I treat my dog nicely and I try to make her feel like she matters because she really does. Even though she can be naughty sometimes and I discipline her, I like to do it with love. It's the same manner a parent would scold their child with one hand and then draw them close with the other (or how do they say it again?).
Anyway, the point is, I make a conscious effort to be gentle with her. It's not like it doesn't come naturally to me, it does, but Panda fears a lot. It's something I noticed when she was little and I thought she'd grow out of it but it only became worse as she got older.
Sometimes she pees in the house and when she sees someone has noticed her mess, she runs into hiding. I understand that she knows her punishment would be the naughty corner which she hates so her fear is valid.
The one that makes me feel bad is when she maybe sees me moving furniture around or holding something unusual. She runs away, tail between her legs and ears down. Half the time she's always acting like she's in danger and it irks me.
We could be playing one second and the next second, she's running away because she sees me holding a pillow. Sometimes she hears noises from outside and she hides in fear or she sits beside me, alert and barking. Even not being able to poo properly gets her scared and she runs around with shit in her ass shaking and crying.
She's always barking when she's outside and it is mostly out of fear and not her trying to intimidate people as they assume. She's a playful dog that easily opens up to anyone ready to play with her, it's just weird to see this timid side of her.
I really don't know the best way to go about it but whenever I notice her being scared, I hold her and pet her, trying to reassure her that everything's fine. She immediately relaxes and goes back to play mode but we just go over the cycle again some other time.
I know dogs have strikingly similar emotions to humans and I witness that every day with mine, it makes me wonder if she might have mental health issues like depression because she keeps displaying signs of long-term anxiety.
Do you experience this with your dogs too? Is my dog overly anxious or am I overthinking all of this?
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That's the problem. You should NEVER scold her. Never never never. Reward her if she does something you like and show her what you want when she does something you don't want. Punishment is ALWAYS wrong. She doesn't know what you want from her. And that's why she is afraid. She will never trust you.
I do this. She's always been a scared one.
Then you should support her every time she isn't scared. I have two rescued dogs. I know how it is to have scared dogs. You must be very very very sensitive and always positive. If you only scold one single time with them it's worse than before.
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That behavior is sometimes seen in dogs that are mistreated, it is not your case, I know that. In other cases it is their personality, in two occasions I had two dogs like that, a little dog named Peluchina, she was fearful when she was little, if I spoke to her loudly she would pee, ears down and tail between her legs, nobody mistreated her, she was like that. Then my dear Blacky, when he was little he was fearful, he didn't bark and he was like that when he was an adult. My mom said that he was special because he was from a litter between mother and son and that is not good. Maybe it's his personality, like people, dogs also have their character, some stronger, some weaker or more nervous.
I'm glad you understand that I'm trying to say it's her personality. I noticed this and I'm always careful with her so she knows she's always safe with me. I just get worried sometimes the way she fears. Even the sound of the rain on the roof scares her.