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| Baylee Scared Of People (strangers) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 23 Feb 2012, 04:00 PM (1,511 Views) | |
| whitefang | 22 Jun 2012, 01:35 PM Post #26 |
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GSD Annointed Member
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I would suggest bringing her to the BIGGSD walks if you can and also attending dog shows with lots of people...(maybe with a muzzle if you are unsure of her reactions) before going maybe take her for a little jog or play with the ball with her so she is a bit tired and more relaxed. Also having some friends coming in the house and out... in and out ... and also lots of time so she gets used to it and reward her when she is calmer....and do that training exercise after she had a walk and she is more relaxed. Good luck! |
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| Bayleesdad | 22 Jun 2012, 01:43 PM Post #27 |
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Johns number 1 dog walker
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We cant usually make the biggsd walks , but i will try and make the chertsey ones in the future , starting with august the 12th (bbq aswell),, we are off to a doggy event this saturday and wil try and meet as many new people as possible and continue with the hard work as it will no doubt pay off eventually , hopefully her confidence will be alot better by new years , its taken a while to get her this confident , and she is only ever improving
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| gtrmacs | 22 Jun 2012, 02:39 PM Post #28 |
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C'n'me, always together
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Hi, Adam If you can do Poorly Paws events, you're prob'ly not so far from where we live (one of the receptionists at our vets is something to do with PP). We've got a batch of dogs who meet for the last hour in West Ham Park, E7 West Ham Park Virtual Tour for the last hour most evenings (8.30 to 9.30. Big/small/young/old - the park's quieter then and it's good socialisation. Since Charley ![]() was 2.5 when I got him 6 yrs ago, he's always been uncle/big brother to most dogs - now that the pups from then are growing up (and keep the 'pack' community) there're new ones joining all the time. Must be 50 dogs in total - not all at once:P Although it's correct that the GS breeds should be 'aloof/wary', I've taught Charley to respond favourably to people when I say, 'Say Hi'. As far as separation anxiety goes - I do it completely backwards. Most folks say 'don't make a fuss' and ignore it. When Pepper ![]() was a pup, she was the _worst_ SA dog - even though she lived with both parents. I got one of those rope/tug/chew toys (something like Rope toy and slept with it for a week 'til I'd scented it thoroughly. When she was going to be left, I gave her the rope (the only time she got it - hidden otherwise) and said 'watch house, please, back soon' (same phrase/tone each time). Since then, each dog has inherited the (same) chew. With Charley, we start saying 'you're going to watch house and small people later' ![]() [Charley's 'small people'] starting with his morning walk. When we leave, 'here's your nice chewy, watch house and small people, good boy'. Works with dogs who stay, too - even if they've not seen it before (tho' of course Charley has). Confidence is something you need to _give_ to a nervous dog. If you worry, so will Baylee - as you say, she can 'read' (and reacts badly to) folk who are nervous of her. She needs to _believe_ that you can deal with any situation, then she'll look to you for guidance - it's when she's not sure who's responsible that 'mishaps' occur?? Charley just enjoys recreational barking, so will bark at strangers if permitted:> Neat tip I got from a training book - don't yell 'sit' when someone comes to the door/agressive in street/... Say 'watch' (but teach sit) - dog will sit and watch, threat person feels observed by a trained animal. Works great with door-to-door salesmen etc. If they're really persistent, I say 'I've asked nicely, can you reach that gate before Charley does??':P hth (ask if I haven't explained very well) |
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| gtrmacs | 22 Jun 2012, 02:42 PM Post #29 |
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C'n'me, always together
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Of course, _you_ need to believe it too8> If you worry, so will she. |
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| Weetabix | 22 Jun 2012, 03:04 PM Post #30 |
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GSD Puppy
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Adam on the flip side, try to keep the 'meeting people' as positive and 'non' as you can,which sounds strange, but initially you don't want to overwhelm her as it could have a negative effect, just nice and calm, assertive on your behalf, let her feel that "it's ok dad's boss, he's right beside me and he'll take care of things" so as to give her confidence by feeding off you and to take away the need for her to think that she needs to do anything other than relax. If they want to offer her a treat, id initially ask them to drop the treat to the floor and make nothing of it, without even looking at her, then, drop another, then another to the point where she'll start to feel comfortable enough to maybe be inquisitive as to where the treats are on the person, she might sniff his hand or pocket looking for them, and again no sudden movements on his behalf.....let her lead the interaction at that point (as long as it's appropriate) again, just to build her confidence. I say that as for those few minutes where she is stood next to a stranger, strange voice, strange smell, strange mannerisms, strange movements etc etc and possibly a strange dog, it's almost an 'event' to her in it self, especially as she's young and still trying to deal with her anxiety. I say that as we've all seen the nervous dog with the anxious owner, where the dog feels that they need to take the role of pack leader and make the decisions as the dog has no confidence in the unassertive owner - a recepie for disaster ! (again Adam, not in any way directed at you or your dog, just a general comment) I'd, if it was me,and in a perfect world,be choosy about who we'd interact with at this stage (not to be rude and unsociable) in that I'd interact with the more calm assertive owners with the calmer more confident dogs as a posed to the really exitable people, who can be loud, physically expressive, arms flailing etc etc and who seem to have the same type of dogs !!!!!! Build it up slowly, even if you only have a coulpe of interactions on the day, if they've been positive then wow, we're on the right road. |
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| Weetabix | 22 Jun 2012, 03:30 PM Post #31 |
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GSD Puppy
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And please don't see my posts as telling you what to do with your dog, simply my views or opinions on how I'd go about it. I'm sure there are hundreds of different views out there, each of them slightly different, and remember, no one knows your dog better than you. There's a saying that we've all heard of when it comes to training our dogs, there's only one thing that two trainers can agree on and that's how wrong the third trainer is !!!! |
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| Bayleesdad | 22 Jun 2012, 03:38 PM Post #32 |
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Johns number 1 dog walker
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gtrmacs and weetabix , i can thankyou enough for the help and advice , and i never really thaugh about the 'watch' ile definatley try that when were out next , correct me if im wrong but essentially i should stop when someone is walking towards me (about to walk past) and put baylee in the watch ? ( after practising at home first ) ? then continue walking after they have passed . and well im sure baylee wil take me over to a few dog owners as she can get very excited upon seeing another dog lol i live in walthamstow so not too far but wuld be a little bit awkward to get to as mums the driver and not me , also i often go for evening walk with some dog at my local park
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| Weetabix | 22 Jun 2012, 04:07 PM Post #33 |
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GSD Puppy
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Theres two ways to look at doing that. Yes it's important to have controll of and manners from your dog when interacting with people, goes without saying. Some would argue though that stopping and putting a dog in the sit on being approached by strangers, adding a verbal command, especially to a nervous young dog lacking in confidence could cause tension in it self and that's the opposite of what you need at the moment. If it were me, I'd keep on walking, making as little of being approached by strangers as I could, making it a non event, an every day occurrence not worth thinking about, where as putting the dog in a sit etc is almost creating an event. As I said earlier though there will be people who disagree !!!!! |
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| Weetabix | 22 Jun 2012, 05:16 PM Post #34 |
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GSD Puppy
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I know where gtrmax was coming from, lots of people do it, some will vary it by teaching the dog the speak command, so that if handler is on a walk and unhappy with someone they'll tell the dog to speak which in turn acts as a bit of a deterrent to any would be idiot. That is very easy to teach too, some like it a little more as its more of a deterrent in that it's both visual and noisy, again everyone's different. But you've a specific issue with your dog that you're trying to work on and if you start telling him to watch, for no reason, where theres no threat, when he's already extra alert and a little anxious, for me, you could create more problems for your self. Remember that your dog (from your first post) is happier in flight mode, she runs away, she's not comfortable at the moment with conflict (and she's still a baby) so telling her to be in a state of mind that she's not comfortable with is not where you should go at the moment. |
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| Bayleesdad | 22 Jun 2012, 05:23 PM Post #35 |
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Johns number 1 dog walker
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ahhh i see , well im off to the guide dogs centre within in the next few days , so ill also speak to a few trainers aswell , but i think for now with the training its probably best for me to make sure baylee is a less stressed/anxious , i will also be getting her a thunder jacket in due time :) |
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| biggsd | 22 Jun 2012, 05:24 PM Post #36 |
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Theres a home out there for every dog
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Adam try going to as many dog shows fundays walks etc, walk around with other people and introduce strangers and there dogs that you know and RELAX,you have done this for me at shows. If you can get to some of the shows where we are , as you know people and there dogs gatherer round the stall buying and talking in a relaxed mood
Edited by biggsd, 22 Jun 2012, 05:30 PM.
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| Bayleesdad | 22 Jun 2012, 06:14 PM Post #37 |
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Johns number 1 dog walker
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definatley John , im going to try and attend as many of the chertsey walks as possible , first one youll see me at will be the bbq one , unless theres another one before then (not this weekends one as im dogsitting a few dogs all day), but i definatley am trying to get to more events
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