[tw1n]

Every day after dinner I walk my 4 month olf male dog and my wife walks out 4 month old female dog.

The female does the normal sniffing around enjoying herself, but the male seems to wimper a lot, often jumping on his sister, and my wife.

At first I thought it was maybe his collar choken him, 'cause I was a typical male and when and got my big manly dog a spiked collar. So I got both pups one of those no tug harness deals that's supposed to pull up on his chest instead of pulling him by his neck.

He still whines.

We've checked to see if the concrete was hot but it wasn't.

any other suggestions on what i can do or check?

 

[rosemaryninja]

Can you describe his body language a little more? Does he stop and refuse to budge or does he still walk on? Is he whimpering out of excitement or fear? Are his ears pushed back? Is he wagging his tail? What does he do when you try to jog alongside him?

 

[tw1n]

Can you describe his body language a little more? Does he stop and refuse to budge or does he still walk on? Is he whimpering out of excitement or fear? Are his ears pushed back? Is he wagging his tail? What does he do when you try to jog alongside him?

His ears are back. I'm thinking that means he's focusing. (could be wrong just what i get from it) He'll continue to walk, tail isn't tucked, it's just sticks out not wagging either. He'll pick up speed when I pick up speed.

It's just he wimpers and tries to jump on his sister and my wife.

I'm thinking he's just scared. And he kind of relies on his sister for protection even though he's bigger than her. Is there a way I can boost his confidence?

Every time he gets close to a bigger dog he can't control himself and pees all over the place.

 

[Toby4Life]

Do you always walk them together? How much alone or one-on-one time do the dogs get? It sounds like it could be that your male is a bit too dependent on your female. Take them seperately a few days a week or only take one once in a while. You've got to make sure the dogs are comfortable being w/ out the other one.

The best thing that helped Toby for confidence was Agility. He's a big, strong, fast dog, but until we attended Agility training he had no idea. Now of course, he thinks he's a bada$$ but it's better than the whimp he was before. I would definitely recommend getting both of your dogs into training which will also help giving them alone time and get them socialized more w/ other dogs.

 

[Elana55]

Your dog is terrified.

He pees when he sees another dog out of fear (called submissive peeing). I would not have him approaoch other dogs at this stage.. keep your distance and give him lots and lots of treats (these should be very small.. use a hot dog and cut it in quarters lengthwise and then do several cross cuts.. a single hot dog will yield 100 treats).

Encourage your dog with voice and stroking as well.

Have you and your wife signed up for puppy class? I would do this as well. You will learn a lot.

 

[rosemaryninja]

Your boy needs to build confidence without his sister around. Do you ever walk him without her? If not, I would start doing that now. He may be scared to go too far from the house at first. Don't force him to go further than he wants to. Make it fun. Bring a squeaky toy and lots of yummy treats. If you see a big dog coming, keep far away and make the experience as positive as you can with the toy, happy sounds and lots of treats being shoved in his mouth.

Your puppy also really needs to be socialised... you need to do this NOW or else you are going to have major problems with reactivity or even aggression once he becomes an adult. He's still in a stage where this can be done, so start desensitizing him to dogs (using the method above) immediately and let him play with smaller dogs or puppies if he's not scared of them.

I agree with Elana about enrolling in a puppy class. Take both puppies separately. If you want, you can go on two different nights and bring one of them each time... or you can go on one night, your wife handles one, you handle the other but you remain apart during the class.

 

[tw1n]

So I shouldn't try and let him play with bigger dogs yet?

My neighbor has a mastiff, that scared the two puppies to death the first time they saw her 'cause she snuck up on them. The Mastiff is only 1, and wants to play. She's like 120 lbs though. The second time they met he peed all over my foot, but then seems to be playing with her. But maybe what I thought was playing was him trying not to get eaten?

I'm definetly going to look into the puppy classes though. And try walking them seperatly.

Also he's a very food motivated dog, so I'm going to try bring treats on the walks.

 

[Elana55]

I would hold off on the bigger dogs for now. As you approach a larger dog, if he begins to act at all uncomfortable (whining, going behind you etc.) BACK OFF to a distance where he is more comfortable and then, as he looks at the other dog say something in a silly, happy voice like "Look at that Doggy! Isn't he a Big Doggy? etc." and feed your dog treats. Every time he looks at the other dog, feed him a treat. As he strats to lose interest, move in a little closer and again stop a ways away and do the "look at the doggy" and give him treats.

What you are doing is having him associate seeing other dogs with something good happening.

ABSOLUTELY go to Puppy class! Both you and your wife go and do not sit together.. sit on opposite sides of the room. Part way thru class, if the instructor allows it, swap dogs so they both get used to you training them.

 

[tw1n]

I spent some time earlier searching for a puppy class, this area doesn't seem to have much to offer. I found one thats offering classes in Nov... I'm hopen their site is just not updated lol.

 

[rosemaryninja]

What area are you in?

 

[DogsforMe]

Do a search on www.dogstardaily.com You'll find tons of info. The most important thing is socialisation & to find the best way to do it with a timid dog. Whatever you do don't pet him while he's acting this way, it will only make it a lot worse. In a dog's mind you are telling him it's ok to be scared.

 

[tw1n]

So I took Sebastian for a walk by himself last night. It went well but apparently it was a bad night because every big dog in the neighborhood was outside. I think we passed 3 boxers and a pit bull. Poor guy froze up every time.

After our walk my neighbor was outside, he runs up to her tail waggen trying to climb on her, but again pees. I imagine that was more out of exitment than being afraid. She's a vet, or vetinary student or something like that so we talked about puppy school and she said there wasn't really more thant he one place i found in our area and they are really expensive and only open certain parts of the year.