Confidence Building Exercises

[shantiah]

I have a dog that will be coming home on the weekend. She is a race greyhound so has seen next to nothing of the world. I want to build up her confidence. She wary of new things and I would like to make her more able to deal with new and different experiences.

I plan to take her out and show her the world but is there anything else I can do to help her

[SparkyTansy]

Perhaps one of the GAP programmes might be willing to give you their process for fosters. I know there is a range of things that the foster carers must go through and report on.

[Greytmate]

I have a dog that will be coming home on the weekend. She is a race greyhound so has seen next to nothing of the world. I want to build up her confidence. She wary of new things and I would like to make her more able to deal with new and different experiences.

I plan to take her out and show her the world but is there anything else I can do to help her

Either a dog is good at dealing with new things, or it isn't, so there is limited effect you can have there with training.

What you can do is a very gradual introduction to all of the things she is likely to be exposed to over her life.

There is no need to show her the world, but you do need to show her what will be in her world, and give her positive associations with things. Start slowly with walks in quiet streets, until she gets used to traffic noise and movement. Don't make the next step into a busier environment until she is perfectly at ease with the quieter one.

You may never end up with a dog that is great at dealing with new things. But with work you will have a relaxed and happy dog that is able to cope with most of the normal things that people like doing with dogs. Take it slowly, but if you work every day, within weeks you will have a different dog.

[LizT]

I have a dog that will be coming home on the weekend. She is a race greyhound so has seen next to nothing of the world. I want to build up her confidence. She wary of new things and I would like to make her more able to deal with new and different experiences.

I plan to take her out and show her the world but is there anything else I can do to help her

Are you sure she has seen "next to nothing"? The sights and sounds of a race track, training, trialling and all things associated with her racing career may have given her the mechinism to deal with say, noises, large groups of dogs, people etc.

[shantiah]

Are you sure she has seen "next to nothing"? The sights and sounds of a race track, training, trialling and all things associated with her racing career may have given her the mechinism to deal with say, noises, large groups of dogs, people etc.

LizT she is 15mths old. Still at breakin and coming home on the weekend. She hasnt had a racing career as yet but I want to help her get used to all the things she will need to deal with, including the races.

She has not broken in particularly well. They say she is trying but not giving it 100% (but not a nonnie) . She is fine in kennels and in the bullring but not so good out in open spaces like the track. She has spent the first part of her life at a rearing farm. It was a small place with less than 20 dogs and she was great there whenever I visited.

I first suspected she may have a few "issues" as she was worried the first time I took her off the property to get her microchipped at the track. She slammed on the breaks at the front gate and pancaked in the car. The next time I took her was a couple of weeks later just before dropping her to the breakers. She spent 24hrs at my house and while inquisitive she wasnt confident to check out her new surroundings. She was much better in the car as I told the rearers I wanted them to work on that.

She will almost certainly be the last dog I have reared by anyone else. Lesson learnt the hard way on more than one dog at more than one rearing kennel. My own litter of pups that I reared myself have been raised very differently to the average race dog and are very confident.

[LizT]

Are you sure she has seen "next to nothing"? The sights and sounds of a race track, training, trialling and all things associated with her racing career may have given her the mechinism to deal with say, noises, large groups of dogs, people etc.

LizT she is 15mths old. Still at breakin and coming home on the weekend. She hasnt had a racing career as yet but I want to help her get used to all the things she will need to deal with, including the races.

She has not broken in particularly well. They say she is trying but not giving it 100% (but not a nonnie) . She is fine in kennels and in the bullring but not so good out in open spaces like the track. She has spent the first part of her life at a rearing farm. It was a small place with less than 20 dogs and she was great there whenever I visited.

I first suspected she may have a few "issues" as she was worried the first time I took her off the property to get her microchipped at the track. She slammed on the breaks at the front gate and pancaked in the car. The next time I took her was a couple of weeks later just before dropping her to the breakers. She spent 24hrs at my house and while inquisitive she wasnt confident to check out her new surroundings. She was much better in the car as I told the rearers I wanted them to work on that.

She will almost certainly be the last dog I have reared by anyone else. Lesson learnt the hard way on more than one dog at more than one rearing kennel. My own litter of pups that I reared myself have been raised very differently to the average race dog and are very confident.

Ah I see. Poor lass. Sounds like you're going to have to start from the ground up. It sounds like you have the right temperament to help her though. Baby (puppy) steps me thinks.