scared of everything

Question
My dog, Athena, is 2 y.o. We got her from a foster family at around 8 weeks old. She is an outside dog but we let her in the house often. She is a mixed breed; and, the best way I can describe her is she looks like a red (all one color) Australian Shepherd. She is friendly, playful, and loving. She is also very gentle. However, she is afraid of everything! If my husband has a ball cap on, she won't go to him. If I have something in my hand, she won't come to me. She was in the house and I was typing, and she was freaked by the sound of the keys! Her tail (it is not a bob tail) hit an empty soda can on the coffee table and she ran.  We recently had some work done in our back yard. My daughter and I went out to let the workers in the fence and stay with Athena. She barked at the men, ran behind our outbuilding, and was visibly shaking. You could actually see her quivering. My daughter and I tried to call her to come to us to calm her, but she would have none of it. When I did get close and was going to pet her, she just about jumped out of her skin and ran away. Athena didn't start out this way and she seems to be getting worse. She has two dogs in the neighboring yard that she interacts with. My daughter takes her on walks, which can be interesting. It just seems to be very odd behavior to be so scared. Got any advice? Oh, I live in a small town in the rural south and don't think we have any dog behaviorists around.

Answer
Find a veterinary ophthalmologist or a VERY GOOD veterinarian who can do a thorough eye examination.  What you describe may be the result of your dog's losing sight.  Many breeds have persistent retinal apathy (PRA) in their genetic history and simply because she is a breed mix does not (unfortunately) guaranty her free of this horrible disease.  It is NOT uncommon for dogs to respond to unusual, new or "strange" visual signals with fear; some dogs will react and refuse to enter a room if you move the furniture!  But the fact that your dog appears to be getting so much worse so quickly may indicate a physical problem.  Don't go to just ANY veterinarian, you need a specialist or the best vet you can find, even if you have to drive a good distance to get there.

Should the dog's eyes check out all right, you will need to bring this dog in the house and carefully, slowly and patiently desensitize her to normal household situations AND she will need medication.  Anti-anxiety medication will be needed and there are several available now that the veterinarian can prescribe.  You will have to do serious behavior modification along with slowly introducing positive reinforcement training.  You need to begin to read extensively regarding how to treat highly anxious and fearful dogs, because even if this does turn out to be PRA or other degenerative eye disease, you will have to treat her psychological state as well.  Since your area does not have a certified applied animal behaviorist, you will have to become one: read "The Handbook of Applied Dog Behavior and Training", volumes 2 and 3, by Steven R. Lindsey (I'm certain your library can obtain a copy for you.)   You can also read Patricia McConnell Ph.D., Jean Donaldson and John Fisher.  Go to Karen Pryor's web site to learn about positive reinforcement training but DO NOT USE A CLICKER for this dog, it will terrify her.  Dr. McConnell also has a book on positive reinforcement training.