Hi all,

Honey is now 11 months old, she has several behavioural issues that we are working on...

- She hates strangers and other dogs. We have been seeing a trainer and I do see some improvement in this area She will walk past most people nicely, and will walk past some other dogs nicely with encouragement (we use a clicker and treats).

- She will bark (a lot!) – mostly when people come to the door, or when she gets spooked by a noise etc. I see no improvement in this – I have been doing ‘doorbell training’ every single day and she is fine when its me practicing with her, she will sit there like a good girl and wait for a treat, but say we are sitting down on the sofa and the door goes – its mayhem!

- When strangers actually come into the house, she hates them! I’ve seen some improvements, mostly with female strangers (yesterday the washing machine repair man came and she went crazy at him!)

- She will still nip when she is playing and gets too excited! She has started to ignore me telling her ‘No Biting!’ so she’s been getting time outs.

She is respectful most of the time, she never goes out of a door first, she waits for her food etc… However, she is NOT well bred and does NOT have a good personality inherently.

My question, does anybody think something to help her be a bit calmer would work well with the training she currently gets? Has anybody tried the DAP (Adaptil) collars, sprays etc for use with these behaviours?

I would like her to generally be a calmer and happier dog with other people/dogs etc, so I am leaning towards trying out one of the collars…?

Thanks in advance!

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I used the DAP plug in years ago for a very very shy puppymill dog. I never did decide whether or not it helped. Now they have dap collars, spray, and other stuff. I'd go ahead and get at least the collar. As for male strangers, mine shut up after they've been inside for awhile, until they go to leave, then mayhem again!

I use Bach Rescue Remedy. All natural and help calms the dog and gets rid of anxiety

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Thank you Jan896

Thanks for the replies ladies - i think i will try the Rescue Remedy first, is it just a couple of drops into food?

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Not on food. On her ears or in her mouth. I put it in the mouth for Gibbs (crazy barker at times) even though they hate the flavour as for me it seems to work quicker and Huly I put it on his ears as you try to put it in that cats mouth LOL (he gets anxiety and botes his tail)

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Thank you Jan896

We tried the Comfort Zone DAP plug-in, for our toy poodle Squirt who had severe seperation anxiety, and it did seem to help some. Now that he has a dog brother though (our yorkie-poo Rascal), he is MUCH less anxious and we were able to stop using the plug-in. I've heard great things about Rescue Remedy too.

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I've only ever used a plug-in for our cats and it helped dramatically. One of our cats has a behavioral issue where he acts as if his tail is chasing him and it gets to the point of him being in distress. Since we used the plug-in for 30 days (over 1.5 yrs ago) the frequency of these episodes has decreased by a lot (for awhile it had totally stopped and now it's once every week or so). He had problems for years before and when we used the plug-in, he had reached a totally new level and started peeing outside of the litter box as well.

Anyway, it could have been a coincidence, but I truly believe that it was a result of the plug-in. He just seemed to feel more comfortable when we had it. The episodes are starting to begin again and I'm going to buy another pack of the plug-in.


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We rescued a middle aged whippet, and the collar made a huge difference with him. On his first day/night with us, before the collar, he wouldn't settle, and would pant and pace even through the night. He destroyed things trying to escape, and howled in misery. I have never seen such a stressed dog. We got the DAP collar the next day, it had such a dramatic effect. The panting and pacing stopped instantly, and he relaxed enough to sleep. He ate, and stopped growling at everybody. He was literally like another dog. Best £16 ever spent!
He lives with my parents now, and he is the sweetest, happiest boy possible.

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