It was a very good day. He didn't run from my car in the driveway either. Winniec, How are you working with Poca on the thunderstorms? My future in-laws have a lab mix who has to be drugged for most storms. I'm looking for ways to help the poor girl.
The Fearful Dog Thread
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The power keeps going out today and it's not freaking Wally out.
He looks at me (for my reaction I'm guessing?) and when I just act like nothing happened - he goes back to doing whatever it was. No shaking or panting - it's so wonderful.
Some loud BOOM happened while we were walking this evening. He looked around trying to figure out where it came from, but he wasn't scared.
Maybe he's growing up!
He looks at me (for my reaction I'm guessing?) and when I just act like nothing happened - he goes back to doing whatever it was. No shaking or panting - it's so wonderful.
Some loud BOOM happened while we were walking this evening. He looked around trying to figure out where it came from, but he wasn't scared.
Maybe he's growing up!
Why thank you for your copied-and pasted advice that has nothing to do with the thread, which is to share stories about fearful dogs.
Anyway.. Gosh, what a difference from last year. We went to the beach yesterday, and the boardwalk was packed. Marge would have probably freaked out last year, with all of the bikes, people, etc. Or at least would have been totally on-guard watching everyone. Cool as a cucumber this time.. temperament-wise, anyway. She would have enjoyed it more if she wasn't so hot (and would actually go in the water) but at least I was able to see how much progress she's made.
Winnie - operant conditioning really worked for me. Teaching her to stand in place despite having someone come over meant a treat - or a jackpot of treats. You do it slowly - first the person only walks 5 ft from the dog, then 3 ft, then right next to, then a hand on the head. Having people dole out treats to her for no reason at all worked well too.
Your hurdle was ours (and still is ours) - and finding people to help out with it was really the worst part. Most people don't want to be bothered, and approaching a stranger and saying "can you pet my dog?" is just kind of weird. Depending on how fearful she is, if you have a PetSmart or something like that nearby, you might want to try going at one of the really quiet times, like when the store first opens on a Monday or something like that. My dog is usually too engrossed in all the sights and smells of yummy things to be too worried.
If it was a different evaluator, Marge might not have passed. Mine wasn't terribly lenient, but gave Marge plenty of wiggle room for the examine paws part. The way I saw it was that some dogs had some of that "happy" forward movement when the evaluator came over and got dangerously close to jumping on her, while Marge had just a touch of that apprehensive feeling that really paled in comparison to some of the other dogs who passed. I think Marge deserved the CGC she got, but I could see a terribly strict evaluator failing her for shyness.
Sadie was terrified of kids, my fault. There are very few in our neighborhood, and I avoid them. Until she was about 9 months, she had no exposure to them. So when I started taking her to my store every day, she would often bark and run away when kids approached her - due to their erratic movements and noises she was unable to get near them because of the fear. The big problem here is that kids don't ask if they can pet, and they rush up screaming, or they wave their hands and then run away yelling. Kids are weird.
So I started taking her in and letting her sit in the corner and watch them. If she looked at a kid, I'd c&t. She would then start staring at them then back at me, waiting to see if she was doing it right. So we'd move closer, and c&t over and over. After a few weeks, we were able to find several calm kids who'd let her walk up to them and sniff them, me c&t the whole time.
Over the past months I've continued this, if there is an extremely erratic kid and she is calm, I reward like crazy. I randomly reward calmness around all kids, and also men or just weird acting people. Now, most of the time when she sees a kid, she calmly walks to them, sniffs, rubs her head against them and then stares at me as they pet her. She may not actually enjoy it like some dogs might, but she tolerates it and she is able to work with me at my job.
When she would bark and run away, I would ask the kid to stop trying to pet her, and I'd remove her. Then we'd slowly walk back close as long as she was calm. I only ever c&t for good behavior. If the ears are back or she's panting, etc, I just watch her until she shows calm interest.
We're doing the same thing with big dogs, but it's a bit harder.
So I started taking her in and letting her sit in the corner and watch them. If she looked at a kid, I'd c&t. She would then start staring at them then back at me, waiting to see if she was doing it right. So we'd move closer, and c&t over and over. After a few weeks, we were able to find several calm kids who'd let her walk up to them and sniff them, me c&t the whole time.
Over the past months I've continued this, if there is an extremely erratic kid and she is calm, I reward like crazy. I randomly reward calmness around all kids, and also men or just weird acting people.
Now, most of the time when she sees a kid, she calmly walks to them, sniffs, rubs her head against them and then stares at me as they pet her. She may not actually enjoy it like some dogs might, but she tolerates it and she is able to work with me at my job.When she would bark and run away, I would ask the kid to stop trying to pet her, and I'd remove her. Then we'd slowly walk back close as long as she was calm. I only ever c&t for good behavior. If the ears are back or she's panting, etc, I just watch her until she shows calm interest.
We're doing the same thing with big dogs, but it's a bit harder.
MM -- we've had strangers doling out treats to her and that has been helping. I'm also training her to accept a hand reaching towards her head. I can see I need to get more systematic about it as you've described, though.
It is strange asking people to pet your dog, I agree, esp. since I feel I need to tell them that she's not crazy about strangers. Frankly, I would hesitate to pet a dog I didn't know and hadn't had the chance to observe before approaching. Plus there's the worry that the person will just barge in with a full frontal approach, arms flapping, loud voice exclaiming "Ooooohhhh! WHAT A PRETTY DOGGIE!!!!!" Poca would recoil for sure. So I have to find the right people who know how to approach a dog and don't ignore or aren't offended or scared off by my coaching. Once she's ok with them, she'll be ready for the more unpredictable types. Baby steps.
Unfortunately, Poca had a few bad experiences in Pet Smart when she was young and I couldn't even get her in the door without forcing her. So we're avoiding it for now. Once she's better with people, I'll go back and work with her on that.
Jesirose - that sounds like a great plan for Sadie. I wish we had kids around I could work with but all the "kids" I know are in high school and college now! Poca doesn't mind kids as long as they don't run up to her. She doesn't love them, but she's not real afraid of them.
It is strange asking people to pet your dog, I agree, esp. since I feel I need to tell them that she's not crazy about strangers. Frankly, I would hesitate to pet a dog I didn't know and hadn't had the chance to observe before approaching. Plus there's the worry that the person will just barge in with a full frontal approach, arms flapping, loud voice exclaiming "Ooooohhhh! WHAT A PRETTY DOGGIE!!!!!" Poca would recoil for sure. So I have to find the right people who know how to approach a dog and don't ignore or aren't offended or scared off by my coaching. Once she's ok with them, she'll be ready for the more unpredictable types. Baby steps
.Unfortunately, Poca had a few bad experiences in Pet Smart when she was young and I couldn't even get her in the door without forcing her. So we're avoiding it for now. Once she's better with people, I'll go back and work with her on that.
Jesirose - that sounds like a great plan for Sadie. I wish we had kids around I could work with but all the "kids" I know are in high school and college now! Poca doesn't mind kids as long as they don't run up to her. She doesn't love them, but she's not real afraid of them.
Definitely. And if you don't think she'll take kindly to petting at this point, something else I've done is ask the child if they want to give her a treat, as long as a parent is present. So far, kids haven't turned that opportunity down. Most times they just stare and smile and are too shy to ask, so I do the asking for them.
MM, I'm glad to hear Marge did good on the board walk. I'm finding getting Tiberius used to other people is the hardest for him.
Winniec, hopefully she doesn't get too bad with the storms. I know with Sadie Mae, the in laws dog, it horrible to be there when there is a storm.
Jesirose, I'm gonna try some of what you suggested with Tiberius. See if maybe I can get him over his people shyness. Although he is doing much better.
I took Tiberius out for his walk this afternoon, and he walked calmly though the front door and screen door instead of panicing and bolting through the door. He also didn't run from the one neighbor guy he is afriad of. He let the gentleman scratch behind his ears then sat calmly next to me.
I'm finding getting Tiberius used to other people is the hardest for him. Winniec, hopefully she doesn't get too bad with the storms. I know with Sadie Mae, the in laws dog, it horrible to be there when there is a storm.
Jesirose, I'm gonna try some of what you suggested with Tiberius. See if maybe I can get him over his people shyness. Although he is doing much better.
I took Tiberius out for his walk this afternoon, and he walked calmly though the front door and screen door instead of panicing and bolting through the door.
He also didn't run from the one neighbor guy he is afriad of. He let the gentleman scratch behind his ears then sat calmly next to me.
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