Nervous dog

[xxaussiexx]

Hey guys,

Hows it going?  Just thought i'd get a few opinions from ppl.  I have 2 dogs, both mongrels which i adopted at the end of last year.  One is 2yrs and he's blind, the other is 1yrs.  The 1yr old, Molly, has never ever ever done anything on a walk and i'm talking about going to the toilet.  She is the most nervous and anxious dog that when i take her out for a walk she can go absolutely crazy, panics and jolts this way and that whcih has resulted in me walking them at 4am in the morning when hardly anyone is around but still i face problems.  She is rly afraid of men but shes ok with me. 
The only place she will go to the toilet is on newspaper in my house but whats even more frustrting is that she'll hold and hold until i leave the house until she goes!  She hates anyone watching her, needs absolute privacy....such a lady. 
But now, its gotten to a point that i cant stand her having it done in my place ALL the time...Has anyone had anything similar?  or can offer advice?  Im totally clueless on what to do now...

Cheers,
Joshua

[Miniar]

sounds like she's had a really tough time..

Okay, well... a few things that I would personally do is...

Take her places where there are fewer/no people.

(since I have a back yard) try and set up a newspaper in the yard and leave her tied there (reasonable length!) for a little while and watch from somewhere where she can't see me, if she goes on the paper outside I'd come outside, praise her gently (not sure how she'd react to active praising), and slip her a treat.

Shorter walks and more frequent, so she becomes accustomed to coming home before she becomes accustomed to going out.

Give her 5 minutes alone time couple times throughout the day.. (just pop outside for a couple minutes, come back in) and if she "goes" while I'm out, then show her as I take the paper outside, and Then praise her.

Introduce her to new people, one person at a time, nice and slowly, to show her that not everyone she meets is a threat.
Get her to know that everyone you greet with a handshake or a happy conversation is safe/fun.
The more of your people she's okay with, the less "strangers" would be an issue.

uhm... yeah.. that's the first things that come to mind.

[rexgsd]

I don't know if you still need help with this since it seems you posted this a while ago, but I take classes on dog training at school. have you tried crate training to house break her?