my_sibe_owns_me

No, I haven't talked to a behaviorist. I think the best we have around my area is Bark Busters.

I have a shy puppy. I have been working with her for a little while and she has gotten MUCH better and at the same time worse.. She doesn't mind being around people but she FREAKS OUT when they try to touch her if someone/group of people are looking at her like they want to pet her. She will relax once someone is petting her and even gave one guy a kiss. However, she will still try to move away if she can and will STILL freak out if that person tries to pet her again. She has been going up to people on her own or when they offer a hand to sniff and will let them pet under her chin...but at the same time she has started growling at some people. Including the people she sees three times a week and feed her treats (very food motivated. She will go to them for food but will try to leave the second she has eaten all the food) I thought we where doing MUCH better till the growling started this week. I still made her get petted by them so she got over it and didn't growl at them again. But I figure if its getting better but worse then I MUST be doing SOMETHING wrong and I need some advice. Shes not a freak about anything else. We can walk by people, play, train, sit and relax. Shes GREAT with other dogs and most new places dont seem to bother her nor does loud sounds ect.

Midol- Whats her drive? What does she love more then anything else? I would start every walk with a run just to get rid of extra energy. I guess I geared most of my post to ILTBY seeing as the dog doesn't fully trust you. To be honest, I don't think much other then the run and the positive feelings apply to you out of the post. Sorry about that. Maybe even putting the collar and lead on yourself would reassure her to follow you. It would make it less of a pass off and more of a "I am going to lead you." However, I think facing things that she fears the most needs to be done with her and ILTBY. She is her 'pack leader' therefore she will have more trust in her unless ILTBY tenses up and gives off stressed/negative vibes.

I'll admit to only reading the first few post so forgive me if I am flogging a dead horse. I would suggest STARTING the walk with a jog/run. This will get her tired and she wont be able to put up AS much of a fight. As for not talking to or petting her...I would do both. A nice even voice. Not baby talk or yelling...just normal. And keep in mind if you panic/think/tense up and think someone or something will put her on edge then YOU are ALREADY telling her to be on edge. Thats not her doing. Thats her picking up on your feelings. By running away from those things she will connect the dots that things that put me on edge (ppl, cars, carts, bikes ect.) means i should run away from them. As far as petting goes start off under the chin. Not the top of the head (where most ppl go for first) or 'sneaking up behind' to pet her back. Start off simple and let her SEE what is going on. Give her a treat and a good girl when she doesnt high tail it the other way. And never let anyone 'chase' her to pet her. 1. it will scare her and give her a reason to be afraid and 2. their likely to get bit if they get her pinned. When she does met new ppl or something that scares her DONT let her lean on you (or anyone that she 'claims/trust') push her away or extend your arm with the leash so she HAS to stand on her own. She needs to build confidence in HERSELF and not try to hide behind/lean on someone. Dont let her just have her way if she doesn't want to see someone. Put her one lead and give the person a treat. It'll take a while and they may end up just holding their hand out flat just to get her to come over the first handful of times but basically she'll learn that ppl are not going to hurt her. When she does let someone pet her or goes up to someone for a sniff give her the "good girl!' and FEEL good about it! Thats a key factor. If your thinking/still waiting for her to zoom off the other way after the sniff/pet then she is very likely to do so. Picture the outcome you WANT not the one you fear will happen. However I am assuming she is not a fear bitter?

lol i had that same question when i first signed up on here. In the usa staffies and pitts are the VERY same thing. In the Oz their not unless you are talking about Astaff and Ampit. To the Op- I work at a pet salon that has a doggy day care. i know dog breeds mainly because I show dogs and have spent a lot of time getting to know breeds ect. however, the people at my work hardly know anything other then goldens, rotts, yourkies, shihtuz (Which they STILL say wrong...) Really commmon breeds. There are people who come in in complete denal of what breed their dog is. Or even the girl i work with has a mutt that looks JUST like a pointer. EVERYTHING about the dogs shape and attudie is like a pointer. But hes a black dog. My co-worker keeps telling everyone that he is lab x great dane....but REALLY thinks he is dob x great dane but wants him to seem 'nice' and says lab instead. Anyways, the point is sometimes the ppl who work in doggy fields will humor you. They dont want to upset you or have to get in an agrument about what breed your dog is or isnt.

laffi what do you feed?

i did see the Calafornia Natural Herring but doesnt it have sunflower oil? I THINK I read something about that not being great for dogs... Net- thanks for clearing the meat meal thing up for me. Is Royal Canin grain free?

Wow...sorry I forgot to add that I am in the USA...I didnt know your guys selection was so limited...

Alright I am looking for a new kind of dog food! At the moment I have been feeding a brand that is a step up from proplan. After some suggestions to change my dog food I am now on the hunt for no grain/corn/meat meal food. I looked at Call of the wild, natures choice and while I would LOVE! to fed Merrik I dont think it is in my price range.... so I am still open for suggetions.

How about this one? ETA: Cockerlover- I got your email

Yes? No? Maybe so? I just threw this one together. I'll see what else I can come up with when I get a little bit more time

lol nope its one size fits all when it comes to poms

Poms in xmas dresses are the cutist arnt they? Love your black one in the dress

We have little poms who are all healthy and normal.... Duch is 4 lbs Me2 is 3lbs and 2 ozs..... Went to a pet expo and tons of ppl tried to buy her...telling us she was 'teacup'...I spent ALOT of time saying "no this is normal/correct sizes...they are not mini or teacups...

There is NO SUCH THING AS MINI POMS!!!!!! A correct pom (show standard) poms are 3-5lbs. For a good breeder a pet should be around 4-8lbs tops...from a BYB they can be up to 18lbs because they breed their poms for size so they can get more puppies when they breed the bitch. I live with ppl who breed poms and it drives me INSANE when ppl go "oh! Is that a mini pom!!?" I reply "NO! its the correct size!"

Heres another Let me know what you think....

Heres one What them like this? Would you like the name added? I'll see if I have time to go some more before I leave.

Whats their names?

I'll give it a shoot Just email it to [email protected] and just type in what you want me to try and do to the background (color scheme, ideas ect.) Chances are I wont geet to it tonight....however i'll start on it before noon tomorrow (I'll work on it during class...they have a better version od photoshop then I do ;))

So which one of you can I drag in to make me a sig then? PWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE You can bug any of us just add the pics and im sure we'll all take a shot at it

ooppsss

Here the resized one I'll see what else I can do with the pics. No worrise ILTBY

Ruffles- If you like it I can resize it for you....I will see what else I can come up with...not sure how much I like this one but its midnight here so I wont be making another one tonight.

Thats very cool! I envy you cuz I cant draw on or off the computer screen

Took me a while to see the third head that is awesome...great work Thanks I was afraid the 3rd head would be hard for others to see.