Fear Aggression

[claireybell]

Hi, I have a 6.5 month old beagle X cocker spaniel, Jodie who I just adore but am starting to have a couple of problems with her. I also have a one year old cocker spaniel named Jesie.

So Jesie and Jodie get on brilliantly, play together all the time, sleep together the whole lot. But on Saturday we had a couple of mates come round, the girls barked when my friends got to the door and then Jesie jumped all over them to say hello. Jodie however kept barking and started growling but was doing this from behind my legs. I told her to stop and we all sat down but the whole time my friends were there she would not come out from behind my legs and every time my mate put her hand down for Jodie to sniff she started barking.

Then on Sunday we went to the park and ran into a lady and her dog that we see all the time. I had let me two off lead and she let her's off and they were all running round. Then Jodie had a bit of a freak out when the dog came over to sniff her bottom. She ran behind my legs and had her hackles up. She did this the entire time we were there and in the end we picked Jodie up as we started to worry that she might turn on this other dog and bare her teeth or worse.

Late Sunday afternoon another friend came over and Jodie put on the same performance for this friend that she had for the other two on Saturday. My friend stayed 3 hours and by the time she left she was able to give Jodie a pat on the back without Jodie freaking out.

We already know that she is hand shy and has seperation issue's with me. So when she is in my arms as this is what she feels is her safe place I get my friends to pat her very gently. But this fear of everyone and every dog is really getting out of control.

I really advise here guys. My other dog is completely fearless and figures that everyone and everything loves her so this is all new to me! Would I be best to seek out a professional to help with this?

[Monah]

Yes, get help. I too have a fearful dog and she is doing very well compared when she was your dog's age, but will never be the laid back confident dog that my others are. Please get help. All I could say for now is don't force anything and just tell visitors to completely ignore her. she may some out to see people on her own, they must still ignore her. With dogs , I'd not take her off lead, or even have her with other dogs ATM at all. If she gets too frightened now, it wil be worse for her later. Let her go at her own pace, don't 'baby' her, show her you are confident. you may find bits of info on any of K9s topics, he did a fantastic workshop on this kind of thing a week ago. Good luck. It is a difficult road ahead. xxxx

I would not have her in your arms or even get your friends to pat her. Of course, I'm certainly not qualified to tell you anything, sorry, and should not give you advice really as I don't know your dog, I'm just going on my own experiences with my fearful dog. Please do get prof. help xxx

[Cockerlover]

clairybell ,is the bitch you are conserned about desexed?could be hormonal if shes cominginto heat !just a thought

[claireybell]

Thanks Monah, I've actually called a few places today to make enquiries but thought I would get some advise to make sure I wasn't over reacting. My other puppy is soooo out there! We actually thought she might have ADHD to begin with But this poor baby is very much a mummy's girl and isn't very happy unless I'm around or she's destroying my furniture!

Cocklover she is desexed. She was done at 5.5 months.

[Dory the Doted One]

Dory can be a bit shy when she meets people for the first time. Once she knows them she is all over them like a bad stink, and is very good at remembering them when she meets them again.

At home, the rule is...ignore the dog, come in and sit down. Everything is calm. (or tries to be..have 1 housemate that I'm in the process of training.)

They only pay Dory attention when she goes to them and intiates it. ie..she nudges them or puts a paw on them. When this happens they are allowed to gentle pat her under the chin whilst not giving eye contact. Once that is done, she usually tries to climb into their laps. I recommend everyone have food onboard also.

When walking out and about, she's on lead. And if she is uncomfortable I will body block a person or give them food, and always insist that they rub UNDER the chin. (she's great with dogs so that is not a problem.) I find it helps to explain to people that they are shy, and take a little time getting used to others. Most people will change their approach, if they don't...tell a fibbie....say she's a pound puppy, they automatically assume the dog has been mistreated and will double their efforts to be calm and kind. Again... Gotta love human nature sometimes when you can tweak it to work for you.

[Erny]

The first thing I'd be 'self-investigating' if I were you (short of getting someone over to help you check this) is YOUR leadership to the dogs. I always start there, because no matter what else you do, if you don't have this respect and trust that you will look after all matters of concern, your dog is going to lack the confidence that safety net provides.

Next thing I'd do is treat things matter of fact. Calm and assertive. And not make a big deal about people having to pat or approach your dog when she is around people. Expose her to unfamiliar people, but just don't overly push the point. I wouldn't even suggest that the visitors try to offer Jodie any food treats. Unless people realise what they're doing, when and how, it is a risk that instead of building a positive relationship, it might well be serving to reinforce Jodie's fearful behaviour. It is often better if you simply ask your visitors to ignore Jodie completely. Even if that happens to be for the whole of their visit. If Jodie calmly and confidently approaches (and assuming the visitors don't mind this) then let her - but until that 'calm/confident' behaviour is more regular, ask the visitor/s to continue to ignore her.

I may be inclined to use crate training, and thus a crate, to help Jodie out. It will provide her with a place for her to be in which she feels safe, yet simultaneously allows her to 'view' the goings on in situations such as you having visitors. It also has a degree of preventing fearful behaviour from being exhibited (eg. running away; ducking behind things) and shows Jodie that doing so has absolutely nothing to do with her survival. Of course, when Jodie is in her crate, give her some space so she can feel comfortable about everything that's happening around her. Crate training is also a good way of being able to control what visitors do with your dog.

Avoid allowing Jodie to help you 'greet' people at the door. I always make it a 'rule' that dogs who live with me stay behind me when I open the door. For any who sport an 'issue' with stangers, they are kept even further back - to a distance where 'coping' is possible but if possible where the dog can see what's going on (ie not necessarily isolated).

The majority of bitches I have personally worked with have been desexed or at least not in season so I cannot lay claim to having witnessed a great deal of change of behaviour due to being in season. But it is possible. I do believe that this sort of change of behaviour is hormonally related though - I think entering 'maturity' has much to do with it and also that recognition of your leadership may no longer be 'unconditional' as it might have been when she was a pup. Second fear impact period should also remain a consideration.

Hope this helps you a bit, CB. There's only so much I can suggest over the internet. Feel free to contact me though if you need more assistance though.

Cheers!

Erny

Edited November 10, 2008 by Erny

[claireybell]

Thanks HEAPS Erny. I really appreciate your advise and will put your suggestions into practice.

[poochmad]

We have a Field Spaniel and part of the breed temperament description is 'reserved with strangers'. This means that the dog might take their time accepting people immediately (unlike a Cocker Spaniel) so this was taken into account.

When Henschke was a younger pup he happily approached everybody. As he got older he became a lot more wary and if people rushed him on the street he would back away. Taking him to puppy class at 4 months has helped considerably – especially when he was handed around in a large circle and given treats at every greeting! Now he is quite keen to approach new people. However, while walking him on a lead, if someone rushes him or puts out their hand too quickly, he will step back, but then step forward again.

At home it’s a different story. We warn everyone coming to the house that our pup is not enthusiastic with people and to ignore him and let him approach them. Because he’s so cute, people get really excited and speak with high pitched voices…surprisingly, he is quite happy to go to them. However, he tends to be picky about who he lets touch him and should a man (usually) try to rush him he will back off and not go near them.

We don’t force him to go near them – it’s up to him who he chooses to be friends with. A breed book even mentions that the breed is quite good at assessing people and some breeders use the dogs as a guide of who’s good and who’s not.

As he is quite happy greeting most people, we don’t feel we need to seek professional help. The people that he does keep a distance from, tend to be either overbearing or tense people. (I personally would avoid them too if I could!)

Recently, we had 4 men come into the house to fix the kitchen floor and as they walked straight in from the back door, Henshcke went off his nut. He had his hackles up and stood his ground and barked (which surprised the heck out of us, as we didn't even know he could bark!) but kept running backwards and forwards. I didn't tell him to be quiet nor did I praise him. Personally I thought it was a good response that he reacted that way to strangers coming in the wrong way...

Since he was so unsure of the situation, I put him behind a kiddie gate and he in turn relaxed. However, he spent the whole day watching what was happening from behind his 'security' gate.

However, if he was barking and had hackles raised when I had friends visiting, then I would be concerned and would definitely get someone in. I wouldn't want to take the risk that the next step could lead to a dog bite if someone misread his signals.

Any time that he has barked at someone it's been in fun, he crouches down and has his tail wagging, even if he doesn't approach them.

Although I probably haven't helped you like Erny has, I thought it might assist you in hearing from someone else with a similar story and how we approached it.