pixie_meg Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Oberon has had the unfortunate experience at 11 weeks and 12 weeks of having a couple of dogs lunge at him from behind a fence barking aggressively. He responded by yelping and backing up/running away. He seemed to recover well after the first incident but yesterday it happened again at 12 weeks. He saw another dog minutes later, that i know is friendly and he was scared out of his witts. For the next couple of days he is at work with my OH in Brisbane including nights. There is a friendly lab x poodle there who really wants to be friends but Oberon is freaking out. I'm worried that the last incident may have triggered some permanent fear. So i'm wondering, how should my OH approach Oberons fear with this other friendly dog. any suggestion welcome, i'd really like Oberon to know that there are nice dogs out there. He also starts puppy school on Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Overly friendly dogs are not what you need to get Oberon started on his socialisation path. You need smaller, disinterested dogs that won't react inappropriately to a pup but that will set boundaries. The last thing he needs is to be bounced on or squashed by an exhuberant adult dog. Wait for puppy school if you can't find a calm dog to socialise him with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie_meg Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 I'll tell OH to keep distance between them. I don't think Lulu (the other dog) will be over the top but OH is under strict instructions for the best interests of Obi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Keep the other dog on lead or a long line at all times. Let Obi set the pace. If he gets to the point of play bowing or actually making contact with her then (and only then) would I think about free play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percyk Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 i had a male cocker attacked by a sharpei once..mine was onlead and doing beautifully at 18 weeks we passed a sharpei thinking it was sitting nicely with the picnickers but instead it rushed at us with the woman screaming and trying to catch it the very next week the dog got rushed by a bitzer mastiffy thing that was jogging off lead with its owner and actually crossed the road to head for me and the dog ruined all my hard work the fear was plentiful after that a fear of male dogs persisted but he was trained out of barking when walking on lead he was never confident round dogs off leash- ok with females but it was devastating-sucha beautiful temperament another dog of mine was attacked at dog obedience she is still a bit fearful and will go for the feet of any big dog that starts rough play another one of mine was mounted by a big boofy goofy lab at the beach when he was about 18wks fortunately his fear has not stayed but i was so scared that i had another dog with aproblem that is so hard to modify im thinking that maybe these fear phases are best coped with at home and you just dont risk taking your dog out..obviously mixed feelings about this i think you should frequent as many obedience sessions as you can...even if you sit on the periphery and feed the pup highvalue treats...and distract distract distract with lots of simple commands like watch and sit thats what i did with the last pup - i think thats what got him through it i didnt know these techniques 20 years ago...shame good luck you dont want a big dog with fear aggression so id call a behaviourist and get some help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 percyk: im thinking that maybe these fear phases are best coped with at home and you just dont risk taking your dog out..obviously mixed feelings about this The middle approach is to only socialise in safe places with adult dogs you know will respond appropriately or with other pups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percyk Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 poodlefan sometimes it is hard to predict what dog is going to cross your path i guess you could have safe dog meets..with trusted dog friends but geez it is hard when youre just an ordinary suburban dog owner who is trying to exercise dogs safely without incident im not advocating keeping the dog at home through fear phases... this was a recommendation i read after reading about fear phases here on dol i never knew about fear phases... wish i did back then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 My pup experienced agro dogs and irresponsible owners regardless of how careful we tried to be during fear periods. My boy is nearly 3 and is fear aggressive to dogs that we don't personaly introduce him to. If I could turn back time I would have seen a Behaviourist straight away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 sometimes it is hard to predict what dog is going to cross your pathi guess you could have safe dog meets..with trusted dog friends Yup, do that and consider it to be "immunisation" against the dogs that cross your path in a negative way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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