Hi all
I'm having trouble figuring out what to do with my fearful dog, and am hoping some of the knowledgeable dog people here can help. Sorry about the long post to come. Here's where we're at.
Dakota is 11 months old. We've had her since she was 9 weeks. She came from a 'friend of a friend' who had an accidental litter. They claim she is Bullmastiff (mom) / Rotti (dad), however I'm doubtful as she is 45lbs and looks a lot like a Pitbull. I didn't meet either of her parents.
We have another dog in our home (5yr old male Shih Tzu/Bichon), and we've had him since he was 7 months. Dakota has always gotten along fine with him. We don't have friends with dogs, so he was her only dog socialization when we first got her until her vaccinations were complete. And we don't have many people to the house, so her early people socialization was limited to the same small group of folks.
As of right now, she is VERY fearful of new people. When someone comes into our home she backs away, gets her head low to the ground (almost a 'play bow' postition) and barks. If they ignore her (as I always instruct them to do), the barking stops after about a minute, but she will stay in a different room and watch around a corner for up to about 20 minutes before approaching. Once she approaches, it all starts up again if the person acknowledges her. It usually takes her about 1/2 hour to fully settle, if the person 100
% ignores her. Once she settles, she's absolutely fine and will sit with them, play, accept treats etc.
There are a few people she 'knows', and when the come into our home she approaches with great caution until she gets a good smell in. My mother-in-law comes over every single week, and we see this 'caution' each and every time. Once she's sure, she settles immediately. And she's fine with our family.
On walks, she has improved such that she will walk past a person as long as we keep moving. If I stop to chat, she barks and hides behind me with her tail between her legs. I generally face her, put her in a sit, then carry on my conversation. This seems to settle her, but we aren't getting past this stage, even with people we meet frequently. If we see a dog, even very far away she barks and carries on the entire time until she can't see them any more. This behaviour has gotten worse - she has only started this in the past couple of months.
My goal is to be able to have people to the house without this 'scene', and to be able to walk her 'normally'.
Please help!
I'm having trouble figuring out what to do with my fearful dog, and am hoping some of the knowledgeable dog people here can help. Sorry about the long post to come. Here's where we're at.
Dakota is 11 months old. We've had her since she was 9 weeks. She came from a 'friend of a friend' who had an accidental litter. They claim she is Bullmastiff (mom) / Rotti (dad), however I'm doubtful as she is 45lbs and looks a lot like a Pitbull. I didn't meet either of her parents.
We have another dog in our home (5yr old male Shih Tzu/Bichon), and we've had him since he was 7 months. Dakota has always gotten along fine with him. We don't have friends with dogs, so he was her only dog socialization when we first got her until her vaccinations were complete. And we don't have many people to the house, so her early people socialization was limited to the same small group of folks.
As of right now, she is VERY fearful of new people. When someone comes into our home she backs away, gets her head low to the ground (almost a 'play bow' postition) and barks. If they ignore her (as I always instruct them to do), the barking stops after about a minute, but she will stay in a different room and watch around a corner for up to about 20 minutes before approaching. Once she approaches, it all starts up again if the person acknowledges her. It usually takes her about 1/2 hour to fully settle, if the person 100
% ignores her. Once she settles, she's absolutely fine and will sit with them, play, accept treats etc.
There are a few people she 'knows', and when the come into our home she approaches with great caution until she gets a good smell in. My mother-in-law comes over every single week, and we see this 'caution' each and every time. Once she's sure, she settles immediately. And she's fine with our family.
On walks, she has improved such that she will walk past a person as long as we keep moving. If I stop to chat, she barks and hides behind me with her tail between her legs. I generally face her, put her in a sit, then carry on my conversation. This seems to settle her, but we aren't getting past this stage, even with people we meet frequently. If we see a dog, even very far away she barks and carries on the entire time until she can't see them any more. This behaviour has gotten worse - she has only started this in the past couple of months.
My goal is to be able to have people to the house without this 'scene', and to be able to walk her 'normally'.
Please help!
