Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed girl

If you have recently taken in a rescue Schnauzer or rehomed a Schnauzer and need some advice, then please feel free to ask here. Whether it be about integrating your new dog into your home, health or behavioural issues, someone is sure to be able to help.
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Ladysybil73
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Joined: 10 Jan 2016, 09:48
First Name: Charlie

Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed girl

Post by Ladysybil73 »

Hi ,

I ve just joined this forum and would love to here from you :)

We rehomed Sybil on Tuesday . She s a very sweet friendly girl very loving but needy and Cowers and seems to think you are going to tell her off all the time . She previously lived with 8 other dog in a breeders home. She was the underdog , think she was bullied by the stronger characters in the group hence her original owner rehomed her . She also has just had a litter of pups , they all left on Monday the day before we picked her up . Poor girl

She wined for the first 2 days which seemed constantly and barked at every slight noise , not helped by my 6 yr old cockapoo that barks at everything so he just set her off !!! She normally sleeps in a crate so the first night I put her in one in the spare room , she cried so much I slept next to her . Since then the crate is at the bottom of the bed and she settles .

She goes crazy when anyone comes in the house . Barking and growling but not aggressive she just seems to want a bit of fuss . I think the worst is taking her out for a walk , every person she sees be it in the distance or up close she barks uncontrollably and wants to get to ! She s really struggling with being left to . All are all out of character , although she s always been needy apparently


I know this is all totally understandable, her world has been turned upside down . It's just I wasn t expecting, wrongly, such an extreme difference .

Any tips would be great . I ve got a dap diffuser and popped rescue remedy in her water xx
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zeta1454
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Re: Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed gi

Post by zeta1454 »

Welcome to the Forum and I am sure you will get some good advice from those members who have plenty of experience of re homing traumatised dogs.

Unless you already knew the breeder and Sybil well before you re homed her, I am assuming that any information you have been given has come from the previous owner and may or may not be true. The fact that Sybil cowers and thinks she is going to be told off sounds as though she was bullied by the people in her original household and although they may have told you that the problems with taking her out and leaving her are not in character you only have their word for that.

The DAP diffuser and rescue remedy are a useful back up to help reassure her but it sounds as though you are going to have to put in plenty of one to one gentle support, encouragement and training to allow Sybil to trust you, feel able to be left without fearfulness and to walk out without so much barking ( bearing in mind that mini schnauzers are a vocal breed and she is sharing her home with your cockerpoo who you say is a barker too :D )

If you are prepared to take a long and patient approach to settling Sybil you may find this book useful. It has a recommendation from another owner of a mini schnauzer who was taken in as a rescue according to one of the reviews :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Pigs-Fly-T ... ne+killion" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good luck and I am sure there will be others with experience of rehoming who will be able to offer you good advice from personal knowledge :)
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

Magic - Silversocks Sharade at Darksprite
Trilby - Darksprite Rosa Bud


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Ladysybil73
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Joined: 10 Jan 2016, 09:48
First Name: Charlie

Re: Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed gi

Post by Ladysybil73 »

Thank you so much . I think what you are saying could may well be right ! I ll keep you updated on how she gets on . They are both curled up on the sofa at the moment like butter wouldn't melt :) !! Xx
Ladysybil73
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Joined: 10 Jan 2016, 09:48
First Name: Charlie

Re: Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed gi

Post by Ladysybil73 »

I also meant to say . She is from a kennel club assured breeder . The breeder herself is lovely and can't imagine why she would make it up . But I suppose you never know :( x
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carolinh
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Re: Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed gi

Post by carolinh »

we rehomed both of ours direct from the breeder. Daisy came because of her cataract, and was pretty easygoing with a gentle temperament...she fitted in fairly quickly although had lots to learn...about traffic and bicycles etc. Took it all in her stride. Then three years later we got may.
May took longer to settle because she was more nervous...dodgy stomach for a while after we got her...she also barks more but not in the house, or on walks (off lead). She follows us closely on walks (great!), but we did worry about her initially, especially the first 6 months. She is still scared of many things, but has settled in very well, albeit at a slow pace. We are not experts, but have let her settle at her own pace, and she is happy and gentle. Still barks at horses, but has mostly stopped running at them barking.. I have tried lifting her up and holding her gently, whilst talking to her when faced with something that makes her bark(mostly horses)...it's not a cure, but her reaction is sometimes calmer!

Time seems to be the answer, so I wish you well, and as she gets used to you, and your other dog you may notice small positive changes. more likely after 6 months, and then a year, you will look back and realise how much she has settled.

Good luck, and I am sure real experts will be on to offer help.

Caroline
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Re: Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed gi

Post by Bea-champ »

We rehomed Poppet our s/p schnauzer 14months ago and we had very much the same problems. We overcame most of them by loads of excercise and cured the barking with a Coke tin filled with a few gravel stones. The tin shaken at the dog makes them stop in their tracks, a very cheap and effective remedy. Also to help with the nervousness we used the Serenum drops from pets at home, this is a natural product and we found worked very well.
Time is the only other thing with loads of patience and love. Wish you well and good luck with Sybil she will repay you ten fold.
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zeta1454
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Born: 15 Mar 2012
Dog #3: Pip
Born: 21 Feb 2014
is a: P/S Mini Bitch
Location: North Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed gi

Post by zeta1454 »

Ladysybil73 wrote:I also meant to say . She is from a kennel club assured breeder . The breeder herself is lovely and can't imagine why she would make it up . But I suppose you never know :( x
It is difficult to know how an individual dog will cope with change in their lives even when they have come from a previously good home. I would be a bit worried about her cowering but obviously cannot know for sure why Sybil is doing this and great to hear that she is now curling up with your other dog :)

Years ago we re homed a two year old mini schnauzer from a good breeder but her life with that lady was quite different from that in our household. She had been walked every day more than once and taken to the park and loved very much but never let off lead and, (apart from I believe a hereditary slightly nervous disposition) she had a traumatic start in her life as her mother could not feed her and as a newborn pup she went to a foster mother and then back to her own mother which I am sure must have had some impact on her temperament. She was very affectionate but nervous, sudden sounds startled her and when we took her to a ( first class) training class to try and work on some of her anxiety and lack of early socialisation issues, she shook throughout the whole session. We debated whether or not to take her back but we're so glad we did as with care and support she did become much more confident and, although we never resolved her barking :D , we loved her to bits. It did take a long time though and we did have a scare the first time we took her to a beach and let her off lead as we did not realise she was reliant to a lead stopping her from continuing on a walk and just carried on walking ( deaf to recall) - she was not running away just padding along relentlessly forward. Luckily our other dog realised the problem and ran after her, turned her round and brought her back.

Basically, I just wanted to say that whatever Sybil's background there may be any kind of odd things that she has not experienced before or had a negative experience with and the breeder may not even think to tell you even if they are not deliberately misleading you. I am sure you will get there and look forward to hearing how you get on. Love and patience, positive reward training and building her trust are the best way forward - good luck :)
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

Magic - Silversocks Sharade at Darksprite
Trilby - Darksprite Rosa Bud


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Re: Day 5 - rehoming Sybil our 2 year old little stressed gi

Post by BeeBee »

Welcome to the forum. Carolyn's advice is great and I'd echo the point that it will take her time to know that she's in a safe home and can trust you.
Did she live in the home the whole time with the breeder do you know, or a kennel?

If you can provide her with her 'safe place' where she can retreat to whenever she feels the need and leave her there, don't force her out at anytime that will let her know she has somewhere she can go if anxiety arises. It can be a bed in a corner, or a crate if you have one, just let her find it and come and go as she wants to.

With the barking, it may well be anxiety-driven, so startling her might make this worse. Distraction could be a useful method. I've just rehomed Cerise, a dog from a puppy farm and she's doing very well, but is pretty reactive outside and barks and lunges at everything she feels she needs to, but, after a couple of weeks of consistent rewards for watching me when she's quiet and not reacting, it's starting to pay off, she now looks woofs first, just a bit, then looks at me for the reward, of course I have to get the timing right so I'm not rewarding the barking, but, she's getting the hang of it, and she gets rewards now, which isn't always food, it may be a softly said 'good Cerise' just for trotting along and not barking. It will take a long time and you need to be prepared for it to take as long as it does.

Good luck, time, patience, and more again will get her there I'm sure.
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