So Maisie has had some on-off fear issues, once in awhile she gets a bit freaked out at the start of her walk and then thinks many things on the walk are scary. This seems to be decreasing, but we had a "scared walk" today (although having some success with distraction and getting her confidence level up instead of having the entire walk be scared- so happy with that!). Anyways, I've discovered if I touch/go close to the object she is afraid of, particularly something on the ground, she often will approach it as well and be less scared. I give her treats for approaching and investigating any scary object rather than running away from it because often she will realize.. "ok, it's not as scary as I thought" or perhaps not scary at all. So she was scared of a traffic cone, which I picked up, touched, stood on (she liked that and came quite close and sniffed it up and what not). But then she was scared of a stepladder and a toolbox left on the side of the road. Well… I didn't want to touch it or poke at it too much, but I did step close to it and encourage her to look at it, which she did, then we moved on, with less fear than before. Except as we walked, we passed an older man who gave me a very strange look as we passed… I turned and saw him pick up his toolbox off the street. Haha. He must have been wondering why I was cuddling up with it ;D ;D
Re: The things we do to help our dogs… That DID make me truly laugh out loud. You are doing a good job by the sounds of it.
Re: The things we do to help our dogs… That's a brilliant approach to take, well done you for cuddling all the monsters
Re: The things we do to help our dogs… that made me chuckle. ;D I am forever reassuring Casper by "saying look at that! in an excited/happy way when seeing people wearing odd hats or have babies sprouting out of their chests
Re: The things we do to help our dogs… Ah bless,sounds like you looking a bit daft is making all the difference to her confidence....keep up the good work..... It could have been worse,she might have been scared of the toolbox OWNER ,now I'm sure he would have had a very funny look on his face if you'd have started cuddling him! ;D
Re: The things we do to help our dogs… [quote author=Dexter link=topic=10801.msg160871#msg160871 date=1430637597] Ah bless,sounds like you looking a bit daft is making all the difference to her confidence....keep up the good work..... It could have been worse,she might have been scared of the toolbox OWNER ,now I'm sure he would have had a very funny look on his face if you'd have started cuddling him! ;D [/quote] hahaha! ;D ;D ;D I am drinking to drink my coffee not wear it this morning!!!
Re: The things we do to help our dogs… [quote author=Beanwood link=topic=10801.msg160872#msg160872 date=1430637679] [quote author=Dexter link=topic=10801.msg160871#msg160871 date=1430637597] Ah bless,sounds like you looking a bit daft is making all the difference to her confidence....keep up the good work..... It could have been worse,she might have been scared of the toolbox OWNER ,now I'm sure he would have had a very funny look on his face if you'd have started cuddling him! ;D [/quote] hahaha! ;D ;D ;D I am drinking to drink my coffee not wear it this morning!!! [/quote] ;D ;D ;D hahaha ohhhh dear.
Re: The things we do to help our dogs… Actually I do know someone who had a dog who tended to be scared of certain things and she did ask a man if she could cuddle him ;D
Re: The things we do to help our dogs… [quote author=Stacia link=topic=10801.msg161142#msg161142 date=1430763603] Actually I do know someone who had a dog who tended to be scared of certain things and she did ask a man if she could cuddle him ;D [/quote] ;D ;D ;D
