Lynn725 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 (edited) I usually bring my puppy out twice or even three times a week. However, he seems to be afraid of other dogs whenever he is near them. When other dogs come and wanna play with him (especially large breed), we would be whining and crying like they are going to hurt him. I dont know how to deal with this problem all i can think of is to bring him out more often so he won't be scared of other dogs. However when he meets human, he loves it!! By the way he is a jap spitz Edited April 26, 2011 by Lynn725 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 How old is your pup, where did he come from, and where do you walk him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn725 Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 How old is your pup, where did he come from, and where do you walk him? I got him from a breeder. he is 4 months old now and i usually walk him to a big and huge rugby field which is dog-friendly area and lotsa people walk their dogs there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kavik Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 He sounds like he is not comfortable with the large breeds playing with him - not all dogs like to roughhouse and some of the Jap Spitzes I have met do prefer their space when it comes to interacting with other dogs. Are you going to training classes at all? This would be a good way to interact with other dogs in a controlled environment. I would avoid the overly boisterous large breeds that are scaring him at the moment (which may mean walking him in a different place if the area you go to is offlead) and work on interacting only with calmer dogs for a while to get his confidence up. My Kelpie doesn't like to roughhouse with large boisterous dogs either, but is fine with dogs which don't try to incite rough play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 All puppies tend to be a bit worried about other dogs to begin with. Well, most. Some are very outgoing. Anyway, I think you just let the pup go at their own pace. Sometimes they just need to watch a dog for a little while before they are ready to interact. Don't push. If he's whining, take him further away and move back towards the dog a little step at a time. If at any point he whines, stop, give him a few seconds to see if he will get over it, and if he doesn't, go backwards a step or two and then try again. Your aim is to minimise whining using distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecutter Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I second training/puppy school. Our JS is great with new dogs - happy to sniff and play around. However, if you bark at her - she's on the offensive immediately. We're trying to work that out with socialisation with well behaved big dogs at obedience school (she trains with puppies, but then afterwards we go down to the main training area where she interacts with other dogs) From reading Steve's dog development calendar - it's the first fear period. Perhaps your pup had a bad experience early on and now that's really affecting her? How was her temperament at her breeders? Shy dog? Outgoing/boisterous? At 6 wks our JS was middle of the pack, but developed into the dominant dog by 12 wks within her litter (when she came home) - so we're working hard to put her back in her place. Now most importantly - pics please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W Sibs Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Come join the Spitz thread!! If he is going through a fear period then it's best to keep him inside for a few days, but if it's not, then maybe organise play dates with stable and calm dogs so he can be use of other dogs too. Obedience/training clubs is also a good way of socialising your pup to other dogs too, as well as people. Dog parks can be overwhelming for a young puppy especially one who's already showing signs of nervousness around other dogs. stonecutter is right, you need to post up pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 A 'fear period' is characterised by sudden and inexplicable fear of already known things. For example, Kivi suddenly out of the blue reacted very fearfully towards an exercise ball that had been sitting in the corner of the room for many months. In all honesty, I think knowing whether your dog is in a fear period or not is of limited use. Maybe you decide to put off the trip to a busy camping ground you were planning or something, but mostly I just treat puppies like they are in a fear period for the first 2 years of their life. With Erik, that has been about right. He hasn't even had definable fear periods. Just a 12 month long generalised distrust of anything new. I have had several moments when we've been out and about where one of the dogs grew nervous about something, usually something they had already been socialised to. This is why I carry treats everywhere I go. Five minutes of emergency counter-conditioning with food fixes just about everything I've encountered right there on the spot. Usually it doesn't even take five minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted April 27, 2011 Share Posted April 27, 2011 Puppy training or obedience school would be a good way to socialise in a controlled environment- in the mean time, don't put him in situations that make him extremely uncomfortable and walk confidently when there are other dogs around rather than being stationary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambrosia Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Definitely need puppy classes. Try socialising with smaller breed dogs to build confidence. Have you heard of DAP spray? It helps to comfort dogs in stressful situations. My recent experience- I have an 18 week old Japanese Spitz. We attended two puppy schools to assist with his socialisation. At home he was Mr. Confident but in the classes it was a different story. Class 1 had all large breed dogs; he was apprehensive. Would sit behind us and shadow our movements to hide behind our legs. It wasn't just that the dogs were big, they had the energy that comes with big dogs. If I were his size I would have acted the same! Class 2 had small breeds which was substantially better. The trainer of this class recommended the DAP spray which he then wore on a bandanna to all classes. Each week he got more confident. I do think his experience with smaller dogs assisted to build confidence with the larger dogs. He is now doing the next level of classes and each week he is getting more confident. He still wears the DAP, unsure if it actually has any effect. Second the request for photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecutter Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Class 1 had all large breed dogs; he was apprehensive. Would sit behind us and shadow our movements to hide behind our legs. It wasn't just that the dogs were big, they had the energy that comes with big dogs. If I were his size I would have acted the same! That is so strange - Ziva often has way more energy than the labs, BCs etc in our class! Good to see the DAP worked :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie P Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Although I am going to sound extremely unhelpful, for all of us JS fanciers...........PICTURES!!!!! Do we have a name? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9 Master Class Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 My dog Wiki (border collie x Aus. cattle) was introduced to a range of other dogs at his initial puppy school, which I believe was a great way to socialise him. He is 2yrs this month and he hasn't had any real issues just yet - just so excited to see other dogs. I hope yours loses the fear soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambrosia Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Class 1 had all large breed dogs; he was apprehensive. Would sit behind us and shadow our movements to hide behind our legs. It wasn't just that the dogs were big, they had the energy that comes with big dogs. If I were his size I would have acted the same! That is so strange - Ziva often has way more energy than the labs, BCs etc in our class! Good to see the DAP worked Not energy as in running around etc. he has plenty of that. How do I explain it.... uncontrolled/clumsy energy, where as Angelo seems more deliberate in his physical movements. I second Katie's request, photos, name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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