[yorkietalkjilly]

Thank you for agreeing to take her in and give her a loving home - knowing when you did, you could be taking on a troubled, even broken dog that you now are responsible for rehabilitating and that takes a very loving, big-hearted, patient person and lots of dedication to even take that kind of a dog into your home. I wish there were more like you! You can help her and restore her confidence with time, love and patience. No telling what big noises meant to her in the past but apparently she was alone, trapped in a crate or cage and couldn't run when she heard scary noises and associates them with only bad, frightening times. And even though she may have been in a crate or cage when she heard them and couldn't run, I'd provide her with a closed-in, den-like crate with a blanket over 3 sides of it and the door ALWAYS open in a quiet corner of the room so she could secret herself in there and perhaps feel safer in her hiding spot for those especially scary times when you drop a dish or it storms or a kid slams the door while she's being rehabbed.

If she's scared to go in there, then that's a bad idea for her as she's too bad an association with a crate to want to voluntarily go into it and if that's the case, perhaps a closed-top dog bed or cat bed with that tent-like top would give her a sense of security and a hiding spot for those times she needs it during rehab. After her 6 mos. or so of desensitization to ever louder and louder sounds accompanied by treats and your happy reactions, she shouldn't need that hiding spot again except once or twice a year. A sound-reactive dog, even one that's been rehabbed, will relapse a couple of times a year, just like a post-traumatic stress patient will have flashbacks.

For one with her past history, her age to consider, I'd ask my vet to check her over and be sure she was not hurting or ill/injured, then ask him to prescribe a 6 - 8 week course of a sedative of some kind to take the edge off of nerves so she can be more comfortably rehabilitated. Give her half doses if the full dose makes her a zombie and it's ok with the vet and then she'll be more amenable to desensitization training. I don't use Rx myself on my dogs but she's older and you've got to consider her heart and what she's been through and how fragile she might be medically and psychologically.

I've rehabbed several anxious, fearful dogs and the one I have now was scared of all sounds and the outside world - panicked and screamed and ran when he heard a new sound. If this were my dog, I'd first of all start with desensitizing her to odd or strange noises by creating them myself under controlled circumstances from time to time by banging on a pot with a spoon, using a loud whistle or slamming a cupboard, starting out with very soft versions of the sound and over time, gradually making them louder as she shows no fear from the sound. Here's the trick - make her hearing the sound a party - a happy event. When you softly bang on the pot, say "big sound" in an excited, very happy voice, smile really big and act sooooo happy and giving her a slurp of peanut butter or warm, boiled chicken every time she hears a "big sound", which of course is a very soft, low version to start out. Bang the pan and then react to that as if she's won the lottery, treat her and act very upbeat and happy. Repeat all of that two more times the first few days and then stop the session. Keep each session very short - no more than 10 - 15 created noises after a week's time and do it several times a day. In time, under the calming influence of her mild sedative, she should come to see that a strange sound is now becoming reason for all to celebrate, she gets a luscious reward when she hears it and everybody gets happy. As she accepts the sounds without panicking or showing fear, begin to praise that calm behavior by gently petting her and getting right near her face and genuinely, with feeling in your heart, telling her she's a "good girl big sound" and she will begin to associate that you are happy with her for remaining calm during the scary sound you are now calling a "big sound". This part is slower to take effect but it works to get it into her mind that her part of the game is to stay calm and not show fear.

After each desensitization session, take out outside or play a rough-house game or toss a ball a few times for her to be able to run and work off her tensions from the sounds she hasn't liked hearing. Then a treat and genuine praise for a "good training" session.

If she does show fear at first, just keep going slowly with a low, soft version of the created banging or whistling or closing the door and acting very happy and excited and giving her treats as if each noise just won her a great prize. Your reactions and how fun and happy you act and the food, together with the trial of medication, should make these early sessions ease her into learning to accept that loud or strange noises won't now hurt her, that you are there to control the situation and besides, you think it's a good thing to hear "big sounds" - you get happy when they come!

Try some form of that kind of desensitization to try to associate loud or sudden, strange sounds with good times for a 6 - 8 weeks period of time and then let us know how she's doing and we can go from there.

I'd also start her on a very limited course of basic obedience training for 5 mins. x 2 daily to get her mind off her fears and get her working to achieve something. Dogs love the training, the treats and the good praise they get - it builds their confidence immensely and helps with the nerves.

Enriching her life with dog toy puzzles and feeding her her meals in kong toys filled with her dinner will keep her busy working to get her meals and make her more confident, in touch with her hunter/seeker natural self and helps any dog have more fun, happy meals. Puzzle toys and bowls also work wonders to keep a scared, anxious dog busy working. Lots of exercise as tolerated will help her "nerves" and help her work out her tensions from her fears.

I'd try her on a Thundershirt and even the little hood also. My present rehabbed dog Tibbe used a Thundershirt during a bad PTS relapse he had when ill last year and it put him right to sleep all by itself each time I put it on him.

There are many more things to work on next after she's better but this will start you off in the right direction with her. Good luck.