I have a beatiful Border Collie, i rescued her?

Question

4 weeks ago, she is just gorgeous, and has settled in here superb. She is very loving, beautiful nature, and has proved to be a great house dog. She is fantastic with the children, everything. She is only 18 months old, and was with the RSPCA. The only problem i have, she will NOT let me near her with a towel, when she has been out, and is wet and mucky. She hates it, gets nervous, and runs away from me. The RSPCA are not sure of her history. I want to know, could it be, she has been abused in some way, and is afraid for some reason, when i bring the towel to her? Also, how do i gain her trust with this, so she knows i just want to wipe her down?

Answer 1

She sounds lovely. I had a rescue border collie who had been badly beaten before being rescued and she was terrified of the brush. So I used to sit on the floor (so that I was in her line of vision), I would not make eye contact with her and I would just stroke the brush and then brush my leg with it very slowly then I put the brush back in the drawer. After a few days of this she started to take an interest in that she stopped cowering and would look at what I was doing. I then put the brush on the floor next to me and held out her favourite treats (bits of sausages) over the top of the brush. Eventually she came forward and took the sausages. After doing this for a few days I then placed the bits of sausages on the brush for her to take, which she did eventually. Gradually this led to me first just touching her with the brush and rewarding her with sausages, then after a few days of this, slowing brushing her for about a second and rewarding her.

It took several weeks and it's like taking three steps forward and two steps back but it was worth it in the end. I think if you try and do something similar with the towel you will succeed eventually. Have lots of patience. Good luck.

Answer 2

Hi,

I to have a border collie I rescued though she was 2 when I got her but quickly learnt not to chase cars and adjusted to her new life, now she even runs along behind the horse when I ride.

I suggest you find an old towel and sleep with it in your bed for a week, this will thoroughly imprint you smell on it. Then try placing the towel in your dogs bed. The idea her is that she gets thoroughly used to the towel before you attempt to use it.

Then have the dog sit beside you with the towel placed on the ground if she will give her a treat and finish the training. You might try this a number of times, building up her confidence with towel. If she won't come near you with the towel on the ground don't get cross, just reassure her and end the training session. Always end a training session on a good note and reward her with a treat.

Once she is fully at home sitting near the towel, try stroking her with it, reward if she lets you. If she won't just let her sit next to it and reward that.

Soon you will be able to stroke her with the towel and reward that. Gradually, step by step, using only reward and reward on every training session you will get her to accept being dried with the towel. Though it may take a long time.

Let me know how you get on.

Answer 3

Don't be too fussy. Leave her in the kitchen or utility room with a towel on the floor to soak up most of the wet. Then speak soothingly to her, offer a treat and let her sniff the towel. Let her sleep on a towel. Offer treats every day only when you are holding the towel so she can see.You only got her 4 weeks ago and it will take a good 12 weeks for her to get used to you properly.

Answer 4

My Border Collie was ours from 5 weeks and he is nervous around towels. It's a matter of gaining the dog's confidence and rewarding good behavior with dog treats. Dogs will do anything for special treats.

Answer 5

Lucky you!, You have adopted one of THE most loving, intelligent, psycho, schitzoid dogs there are. With that said, just love her and praise her to calm down that energy to a low hummm. Try putting the towel nicely laid out on the floor, lay next to it and coax her on to it, have her lay on it and slowly rub her feet and body with a corner of it. Talk calmly as you rub ( don't pat her) her feet and body slowly making it a one on one massage. This dog has the ability to overcome past abuse and learn what good you mean for her. Do Not... let anyone wave a towel around or threaten her with it, make it one of her favorite things and she'll come to associate it with good feelings. Our dog walks in the house wet, looks up at the coat rack (where his towel is) sits, bows his head and lifts each paw to be dried. Then he gets praised and a treat. Good luck!

Answer 6

Hi Shalama - my parents have a BC, hes mental but great fun! Hm, this is a difficult one as Scamp (our dog) loves the towel, so I suggest you put it on the floor and she steps on it, then you can gently (and slowly!) rub her paws etc. Someone previously suggested getting your scent on the towel, thats a great idea. Also, if she wont come near the towel when its on the floor, dont force the issue, just leave it there and she'll eventually want to know what its about and investigate! If I can help further then drop me a line. Good luck and have fun! :O) xx

Answer 7

I would suggest getting into some clicker training. Karen Pryor is an excellant trainer and you can use this type of positive reinforcement to build trust in your dog. Check out her site.

This might work too-used it with a leash and a rescue that ran when we got one out. You keep a towel with you at all times, rub your arm with it and make pleasant sounds. When the dog acknowledges you during this action, reward the dog. Eventually the dog should associate the positive action between you, the towel and the treats, wanting to get more involved. With the dog and the leash, we had it with us at all times, "treating" the leash to "good leash" etc and then being happy happy when we went outside with it, etc. Sounds dorky but it eventually worked. Also let the dog play with the leash in the house.

Do not underestimate the power of a BC!

Answer 8

I agree with pretty much what eveyone else has been saying. I have a rescue beagle. It seems to me that most resue dogs have something "wrong" with them, but it gives them character. My dog was afraid of lots of things when we first got him, but now he is fine. When we first got him, he would flip over at the sight of anyone coming close. (in submission). ALso if sitting, if anybodies hand was above his head he would blink his eyes as if ready to be hit. He was also afraid of the dark. now he is fine. 3 yrs. later and you can wave your hand over his face and he wouldn't even notice. he no longer flips over and loves the dark

Just leave it alone for a while. It seems to contradict what you think that he will better get used to it. But it seems that he needs to start to trust you. If you continuosly come after him with something he does not like. His trust may go down. Build up your trust for a few weeks or a m onth and then try what everyone else is saying. ALs o it gives him more time to get adjusted to everything else.

It will get better.

Answer 9

you will have to be very patient. if i had to take a guess at the reason for the dogs fear i would say that the previous owner used to hit it with a towel as a form of punishment. my border was the same except that it was newspaper he was scared of. it took me the better part of a year before he started to lose his fear. gradually get him used to towels put the them down near to him and let him gradually see that he won't be hurt by them.. put one near his feeding dish carry one on your shoulder and so on.stroke him with one in the house. he will gradually realise that he won't be hurt by you.it will be worth the effort with him being a young dog. all the best

Answer 10

Just be gentle with her and she'll soon learn to trust you 100%.
I had my Border Collie for 16 years and although she's been gone for about six years now I still miss her to bits. We do have another "mutt" now but I've no feelings whatsoever towards it but the missus wanted another one so being a mere man I just had to do what I was told.
Wonderful creatures Border Collies are.
Best wishes.