Expert: Kaza - 4/5/2010

Question
Hi, I have two bichons a male and female that are both 5 years old. I have a question about each!

First, the female was extremely skittish when we adopted her as a puppy and to this day still won't go near strangers and shakes like a leaf if anyone she doesn't know gets near her. She is extremely loving and you can tell she wants to be near other people and dogs but she can't get herself to trust them, even when we go to pick her up she kind of freezes in fear but then she's fine once we're holding her. Is there anything we can do to help her? We've tried doggy play dates which helped a bit but nothing substantial.

Our male bichon is fully potty trained but once he gets upset he'll go to the bathroom in the house. My mom usually has them sleep in her bed so I keep my door closed but lately he has wanted to come sleep with me and once he realizes my door is closed he will poop right in front of it. We also just found a spot in our house that has about 10 pee stains and we were SHOCKED. He has a big back yard which he goes in all the time and he gets lengthly walks daily. We've also started giving him treats when he goes to the bathroom outside but still nothing has changed. He also has a habit of puking, at night time if he doesn't get attention he starts puking, sometimes nothing comes out but after he seems to be normal.

We are at a loss of what to do and how to help them!

Answer
Hi Melissa
sorry for delay had some trouble getting into the system.

I would suggest crate training the male to overcome his separation anxiety, look through the psost on site and print off the step by step instructions given.
The female needs encouragement gently, the more anxious you get the more she will too.

When she is on a leash walk past people quickly dont get tense and almost pull her past them to show her that she has control of what she does.

Use DAP before going out and try to stop smothering her (I know we all do even me so it is hard) She needs to find her place in the social group in your home so allow her to be a doggy again.

www.eurobichons.com