don’t train little dogs and they need it. We learned sit, Stay, heel, down, off and, sort of, no. We went to a training class and kept our distance. The trainer leading the class knew our story, so we never tried socializing. At home we practiced at least an hour a day. She also said my anxiety about her aggression made it worse.

We walked a lot. She learned to heel. It got out some of the energy and exposed her to lots of new scary things. I put her in a sit/Stay and told her when to eat. When she went crazy barking at strangers, there just wasn’t much I could do. Patience and redirects worked only some of the time. I also learned that picking her up when she was behaving poorly was a positive reinforcement. I still sometimes forget.

At the vet, she pooped and peed every time we went. So I started taking her there and just feeding her treats in the lobby. Then we would go home. I moved from the big loud vet’s office to a much smaller practice. It took at least six years before she stopped pooping. Sometimes she still pees. They showed me the t-touch and that helped.

I had a fantastic kennel where the owners lived on site and had a few small dogs. They started putting her with their dogs when she had to spend time there. It took a long time, but she got used to it. Because she’s worse around me, this could only work because I wasn’t there.

Doggie downers are my friend. She needs them for far less frequently now. It took her four months to tolerate my husband, a couple years to love him. When have our regular group over now, she wanders around everyone for a while and eventually puts herself to sleep.

She gets jealous and barks at us when she wants attention. We had a behaviorist come out and showed us how to redirect her. “Good sit?”.....”Good Siiiiit”, reward. It works, but we are not always patient enough. The behaviorist works in the same circles as Cesar Milan, who has even been sued by his own employees for hurting their dogs. He is not highly regarded inside the training community.

Its been 12 hard years. I’ve learned training, exercise, consistency, awareness and doggie drugs are the key to helping her live a happier life.

Now she has slowed down with kidney and other age-related issues, but we keep up on all the things we’ve been doing throughout her life. It isn’t perfect, but she has a better life than most people would given her.

Thanks Nicole. They have bottles of 60mg or 200mg. Do you have any dosage/strength info? My dog is 50lbs. Thanks!

1929, you reminded me of how my cats didn't mind the vet. And you can imagine how rare that is! I used to take them in the car to the drive-thru and they'd get a treat, like a sip of milkshake. (Well, I was single, not a mom, was not into healthy feeding of my dependents lol.) But anyway, they didn't mind going in the car at all, so going to the vet wasn't bad. They did poop in the carrier on the way home from the vet, but never on the way there! Anyway, your taking the Yorkie to the vet lobby for a treat is a great idea. If he can eventually get a stroke from the receptionist or even the vet while there, so much the better.

Gail - for that size it's about 5 - 15 mg per day as a starting point, which should only be a few drops a day but definitely verify with who ever you purchase from. I'd start with the smallest bottle and see if you notice any difference in your pup. There are also treats, pills, etc. if you don't want to do oils, lots of places online to search.

My oldest daughter and her husband are both veterinarians, and they have recommended a veterinarian behavioral specialist in these kinds of situations. Some dogs have such anxiety that they cannot benefit from training because they just can't take it in, but they can go on a short dose of anti-anxiety meds and get trained then. If the specialist is a veterinarian, they can prescribe these meds.

1929Spanish, what a wonderful dog owner you are.

One thing I learned with an anxious dog, if you cuddle them and try to comfort them while they are anxious about something it is equivalent to praising them for being anxious, so the behavior continues. Instead we would get very upbeat and sound like we were all having fun “isn’t this a fun elevator ride!!!l - trying to change the overall mood.

Lucky Shortie, to have such a caring mom and sibling:)

The behaviorist is a wonderful idea, however, it is wasted $$ unless your mom will consistently reinforce the training which is critical to success, as 1929Spanish mentioned.

Our pup was very challenging with many behavior issues and our expensive trainer was able to extinguish many of them. Unfortunately, neither DD or I had the patience or inclination to continue and he is now back to ruling as TOP DOG in the household.

Unless you already know that your mom will put in the time and effort to practice the techniques, you may want to discuss this gift with her before purchase.

(note: We also tried CBD oil--make sure you get the actual oil, not the "treats." It didn't work for our dog, but some swear by it)

A puppy has 12 weeks to be socialized. Most people don't know that. I didn't know that. I learned about it after I bought a puppy from a pet store. He was nine weeks old and a tiny 4 lbs. and he growled at my brother and at the vet. My vet was the one who told me that he was not socialized. She told me that he needed to be held by as many people as possible. What I ended up doing was taking him to my vet's office for one hour every day for three weeks and sitting with him in the waiting room. He needed to see people coming and going, other dogs, movement. I asked people to hold him. It took him a week before he wagged his tail at someone. After the vet's office, I took him for a walk on a busy street so that he could hear cars, trucks, etc. He was afraid of everything. He had never been outside. On the weekend, I took him to the kids playground so that he could get used to kids running around and yelling. I asked some of the kids to hold him. I knew I had three weeks to flip his brain. That is why I sat every day for three weeks in my vet's office with him.

After four months, I took him back to the vet to be neutered. One of the vet techs was shocked at the turn around in my puppy. He said to me: "He was the type of dog who would have been euthanized within a year."

He now wags his tail at the vet and groomer, and other people. He is fine with kids.

This is what I read about socialization:

"The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine agrees that the socialization period lasts up to about 12 weeks (3 months) of age. However, at 12 weeks, the puppy must continue socialization to refine its social skills. Socialization most easily occurs before the puppy is 3 months old. Any later than that and it becomes an excruciatingly difficult and time-consuming process that very few owners have the time, energy, money or patience to cope with."

Good luck.

Edited to add: Although I managed to change my dog, he will never be the dog he would have been if someone had held him and played with him during the first eight weeks of his life. That makes me sad, and mad at the breeder. There is a tiny part of his brain that is fearful that I can't change. When he is afraid, I pick him up and comfort him. He now looks to me when he is afraid and wants me to pick him up.

He’s so cute. It’s upsetting to hear that he’s not been cared for in a way all our pets deserve to be. I think your mother would benefit a lot from a hands on trainer; not just because she’ll gain the advise she needs to handle the dog, but also so she can see that it’s not a lost cause. Training can be a long process and can sometimes seem like an impossible feat. I hope you’re able to help make it happen for her, maybe others in your family can pitch as their gift to her as well, so it’s a group effort. That’s what we do when the gift is bigger than one budget can afford.

All of you, this thread has been sooooo helpful. I wish I had the time to address each of you individually. Know that your comments are being read and carefully pondered.

Lukkiirish, a group gift would be a wonderful idea. I'm an only child, mom is divorced (and dad passed away last year.) My mom, one of six kids, has one remaining brother who lives several states away, and we only see him every few years. Our formerly tight-knit family has dwindled so much.

I did find out the name of the rescue organization last night, so I plan to see what they have to say. As we talked about Shortie I was encouraged to hear that Shortie does get excited to see mom and her Man Friend, enjoys cuddling with them, and now has a routine where he enjoys playing for a half hour or so each night. They live a very routine, habituated lifestyle, so that is in their favor.

MF has suggested getting another dog might be helpful, too. Who gives up their well-adjusted dogs, though? Part of the reason they went with a rescue was that the dog would be older, past the puppy stage. Now I realize how important that puppy stage really is!

Mom said last night how she wishes she could wave a magic wand and say, "OK, you're a real dog now!" She also made reference to wishing there was a dog whisperer in her area. She will be going into semi-retirement starting in the new year, so technically there would be the time for her to work with the dog. I do feel working one on one with someone who could point out specific techniques to help, in addition to what they might be doing to undermine Shortie's confidence would be beneficial. But if the training involved keeping the dog off the furniture, "putting him in his place", or withholding affection, ain't happening! I really don't think that is the style of trainer I found, though.

I wanted the gift to be a surprise...but it might have to come down to some conversation...

We have a 161/2 year old who has some anxiety issues as she ages. Our vet recommended an Adaptil collar that has pharamons in it that are calming to the dog. It could be used as a starting place and it’s worth a try. We get ours at www.chewy.com. I believe Petsmart and Petco carry them but are a little more expensive. You could also use it along with the trading methods your mom chooses.

Regarding another dog, they learn from each other so unless your mother is willing to put in the time, that isn’t going to fix anything.

Tell your Mom that the work is about giving him a happy life more than making things easier on her.

My dog is allowed on furniture. She also slept in the bed until it negatively impacted DH’s sleep. Training her out of the bed was a week of barking, crying, barfing and pooping. It was hell. But she got with the program eventually. A heated dog bed helped.

This book also was helpful for me.

I want to underscore 1929spanish’s comment—never get another dog to balance the resident one. They do learn from each other (negatives and positives) and you may end up with two unbalanced dogs.

I’ve been doing rescue for 15 years and yes, people give up wonderful, well adjusted dogs for various reasons. I would say that unless it’s known that the dog comes from a horrible situation where he hasn’t been well socialized, most rescues are wonderful and can easily be trained. I can’t tell you have many ‘strays’ I’ve seen that know commands and are housebroken. People ditch their animals because they’re too much trouble. I bet Shortie was not socialized prior to your mom adopting him. Rescue is a wonderful thing. I always tell adopters to let us know in 2 weeks if you have issues and we will work with you. Rescues want adoptions to work out and most do their best to help make that happen.

Totally agree! I work with a rescue group and most of our placements have successful outcomes. The resilience of dogs is truly impressive and transformations are so heartwarming. Our organization remains a resource for adopters throughout the life of a dog.

I agree that you should contact the rescue. Many of them will pay for some help from a trainer. If hers does, you might be able to combine that with a session or two that you pay for as well.

Laughable, I apologize. That probably wasn’t the best suggestion. :c(

I’ll be emailing the rescue organization. It’s small and not very old, so I don’t have high hopes, but we’ll see. I ordered the book you suggested, 1929 Spanish, thank you. I also ordered this one I found on Amazon: Help For The Fearful Dog: A Step by Step Guide to Helping Your Dog Conquer His Fears.

I think you’re right, nannygoat. Our older dog taught our younger one to be barky. :(

Lukkirish, I loved your suggestion, actually. I just wish I had family members with whom I could share the gift! I remember my aunts and uncles carefully saving together, pitching in week by week, to purchase a recliner as a surprise for my grandad. I have so many good memories of that time in my life when all our family was still around.