I adopted a husky/cattle dog/staffy mix 3 months ago, she’s now 9 months old. When I first got her she was extremely fearful of people but bonded strongly to me. I’ve been working on training and all has been going great she’s made great progress. She’s becoming more comfortable & confident. Will approach people as long as they don’t try to pet her. She let me use the dremel on her nails, brush her from the beginning. Her only fears seemed to be people, dogs barking at her & baths but again slowly working on this.
However this last week it’s like a switch flipped and she is fearful of all grooming. So I thought to start at the beginning & just try re-introducing the dremel or just sit on the floor slowly stroke her with a brush. I didnt do it for long periods or hold her down but I did have her on a leash & wouldn’t let run out of the room. That has backfired, after even a short couple seconds of trying to desensitize something (dremel, brush, blow dryer) she becomes scared of me. She has started cowering away from me, won’t come when called, tonight she even went & hid from me. I don’t want to push too hard and damage her trust in me but grooming is a must. She’s not very food motivated, praise from me seemed to work best up until this. How do you desensitize a puppy when the puppy starts to associate you with the scary things. Any advice would be appreciated!
submitted by /u/ThrowAway7721188
[link] [comments]