Get help, don't feel bad about asking!

 I went to see the vet with Gail and in length we discussed what her issues are. She then prescribed medication for anxiety. I was asked to slowly up the dosage until I feel I see a change. She highly recommended to look for a behaviourist to help Gail. Medication alone doesn't do the trick, we still have modify behaviour and most of all make her feel safe.

I found a lovely behaviourist and we discussed the does and don'ts. He recommended not to take her to the office for now, as she might be overwhelmed by it. He gave me some things she could  do. One of them was "free work", where she gets lots of different stuff to do, first in a safe environment. I was lucky, Gail if very foody, even though she doesn't take food when stressed. That is always a good indicator if your dog is just too stressed to learn. I hid food in my conservatory for he to find, I wrapped treats in paper and hit them in boxes. First time she wasn't quite sure what to do. She started unwrapping the treats, or destroying the boxes to get to the treats, but that's fine. 

When she heard a noise she wanted to go back inside, the door to the rest of the house was always open. Very quickly she came back out again to continue her search for treats. I scattered food on the floor for her to eat. The idea behind all this is, that the dog is busy with searching for food, unwrapping etc, while in the distance there are still the scary noises. 

Over time, we can move the free work outside. So slowly, the dog will be less scared by the noise. 

The progress is really slow. Don't expect that within a month or 2 your dog will ignore noises. We are now a year down the line. I have to admit that in busy times I did less free work with Gail. But I regularly scatter food outside for her to find. 

she has good days, where she can totally ignore the neighbour's children and then she has days, where she has to retreat indoors immediately. Patience really is a virtue here.