I'm not experienced with dogs but could someone who is tell me what they would have to do to make Effie feel more confident/comfortable? When the dog is with Estee she seems so anxious, but I've seen videos where she's with someone who isn't Estee and appears more excited/happy
It would be expected that Effie would have some anxiety, given her situation and being a rescue, etc. There are varying levels of anxiety in dogs and oftentimes it can lead to reactivity— either to dogs or humans. Reactivity (aggression) is very difficult to deal with and can be incredibly stressful and heartbreaking for owners. Effie doesn’t seem to have reactivity at all, which is great and very lucky for Estée.
I know Estée has literally said that Effie is the worst case of dog anxiety ever seen, but in reality it doesn’t seem that bad at all and has proven very manageable. From what I gather, she was anxious at first being around people (would hide when people came over, etc)., and going out to walk when it was crowded. The thing is, Estée would also take Effie to restaurants, her office, and public places. It’s not something you could do with a severely anxious dog, which is what Estée claimed. It is simply not. Rather, it seems Estée has tried to take Effie on more walks in nature and during quiet times of the day, which hopefully lowered Effie’s stress levels.
Long story short, it appears that Effie had some moderate anxiety after being brought to London and it has been managed or improved through less exposure to crowds when walking, but also she has just adapted over time. That’s about it, and in fact it hasn’t been a huge, unbelievable challenge that Estée has bravely persevered through… I know I’ve said this before but I’m more sensitive to this because someone in my life has an anxious and reactive dog and the things she has gone through to help the dog but also have the dog in her life is unimaginable and really difficult… so seeing Estée claim to have this huge challenge dog that she, Estée, has ‘helped’, when in reality she was fortunate to get a sweet dog who overall appears pretty chill but has had some anxiety in crowded London? It’s just a bit offensive to see.