Building confidence in a rescued dog.

Question
Jill:
 I was a dog rescue volunteer for several years, trained 3 of my own dogs to CGC certification, and practice 'clicker training'. My question is about how to build up confidence in a dog.
  Lydia is a 3 year old mix (Boxer and Pittbull) who was rescued from the Katrina hurricane in the USA. She was well cared for in her foster home and about the only behavioral issue she has is what I would call 'easiy spooked' if she were a person. She is somewhat noise-shy (even the clicker noise frightened her at first so I muted it).
What specific steps aside from more training (and avoiding petting when she acts shy) would you suggest?

Answer
This dog may have the doggie version of "PTSD", i.e., a physiological response due to the severe circumstances she endured during, and after, Katrina.  This conditioned response is rather like the automatic fight/flight response a person might acquire after being in a serious car accident.  She may also be naturally not confident and noise sensitive (it's not uncommon for a dog to fear the sound of the clicker, for many reasons, which is why I always encourage it be introduced from a pocket.)

Two things: first, ignore every demonstration of fear.  Don't even redirect it. If you see a fear response developing, count to ten before interrupting it (by offering another stimulus and this is where play training can help enormously).  You can't rehabilitate any response under the control of the autonomic nervous system, but you CAN interrupt the THOUGHT process and attempt to elicit a behavior you can REWARD.  Second thing: this dog may be a perfect candidate for medication, along with the behavior modification spoken of above.  Clomicalm is used for separation anxiety (as I'm sure you know) but also has overall calming effects; propanolol is a beta blocker that truncates the flow of adrenaline and can also help to abate the stress disorder she suffers from.  Consult your veterinarian regarding possible medication.