Hi, I posted a while ago re Molly's fear of strangers. She has a few issues particularly re visitors to the house and people being in close proximity to her (i.e. Whilst out on a walk if someone tries to stroke her she will bark or duck and run away). I've had a one to one consultation with a lovely trainer who gave us a plan re visitors to the house which has worked really well. Basically we now put Molly away in a room whilst the visitors come in and get settled. We give the visitors a big pot of treats. Then we let Molly out and the visitors ignore her, make no eye contact and throw her treats on the floor, allowing Molly to approach them in her own time. This approach worked so well that now all we have to do is once we let her out of her room, we give her a tasty chew treat which she takes to her bed and she is happy to settle there and eat it. We had two chaps from a house removal company visit us this week and a few months ago Molly would have been very upset about this but I was amazed that after one bark she was happy to just watch them wander around the house and even let one stroke her! An amazing difference! I've also now had two sessions with a Tellington TTouch practitioner to work on Molly's issues re strangers being in proximity to her and it has worked wonders! At the first session Molly was very barky but after half an hour or so she settled and after an hour she was even happy to let the lady do some ttouch's on her which I didn't think would be possible. At the second session, Molly settled within about a minute and was then climbing all over the lady and licking her face whilst her tail went into 'helicopter' mode. She has also become more cuddly with us and lives her Ttouch sessions. Ttouch might not work for every dog but, based on our experience, it might be worth taking a look at if your dog has similar issues to Molly. It's still a work in progress and I don't think Molly will ever be a dog that happily bounces up to strangers for a fuss but we seem to be bit by bit encouraging her to have more confidence around people she doesn't know which can only be a good thing for her! Vikki and Molly
Re: Progress with fear of strangers So very pleased for you , it seems that its just been a matter of building her confidence , taking time and patience, but yes, its lovely when you can see a massive improvement like this , well done
Re: Progress with fear of strangers Excellent to hear I'm sure it's great to see her so much more relaxed.
Re: Progress with fear of strangers That is really great progress...I don't know anything about Ttouch I must look it up,it sounds like it's had a really positive effect x Dexter isn't really a 'people' dog and whilst he will tolerate petting ,he doesn't seek it out from anyone but his 'family' and doesn't particularly enjoy it from people he doesn't know.I have been doing similar to your trainers advice recently,when strangers come,I put him in his room with a kong until the whole arrival thing is over and everyone is settled...he's much happier ...
Re: Progress with fear of strangers Thanks for your update,it was really interesting and I've ordered a couple of books based on your post X
Re: Progress with fear of strangers So glad you are having such good results! My Poppy was nervous of strangers when younger, but with lots of socialization and positive training she is now so calm and good that we take her all over the place with us - to restaurants, the airport, to my school... Like Molly, Poppy will never like strangers touching her (and who can blame her??), but she is trustworthy with visitors and with strangers now. Keep up the good work - I think you may be surprised how well she does!
Re: Progress with fear of strangers Just another quick update - I took Molly for one of our usual walks around a local Mere today and there were two boys playing football on the large meadow nearby. Well Molly LOVES footballs and she rocketed over and got stuck in! The two lads were giggling and laughing with her as she volunteered herself for goalie and her tail was wagging like crazy. She was getting right up close to them and tackling them for the ball. It was so nice to see and definitely no fear from Molly! I had to literally drag her away from them...
Re: Progress with fear of strangers Lovely to hear Molly is doing well, you will have to take a photo next time she plays an impromptu game of footie!
