My Dog Doesnt Love Me Any More

Question
My husband and I adopted a female Border Collie mix, then age 15 months, in Dec. '09.  Susie came from a hoarding situation and was shy at first but quickly adjusted.  (I was the one who selected her on petfinder.com and fought to adopt her; we also have two senior male Great Pyrenees.)  She has always spent more time with my husband since his work schedule is more flexible and he is usually the one who is home to feed and walk the dogs, but she always used to come to me every evening to have her belly rubbed and she'd kiss me.  But now the past few months, she wants nothing to do with me.  She never comes to me any more for a belly rub or any other reason, and when I go to her to show her affection, she stiffens and turns her head away.  I go out of my way to be loving to her, take her on an evening walk (she quickly pees and then wants to run right back inside to her "daddy"), give her treats, etc., but it's like a different dog came and inhabited my formerly loving girl.  This is breaking my heart and I have no clue what happened to cause this and how (or if) I can fix it.  I hope you can help.  Thanks.

Answer
Hi Teri.  I'll speculate that something happened to frighten your dog and you happened to be in the area when it occurred - a loud noise, a frightening object, anything that could have startled your dog - and she's now associating that event with you.  Border Collies are so sensitive and I can't imagine the trauma this poor dog had to endure in a hoarding situation.  

What I would suggest is for you to become her primary caretaker - you should feed, walk, give good chew toys and treats, but not try to force any other attention on her.  Don't attempt to pet unless she initiates the contact.  Watch your body position when you interact with her.  Instead of directly facing her, turn so that you face sideways.  Avoid direct eye contact, but if she initiates eye contact with her, give her a small treat.  

When you are home, carry soft dog treats in your pocket or treat bag for quick and easy rewards.  Reward for eye contact, reward for sitting in your general area, for lying down and relaxing, for just walking near you.   If she's lying on her dog bed and you're walking by, simply toss a treat and keep going.  No pressure to interact, just good things happen for her when you come near.

Teach her to hand target.  With your palm facing her, put your hand about 6" from her nose.   She will probably sniff (especially if you'd have food in that hand).  When she comes close, say "yes" quietly and give her a treat.  Gradually work toward her touching her nose to your palm before saying "yes" and treating.

For overall anxiety issues, I recommend a product called ProQuiet.  You can find this online. This might help while you're doing some of the things I'm suggesting.

There's a great website that I'd like to recommend as well.  Check out www.fearfuldogs.com.

Please let me know if I can clarify anything for you or if you have further information you'd like to share.  Good luck!