[Keenan]

Hello, I have a 5 month old Australian Shepherd. When we first picked her out she had a peppy I'm not afraid of anything personality. She didn't shy away from anybody. She'd run right up to you and jump into your arms. Thats the major reason we picked her over her brother. Ever since we've had her though we've notice she has become very reserved around strangers. I know we need to socialize her regularly with other people and dogs, but it's hard sometimes since both my wife and I work right now we don't know a lot of people because we just moved. We take her to the lake where she absolutely loves to swim and she's able to interact with a great deal of dogs and she does wonderful around them. The problem is when a person approaches her.

My in laws came for a visit a few weeks ago and she was so nervous around them that it was like somebody turned on the waterworks. She urinated everywhere every time one of them attempted to pet her. We've tried taking her to state parks with large numbers of people but she still is very skittish.

Just recently though I took her to the vet and she was fine. She was somewhat reserved around the staff but warmed up to them very quickly. No urination problems whatsoever. I hope this is a sign of her outgrowing her shyness. If not, what's the best way to help her overcome this obstacle?

[beaglesarethebestdogs311]

You could get her in obedience classes for getting her soicalized.

[skelaki]

It's normal for herding breeds to be wary of strangers. Plus, your girl is probably going through a normal fear period. DO NOT correct her when she pees as you describe in your post. That's suibmissive urination and any kind of correction, even a simple voice correction will only make things worse. In doglish she's only being polite. Don't force greetings at this stage and tell any visitors including relatives to ignore her. If she wants to approach them fine, they can then quietly without looking her directly in the eye pet her on her chest or side only. If they can't or won't follow your rules then crate the dog or put her where she'll feel safe and they can't get to her.

To help her through this stage, put her an nilif and daily basic obedience program to build your leadership in her eyes. This will build her confidence as well. Encourage but don't force her to check out anything safe that she has a fear reaction to. Do not reassure or coddle her in any way when she's being fearful no matter how much you want to do so. This only rewards the fear. Instead save your praise and coddling for when she's overcome her fear of something even in a very small way.

[Keenan]

Thanks for the advice. My wife and I were actually looking to put her in an obedience program, you've just reinforced our decision to do so.

[briteday]

From a former aussie shep owner, if she must be greeted by someone do it outside on the front porchand just ignore the dribbles. That way your guest doesn't feel bad that a floor gets messy and you don't have to worry that you have a mess to clean.

Our girl grew out of it around 18 months. We lived in a rural area without any obedience classes around. Otherwise I agree that it will give your dog confidence. Since moving into town we have taken every new dog to at least one and sometimes two obedience classes.