Pup Really Scatty

[Bleutoby 5]

I Walk the pup with my lab every day and is fine when no one around but when he sees some one he cowers behind me n try's to pull away will not walk with me.so have tried walking round the parks with him on his own with people about to try and get him used to them and is scared like mad for some reason has anyone ever experienced this.he is only 5 months old

[stroller 341]

Yes unfortunately with my little lurcher i didnt do enough about it and now she is a nightmare barking at strange dogs and people, i cant let her off where other people are as she goes into fear/aggression mode. In fact she got me into a scuffle with a local gobshite when she ran at his dogs.

 

I tried to do something about it when she was 2 years old and now she can walk on the lead ok in crowded places but around our village she is a b*****d. i think as she is half kelpie she gets a kick out of it she is a very intelligent little dog.

 

Tempted to use an electric collar on her but i havent as yet.

 

My advice is get the pup socialised now dont put it off, take it to a training class and around your local shops it may always be timid but if left you could end up with a problem

[N/east poacher 85]

 

I Walk the pup with my lab every day and is fine when no one around but when he sees some one he cowers behind me n try's to pull away will not walk with me.so have tried walking round the parks with him on his own with people about to try and get him used to them and is scared like mad for some reason has anyone ever experienced this.he is only 5 months old

[N/east poacher 85]

 

I Walk the pup with my lab every day and is fine when no one around but when he sees some one he cowers behind me n try's to pull away will not walk with me.so have tried walking round the parks with him on his own with people about to try and get him used to them and is scared like mad for some reason has anyone ever experienced this.he is only 5 months old

mine is doing the exact same, if it on the lead and people walk by it jumps up and down trying to get away, and it doesn't go near any one who it doesn't no, just runs around them, it's a nightmare walking through the local high street and it's jumping about like a nutter !

[leegreen 2,173]

socialise socialise socialise.

[N/east poacher 85]

Trying to get it socialising the best I can hopefully with it only been 7 month it will grow out of it

[leegreen 2,173]

Get down the town, on the bus, at the boot fair, to the shops, over the bridge, maybe puppy classes, over the parks, in the subway, on the train, round your mates, visit your family, play with the kids, in the car, down the pub, out with as many dogs as you know and dogs you don't.

etc etc etc etc.

 

Give it plenty of time and it will be what you need it to be.

[skycat 6,173]

Very occasionally a pup may have a genuinely inbred nervous temperament, but nervous pups are far more likely to be like this because they haven't had the necessary socialising at the CORRECT age. If the pup is not properly socialised BEFORE it reaches the age of 16 weeks, it has passed the window of opportunity where it can grow the correct brain connections which allow it to accept/understand/cope with new dogs, places, people, things.

 

That all sounds a bit scientific, but it is true. So it is VERY important indeed to get the pup out as early as possible. Once you hit 4 or 5 months, the pup may never be able to form the right associations with the big wide world. With working dogs, they may still be fine in a working situation as the instinct to hunt and catch is not affected in this way, but put them into a new situation, meet dogs they have never met before, and they turn into a cowering wreck or become aggressive in order to cope with their fear: I'm gonna be big bad and fierce so you go away: but it is only because they are frightened that they behave like this.

 

Some pups that aren't socialised at the correct time do manage to get over their nerves, and some turn out fine, but others will never be comfortable around other dogs or people they don't know. Others take a long time to get to know another dog, and are then fine. Think of them as critters who are having to learn a whole new language every time they go out, or look at it like short term amnesia: each time they go out they have to re-learn the same thing over and over again.

[Sirius 1,391]

Some good advice on this thread, however I do agree to socialise the pup as much as possible, but PLEASE think about the way the dog sees the world and its temperament. Don't push the dog into too many situations where it is uncomfortable or will react. Read the dog, sus him out, take your time and start with small steps and slowly build his confidence, and don't push it to hard by dumping him in the deep end.

 

Just take it steady, take him out and about, and make sure you are letting the dog go at his own pace, but now at 5months is the time to do this, don't leave it too late.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Sirius

[N/east poacher 85]

My dog has been sound around other dogs, it's just people that he doesn't no he goes into a wreck, he's 7 months old now , just gunna get him out around people all the time and hopefully he will be fine

[Casso 1,261]

The way animals overcome fear is through desire for something principly food , no dog can hold on to 2 feelings inside itself at the same time, so I work on the conflict between fear and hunger, we see it every winter birds and animals come to scavenge at our bird table when pickings are harsh elsewhere it's not because they enjoy the company of humans , it's that hunger has overcome fear , feeding the dog in a bowl is only feeding the fear, feed the pup during its walks gradually building up the intensity so it can eat in front of any stranger, it will have to give up fear to eat if really hungry , it works best of luck

[beast 1,884]

i've never been in that situation with a dog, but it seems to me that the logical next step would be to get strangers to feed treats to the dog themselves to get it actually looking forward to meeting them, rather than simply tolerating them. what do you think?

[N/east poacher 85]

 

i've never been in that situation with a dog, but it seems to me that the logical next step would be to get strangers to feed treats to the dog themselves to get it actually looking forward to meeting them, rather than simply tolerating them. what do you think?

sounds a good idea that, never really thought of that cheers, got him at 4 n half month and he was like it then been trying to get him sorted since but still freaks out by strangers