Lola went to the therapist

Lola went to the therapist, I mean behaviorist, last night. Lola is 5, we got her when she was 1.5 and she has always been very fearful; alternating with some dominance. Some of the behavior just got lost in the mix when we fostered or when Teddy was so sick. But lately, she has been crawling around on her belly. If we go to pick her up or if she hears a noise, she hits the floor. I had to take some time off work, but we meet with one of the behavioralist at the local dog training center. We walked in and I was instructed to just let Lola walk around on her own, well of course she clawed at my legs for me to hold her for almost the first 30 minutes. I felt like it was a therapy session for me. Nancy tried to offer Lola a treat and she just slunk away, then Nancy let one of her Frenchies out of the crate for them to interact. The conclusion is that Lola has no people or pet social skills. I am not to coddle her anymore when she acts fearful, because I am just enforcing the behavior . We are on a 10 day training period when I give Lola flower essenses 2xday. We are to have her sit, stay, etc (no rewards for being fearful) and she gets rewarded what she wants most: our effection (yes, I have the only pug not motivated by food)! So far, I have totally botched today, but tomorrow is a new day, so we'll go from there.

On a side note, everyone at this training center loves pugs! Nancy used to show pugs in the 1990's. She even had a photo of her with a BOB from the Chattanooga Kennel Club. Not to sound all new age, but I really feel like I've been lead to them at this point in time for a reason.

Good luck, Jana. I hope you do better at not coddling than I've ever been able to do! I will be the first to admit that my pugs' bad or unwanted behaviors are the result of me (unintentionally) enforcing the behavior. Do keep us posted on her progress. And let me know what you think of the flower essences. Grace used them last year when I did bioresonance therapy with her and I am really intrigued by them.

Jana - new age or whatever, I truely believe everything happens for a reason. I know it'll be hard not to coddle her, and I wish you all the best! Just know you're doing what's right for Lola, hard as it may be for you.

Poor Lola, I help the therapy helps her.

Hoping for good results from the therapy. Things happen the way they are supposed to happen, so if you are new age, so am I.

omg - how hard that must be not to give her affection especially when you know she's afraid. sometimes I think zoe wishes I gave her less affection, I smother too much sometimes.

good luck! I think this is a great move.

I learned a lot from Tinker's puppy class how we reinforce bad behavior. I wish you the best of luck because not loving on any animal when they are afraid is tough. However, hopefully in the near future it will make a huge difference for her, and her confidence will begin to thrive