What Would You Do?

[raineth]

Hi training people - I am after some ideas please

my dog is very soft-natured and has a tendency to easily get frightened about things.

When he was in foster care he was bitten by another dog. He had been nervous about being around dogs after this; and I put in work and he gained confidence.

Then about a month ago we were in a narrow ally when a lady came running toward us and her dog was being very aggressive (barking, snapping and lunging) at Digby. I didn't have time to get out of the ally. And so instead we moved as far away as possible, and I told Digby to sit and stood in front of him as they went by. He was very frightened.

Since then when we see another dog (that he is not already friends with) he freezes. He does this even if the other dog has relaxed friendly body posture etc.

When we come across another dog on a walk, I make him walk behind me. This has helped a lot. He won't freeze if I do this, and seems overall a lot more confident.

But this only works if I am in between him and the dog. So if I pass another dog on our left he will freeze.

I would be really interested to hear people's responses on how they would handle this situation?

[Cosmolo]

Keep moving. The only way to increase the distance (which i would also recommend) is to move and get him to move with you.

ETA Do you go to training at all?

Edited August 26, 2010 by Cosmolo

[poodlefan]

Asking your dog to sit in the face of what he fears makes him more vulnerable. Robbed of the opportunity to move away from the threat, he has chosen to shut down rather than fight it.

You are the leader. Protect him by placing yourself between him and what he fears. Move him away as soon as possible to create distance.

[raineth]

Keep moving. The only way to increase the distance (which i would also recommend) is to move and get him to move with you.

ETA Do you go to training at all?

I have enrolled him in the local training club, but the grounds are closed because it has been too wet.

thanks for the suggestion of keeping distance.

I will try an be proactive about that.

He weighs more than me, and so when he does freeze I can't get him moving again

[Tassie]

But this only works if I am in between him and the dog. So if I pass another dog on our left he will freeze.

What the others have said - and in relation to this particular point - if you see this situation coming up, just swap your boy over to your right, so that you can be between him and the other dog. There's no rule (except in obedience competition) that the dog has to be walking on your left.

[raineth]

Asking your dog to sit in the face of what he fears makes him more vulnerable. Robbed of the opportunity to move away from the threat, he has chosen to shut down rather than fight it.

You are the leader. Protect him by placing yourself between him and what he fears. Move him away as soon as possible to create distance.

I don't normally make him sit. I was unable to do much else in the situation I described above, and I did place myself between him and the other dog.

I will make sure to put him on the other side when I walk past dogs from now on though.

thanks for the suggestion.

[raineth]

But this only works if I am in between him and the dog. So if I pass another dog on our left he will freeze.

What the others have said - and in relation to this particular point - if you see this situation coming up, just swap your boy over to your right, so that you can be between him and the other dog. There's no rule (except in obedience competition) that the dog has to be walking on your left.

thanks Barb

I will definitely be doing that from now on

I find it quite funny that something so simple didn't occur to me while i was out walking him

[Tassie]

raineth - it's often the simple things that get us.

Sounds like you're doing the right things with this boy - he will gain confidence from your confidence. poodlefan will remember a trainer we both went to a camp with telling us if necessary to sing a nursery rhyme to your dog when you're walking along in a slightly worrying situation - lowers your own stress levels, (so the dog isn't picking them up down the lead.)

[raineth]

raineth - it's often the simple things that get us.

Sounds like you're doing the right things with this boy - he will gain confidence from your confidence. poodlefan will remember a trainer we both went to a camp with telling us if necessary to sing a nursery rhyme to your dog when you're walking along in a slightly worrying situation - lowers your own stress levels, (so the dog isn't picking them up down the lead.)

cool thanks Tassie - honestly singing a nursery rhyme to my dogs would be exactly the sort of thing people have come to expect from me

will definitely give it a go

thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

Much appreciated

It helps to get some fresh perspectives

[corvus]

Most of the time when animals freeze in a situation like this it's because they feel helpless to escape perceived danger. I think anything you can do to reduce his sense that he can't do anything to make himself feel more safe would be good for him. If it were me, I would be giving him something to do, like a task he knows well and is very successful at that will be rewarded with something good, probably food. Feeling like he can control something at this moment would, I think, help him cope with it. People often say targeting is good here, because you can have them concentrate on, say, your hand as you walk them through. Leslie McDevitt does the Look At That game, which is essentially rewarding the dog for looking at the scary dogs and then eventually putting it on cue. It turns it into a game or a training task and so the dog is focused on earning a reward rather than checking where the scary dogs are.

[raineth]

o.k. thanks Corvus, I am seeing a plan forming here from all these responses!

One of the problems is that he is too frightened in these situations to eat.

So the plan that's developing in my mind is:

keep as much distance as possible

keep myself in between him and the dog

then hopefully with increased distance he will be less frightened and I can do a some simple commands with high value treats

[Erny]

I don't normally make him sit. I was unable to do much else in the situation I described above, and I did place myself between him and the other dog. I will make sure to put him on the other side when I walk past dogs from now on though.

thanks for the suggestion.

By the sounds of it, and if your words have created the right image for me, it sounds to me as though you did the best thing you could under the circumstance. I am also fairly comfortable with the idea of him having you shield him from what he considers to be worrisome/scarey stimuli. I would suggest that YOU put him to the other side of you though - BEFORE he chooses to do so. Your terms. Your decision. Your leadership. You'll keep him safe.

Let it be at this for the time being - just let him learn that it is possible to be safe in the proximity of other dogs. Later on, you can do very small incremental work to push the envelope a little bit, if it is suitable - but I'd suggest you get some hands/eyes-on guidance for that.

[raineth]

I just wanted to update:

I took Digby to agility this morning - and you would never have thought he was the same dog I am speaking about in this thread!

I was so proud of him

I did the things in this thread and they worked really well.

But he was so chilled out that we were able to join in with agility and he said hello to a few dogs happily.

no freezing

But more than that, he was just one chilled out mutt

makes me think that it might be our neighbourhood that he is tense in - maybe he hasn't generalised his fear outside our neighbourhood?

[Tassie]

You could be right about it being the neighbourhood - but anyway, that is such good news - and the good thing is, it should fill you with confidence that you can help him to be a cool dude . Well done!