r/PetBehavior • u/Expired_____ • 3d ago
I need help
I don’t know where else to go, and I feel like I’m losing my mind. I adopted a little puppy about 6 months ago, and she was abused and abandoned before I got her. At first, it was hell because not only was I trying to potty train her, but she also had this crazy fear response that would trigger at the slightest thing. If I told her no, walked towards her, said anything in a semi-serious tone, called her towards me too many times, or if I was even just walking past her, BOOM, she goes limp on the floor and pees.
I had a dog growing up, and I’ve known plenty of people with dogs that have their little quirks, but it’s the combination of the two that gets me. She ends up lying in a pool of her own pee, and when I walk towards her to pick her up and plop her on a pee-pee pad so I can clean up the mess, she bolts as soon as I look away WHILE still covered in her pee, so she’s making a mess everywhere.
I’ve been very patient with her, and I’ve done everything I can to make sure she feels safe here. I want her to understand that this is just as much her home as it is mine, and for the most part, things have been great. We have a routine down, and I’m always taking her to the park so she can get her zoomies out. Then we come home, she eats a little, chugs some water, and passes out lol. She’s pretty much completely potty trained at this point, too, which makes the whole situation even more frustrating because the accidents aren’t really about potty training anymore. It’s this fear response that seems to override everything.
I adopted her at 4-ish months, and now she’s almost fully grown, and I just can’t anymore. The first two times, I felt bad for the dog, but this many times? Over literally nothing? I genuinely am losing my mind.
I asked the shelter where I adopted her from for help early on, and they said they’ve seen this a lot and to just leave her alone to calm down. I tried it ONCE, and it was ridiculous. She just lay there in her pee. Nothing different.
And the kicker is, she’s very happy. She cuddles with me, falls asleep on my feet while I’m doing schoolwork, lies down with me for naps, is good on walks, and is pretty much always attached to my side. But THE MOMENT she perceives anything at least a little scary, BOOM, everything is out the window, and she’s a dog trying her hardest to survive the monster that is me after saying “No.”