Extremely Nervous and Fearful Scottie

Question
I have a Scottish Terrier that just turned 2, and since the age of about 6 months, he has become increasingly fearful of anyone that is not a member of the family. He is not aggressive, but the exact opposite. He will do anything in his power to get away, and will also urinate in this fear mode. If a new person enters our home, he is fearful and shows this by hiding/barking from hiding place, and if I take him on a walk and he sees someone, he will take off backwards at a mad run, as far as the leash will let him. I have had to tighten his collar a notch on walks because I am afraid he will pull his head through and get away. He becomes even more fearful if he sees a child, and especially if that child is on a bike. When he is with the family at home, he is a delightful and animated pet, not fearful in the least, ears straight up and alert, plays with our other Scottish Terrier (which has no fear symptoms), and is a wonderful companion. But his fear is so great, I am beginning to have a hard time getting him out the door to even go to the bathroom. I asked our local vet and told him he wasn't traumatized, in fact, he loved to be around people when he was little and I could take him out with me, I didn't leave him alone for several hours, I don't baby him when he becomes fearful, and when I try to divert his focus from the feared person to me/ball/treat, I can't; His fear is too great, so I don't have a clue what change in his life caused this complete turn around. I would love to take him with me to the library where I work, but he is so fearful, he hides under my desk the whole day. The vet suggested I put him in the very situations which causes the fear, and let him get used to it, but this has just seemed to increase his anxiety ten fold. I feel bad because he is getting no quality of life going through it with all of this fear. The only time he is absolutely relaxed and himself is when only the family, particularly me, is home with him. Then he feels safe. I want to make his life better, I just don't know what else to do.

Answer
Hi Shelly,  You don't want to force him in the situation like your vet suggested.  That can just make it worse.  The dog needs to approach his fear on his own terms & time.  When approaching someone on the street, stop and make him sit (if he is obedience trained), and then reassure him as the person goes by.  Go down to his level and talk to him to let him know everything is going to be ok.  Taking him to work actually might be really good for him as you would be there to reassure him, but you want to do it on a consistant basis so he gets into a pattern of it.  Keeping him in a crate at work would give him the security of his own area to feel safe in.  Dogs are pattern animals, so you want to keep his life as much of the same pattern, especially when you are dealing with the situation you are dealing with.  Since this has been going on for a year and a half, it is going to take a very long time to get him over it.  You will have to be very patient and basically resocialize him.  Hope this helps, and good luck.

Dawn