Advice Needed

[Rascalmyshadow]

We took on a 9 month old male toy poodle two and a half weeks ago, he was sold by the original breeder to another breeder with the intention he would be used as a stud dog, however the new breeder didn't like his temperament and decided it wasn't a good idea to breed from him.

His history is he was raised outdoors in a kennel invironment the second breeder told me he hadn't been toilet trained, he was a bully with other dogs, he had never had a collar or lead on (never been for a walk) and he was a fear biter (yep I like a challenge).

We picked him up from the airport (he came from NSW) he was stiff and in shock.

It took me all of two days to have him toilet trained, he is great with all our dogs, he now loves his collar and lead (and his walks) and so far have seen no sign of fear biting (he is great with the kids).

I have two problems to still solve, 1: he was petrified of his food bowl we seem to be overcoming that slowly. 2: he is still frightened of my OH, all my OH has to do is stand up and he is off barking and hides outside. When my OH gets up in the morning he does the same thing.

How would be the best way to approach the issue? What sort of things should my OH be doing to improve the problem? He is a quiet person the rarely raises his voice so I am not sure what is making the dog react in such a way, it is quite obvious he hasn't had such a pleasant past but I would like to make sure he has a great future.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

How would be the best way to approach the issue? What sort of things should my OH be doing to improve the problem? He is a quiet person the rarely raises his voice so I am not sure what is making the dog react in such a way, it is quite obvious he hasn't had such a pleasant past but I would like to make sure he has a great future.

If your OH is quiet and has good calm energy I would suggest he move slowly and totally ignore the dog for a bit. I've heard it explained like this:

If you were at a party and a large scary swamp monster walked through the front door, you'd be most comfortable if the scary swamp monster did not look at you or try and get you to interact with them. You'd want the large scary swamp monster not to notice you. After a while, if the scary swamp monster seemed mostly harmless, you'd get used to the idea of having him around and you might even attempt an interaction.

There are schools of thought that say when dogs are afraid of the males in the house it's a good idea to get the males to feed them etc. I don't know, I'd be more inclined to leave advice like that to a behaviourist who has had a chance to observe what is going on. In the meantime, benign neglect and not forcing the issue (while being careful not to play up to the dog's fears) is probably the way to go.

Good luck, and good on you for taking on a pup with special needs.

[Tonymc]

Nicole,I would do as Anita said initially and basically ignore as this will not put any pressure on the Dog.I would not get too worried about the Bowl business.

Anita,that is a very very good Analogy, your Swamp Monster. Tony

[Ons]

feeding would normally be a good idea but if the pup was scared of his food bowl and a male was feeding him would it make him more petrified of both?

when I had my poor "dumped in a quarry foster pup" who hid behind the dining room table for his first few days I found the best way to get him confident was just to sit on the floor and pat and fuss over my golden retriever female who he adored and basically ignore him until he got the courage to come to me when he and tilly both got lots of pats and fuss. It worked an absolute treat! So I would suggest that your husband might like to try the same. I never put any pressure on Jasper, he was to come to me and he grew somewhat in confidence enough to find a wonderful forever home.

good luck with the pup!

[The Spotted Devil]

I know this sounds a little left field.....but when I took on a retired girl from my cat breeder (I know! Different species, but similar ideas can sometimes apply), young Lilly was perfectly fine with me but terrified of OH. I realised that the breeder had a very soft, light, gentle voice (OH's voice is quite deep and loud) so I asked OH to talk in a gentle falsetto for a few days - it worked a treat and I was sworn to secrecy so no telling

[Rascalmyshadow]

Thanks all for the advice, as soon as the dog started this my OH did ignore him but he just carries on barking we will keep it up and hopefully time will improve him. Normally I would have told my OH to feed him but because he is so scared of his bowl I don't think it would work well.

[Monah]

Thanks all for the advice, as soon as the dog started this my OH did ignore him but he just carries on barking we will keep it up and hopefully time will improve him. Normally I would have told my OH to feed him but because he is so scared of his bowl I don't think it would work well.

I rescued a maltese cross that was exactly like this. He had never seen a bowl (or proper food only crusts thrown outside!!!), and was terrified of males. We ended up having him for 12 years and he was about 15 when he died of a stroke. Anyway, I don't know if it's the right thing but we allowed him to eat off the floor (yes messy) for a long time, until he was confident with all his new surroundings etc. He never became comfortable with a bowl but eventually ate from one. He was very very attached to me but not my OH. We just let him get on with it in his own time. It took 2 years until he would 'ask' for ohs attention etc. and want to be with him. We never forced it, ever. It depends on the dog, I know, but this worked in our situation. I think our dog would have freaked out if I had forced anything on him, he was badly neglected, broken ribs etc. He ended up being a great little companion and we all miss him. R. I. P. Fawlty.xxxxxxxxxxx

[Lablover]

We took on a 9 month old male toy poodle two and a half weeks ago, he was sold by the original breeder to another breeder with the intention he would be used as a stud dog, however the new breeder didn't like his temperament and decided it wasn't a good idea to breed from him.

His history is he was raised outdoors in a kennel invironment the second breeder told me he hadn't been toilet trained, he was a bully with other dogs, he had never had a collar or lead on (never been for a walk) and he was a fear biter (yep I like a challenge).

We picked him up from the airport (he came from NSW) he was stiff and in shock.

It took me all of two days to have him toilet trained, he is great with all our dogs, he now loves his collar and lead (and his walks) and so far have seen no sign of fear biting (he is great with the kids).

I have two problems to still solve, 1: he was petrified of his food bowl we seem to be overcoming that slowly. 2: he is still frightened of my OH, all my OH has to do is stand up and he is off barking and hides outside. When my OH gets up in the morning he does the same thing.

How would be the best way to approach the issue? What sort of things should my OH be doing to improve the problem? He is a quiet person the rarely raises his voice so I am not sure what is making the dog react in such a way, it is quite obvious he hasn't had such a pleasant past but I would like to make sure he has a great future.

First of all, good on the breeders and subsequent owner, who did not think he is suitable as a stud!!!!!!

Obviously he has poor nerves for whatever reason.

You have your work ahead of you, but toilet training obviously was quick, as well as basic lead training.

Good luck.