Boosting a dogs confidence

Question
Greetings.

Please allow me to give you some background information on our dogs. We have a golden mix female named Roxie that we adopted from the pound. She's now about 2 years old, and was roughly 3 months old when we adopted her. A year later we adopted Molly, a beagle chow mix, from a friend. Molly just turned a year old last month.

Roxie is very timid and strives to please. A stern look is punishment for her, and to yell causes her to submissively urinate on the floor. Molly is a trouble child, and nothing fazes her. The problem is, when Molly gets into trouble and we scold her, Roxie cowers and hides under the bed. We have never abused a dog, but we think Roxie might have been, or just neglected.

How do we boost Roxie's confidence and let her know that when we scold someone, that it's not her in trouble?

Thank you very much for your time, and have a great day.

Amanda Berry

Answer
Hi Amanda,

Thank you for writing to me about Roxie and Molly.   I have walked in your shoes regarding trying to deal with two opposite personalities in the same household.

In order to boost Roxie's confidence, I would suggest enrolling her in an activity like agility training. This will give her confidence and will be fun for both of you.  

In fact, it wouldn't be a bad idea to take Molly for training classes.  That way, a lot of the commands would be supported in an environment away from Roxie.  Once Molly is aware of her commands and what they mean, then you can direct her at home in a calm, quiet voice.  Roxie wouldn't become frightened then.  Dogs will respect you more if your commands are done in a quiet but firm voice.

You might also want to consider having a trainer come in to offer an evaluation and make suggestions.

I think that training Molly away from the house and reinforcing her training in a calm quiet voice would solve several problems at once.

Best of luck,

Shelley Davis
www.bednbiscuit.com