Remarkabull Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Acheron is my 10 month old Doberman and he is fantastic in many ways (he has a great desire to please me, has a great recall- even with distractions, is fairly easy to train and is very friendly with people) but right from the start he has been scared of any other dogs (except for my other dogs). I got him at 12 weeks, he had been socialised by his breeders (taken to shows etc, that's how I met them) and while I still lived in VIC I continued with this by arranging play dates with his sister (who was still with the breeders at that stage) and meeting up with them at shows that were nearby etc. I also took him to Kepala a couple of times and the poor dog just stood behind me and barked at any dog that approached him. (There are pics in the Kepala thread that show him moping about with a sad look on his face). Anyway since moving to Darwin, we started attending Obedience classes and although he is fantastic at obedience and a very quick learner, he would still bark at dogs that came into his 'personal space'. Most of the others would happily play with each other or at the very least have a sniff hello and then move on but Acheron wouldn't hear of it. Add to that he has been rushed at a number of times and literally attacked (by a SWF) while being walked by me over the last few weeks I was beginning to worry that he would become fear aggressive, but today, much to my delight, while we were at a dog park (it's HUGE and has a lagoon for swimming) there was a lady with 3 dogs, 2 of which kept approaching us wanting to check out my 2. At first it was business as usual with Acheron barking and running away but then he did a play bow and the other dog responded and before I knew it they were chasing each other in and out of the lagoon and having a ball! He did not allow physical contact but definately enjoyed the game and also spent time sniffing at her other 2 dogs without barking at them! Sorry for the long post but I am so relieved that all hope is not lost with my boy and he still may be able to meet and greet (or at least have them around him) without carrying on like a big dope or at the very least be able to go to Obedience without him barking like a looney until the class starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirty Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Awww that is so fantastic!! Having a dog with special needs myself, I can totally understand how excited you are. Go Archeron! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkabull Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 Awww that is so fantastic!! Having a dog with special needs myself, I can totally understand how excited you are. Go Archeron! Thanks, it's such a good feeling seeing him be 'ok' with another dog. I have a DA dog and she misses out on alot of outings and fun stuff because of that, so I really don't want that for Acheron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaisyDog Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Acheron is my 10 month old Doberman and he is fantastic in many ways (he has a great desire to please me, has a great recall- even with distractions, is fairly easy to train and is very friendly with people) but right from the start he has been scared of any other dogs (except for my other dogs).I got him at 12 weeks, he had been socialised by his breeders (taken to shows etc, that's how I met them) and while I still lived in VIC I continued with this by arranging play dates with his sister (who was still with the breeders at that stage) and meeting up with them at shows that were nearby etc. I also took him to Kepala a couple of times and the poor dog just stood behind me and barked at any dog that approached him. (There are pics in the Kepala thread that show him moping about with a sad look on his face). Anyway since moving to Darwin, we started attending Obedience classes and although he is fantastic at obedience and a very quick learner, he would still bark at dogs that came into his 'personal space'. Most of the others would happily play with each other or at the very least have a sniff hello and then move on but Acheron wouldn't hear of it. Add to that he has been rushed at a number of times and literally attacked (by a SWF) while being walked by me over the last few weeks I was beginning to worry that he would become fear aggressive, but today, much to my delight, while we were at a dog park (it's HUGE and has a lagoon for swimming) there was a lady with 3 dogs, 2 of which kept approaching us wanting to check out my 2. At first it was business as usual with Acheron barking and running away but then he did a play bow and the other dog responded and before I knew it they were chasing each other in and out of the lagoon and having a ball! He did not allow physical contact but definately enjoyed the game and also spent time sniffing at her other 2 dogs without barking at them! Sorry for the long post but I am so relieved that all hope is not lost with my boy and he still may be able to meet and greet (or at least have them around him) without carrying on like a big dope or at the very least be able to go to Obedience without him barking like a looney until the class starts. Yay! Marlows is helping my girl learn how to play with dogs too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac'ella Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Its great to see how dogs will interact with different dogs.This morning I took the dogs for a walk and met up with a neighbour who has a approx 4mth gsd girl,she is very shy and her owner asked if we could introduce the dogs,I decided to keep our staffy (Ella) back as she is full on friendly and might spook the shy dog,and let her come up to my old boxer(Mac) everything went great then she went over to Ella who was laying there chewing a stick.I was waiting for her to start jumping all over the gsd but instead she just lay calmly reached out with her nose sniffed and wagged her tail,you could see the sense of calm come over the gsd who then lay down in front of her wagging her tail like best mates,then to my surprise Ella offered her, her stick which I could not believe as she is totally obseesd with sticks and if Mac has 1 will grab it off him even if she has 1 of her own.The owner was so pleased with her reaction and now wants to let them have a run together in the leash free area later on today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCresties Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 As someone who has a FA dog I can understand exactly how much that means to you I would have tears in my eyes if I saw Louis play with another dog. I hope this is the start of a new found confidence for Acheron with other dogs ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogfan Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 That's fantastic! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remarkabull Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 Went again today and although no playing with the other dog there he only barked at it twice then proceeded to ignore it even though it was really close to us! He is definately more relaxed when he is off lead, I can see him realise that he can run away if he wants and he doesn't feel trapped by being restrained. It's still going to take alot of work and patience but I am very hopeful that we will get him past the fear of other dogs, even if he just tolerates them and doesn't want to play I'd still call that a win for us and him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Megz- Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Let me know when you head down next I'd like to take my little Beagle boy down and would be great to meet up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmoothieGirl Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Great to hear DR. He mellowed a little at Kepala when the other dogs ignored him and kind of let him just tag along a bit. Here's hoping in a few months he'll have established more self confidence and will accept other dogs around him, even if he's not that interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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