Simba has been well socialized since birth. He has been with, petted and seen every different kind of age, gender, appearance, costume and race. Within the last few weeks (he is 9 months old) he has become incredibly hand-shy and has barked, growled, and backed away from several people. When he was younger he was only hand-shy with being petted on his head, but rarely. He is normally very social. Could this be an adolescent problem? Has anyone else experienced this, and any tips? They would be appreciated.
Hi @Michaila (for Simba) Some [perhaps many?] dogs do not like we humans to put our hands on their heads, particularly if the hand disappears from their vision. Your dog is telling you that he does not like what you are doing. Is there some reason why you are persisting?
Hi @Michaila (for Simba) With respect to your other issue I would suggest you find a positive dog trainer who can assist you with BAT training. It is designed to desensitise and counter condition your dog to specific scenarios. If you can't find such a dog trainer, then read a copy of Grisha Stewart's Behavior Adjustment Training 2.0 book. If you have any questions about the contents then raise a question here and we might be able to help you with interpreting the exercise in the book and how it relates to your dog.
Thank you. He is very peaceful and comfortable with the family and friends, it is only strangers he has become shy with.
+1 Our 1st and 3rd Labs loved having their head petted and their ears rubbed. Our 2nd Lab does not like having her ears and face petted or rubbed but does like it if you rub her chest or rump. Cooper's (3rd Lab) favorite thing is to go between your legs if you are standing, or under your legs if you are sitting down, especially if you are trying to tie your shoes. At almost 25" she can pull you off the bed or chair.
I read that, and thought that could be it, even though he is normally welcoming and this appears to be associated with nervousness. However, after more positive socialization, I can say he accepted a treat from strangers and has even taken a few head rubs! This is an important factor for me because I'm interested in therapy work with him. Thank you for the tips.
9-12 months is a typical age for us to see fears emerging and to have no idea where they have come from - they seem to have come out the blue. Whilst some talk of the 'secondary fear period' and seem to see this as a 'normal' stage of development, that hasn't been my experience working with dogs - these issues that arise at this time, are here to stay (without behavioural work or focus on them) - they are not just a 'phase' that we can normalise or wait out. I tend to think that this is why you never really know what or who a dog is, until you get past this time in their lives. My hunch is that we are seeing the effects of inadequate socialisation - we may think we covered everything - but there were some holes left or there were negative feelings the dog had, which we didn't quite notice or appreciate 'meant' anything or brushed over. Looking back, we can see the origins of the issue - but at the time it all just seemed so minor as to be of no consequence. Your example of him occasionally being hand-shy to being petted on his head is an example of this - something which seemed so minor you didn't even realise it was going to result in anything problematic at all. Fear generalises and spreads like wildfire - if there are any seemingly small fears around in puppyhood, they are highly likely to grow exponentially, get generalised to other places/people/actions etc etc. It is adaptive for fear to generalise fast - it results in the animal's survival if they can learn what is a threat, faster. For these reasons, if you see anything at all, no matter how tiny, how insignificant at all in a puppy - you need to react and implement some behavioural work immediately to address it... These things don't go away - they fester like a sore which is closed over but infected inside - only to break out towards the end of the first year (not sure about that analogy but you get the point!) So - what to do about it...? Of course you should pro-actively prevent any stranger from attempting to pet him unless it's in a very controlled way, with someone who is helping you with your training (not meeting members of the public). It is very likely that you are also going to experience problems with vet exams and handling and procedures like that, in the future, if you are noticing these issues now. So the solution is the whole body of literature around what we call 'co-operative care' - getting the dog to co-operate with us in examinations and veterinary care. Here are some more suggestions I give to my students. The specific parts of the body in these videos may not be the same parts of the body that your dog is worried about having examined, but the general principles of training are the same - try to look beyond what body part is being checked, and apply the principles to whatever you are having difficulty with. • Examination of the Dog - teeth Here are some videos: (this is actually about tooth-brushing but the earlier steps are the same) • Grooming - - this is about ear-drops, but the steps are very similar - and it provides a good introduction to the Bucket Game (next videos) - it’s quite long, but full of many different useful ideas and I think it hopefully gives you an idea of all the tiny steps involved in fixing these behaviours - The Bucket Game - this was created by Chirag Patel and it can be used with any grooming issues at all… - you’ll notice that the early stages of the bucket game are similar to the sit-stay method we use, so you’ve already done some early work on this one, which will save you time now!… https://youtu.be/lUiP1ZO6rR8 https://youtu.be/dyBHCIEeZyc https://youtu.be/mXPURueHG7w What all these videos have in common, is giving the dog freedom and a choice about whether to do whatever the behaviour is. This is especially important if there is any fear involved in their not wanting to do it. The dog communicates with you about how much is tolerable, by whether they are able to continue playing the game or participating in the training - and you can dial up or down the thing you are doing to keep it always within what they tell you they can tolerate, whilst gradually extending what that is. If you are seeing *any* sign of fear or avoidance on the dog’s part, you want to go back a looong way, to way before you are seeing any of that - because it won’t go away, it will get worse. You need to build a really solid ‘fear-free’ foundation, before progressing onwards. This whole area of dog training is called “co-operative care”, and can be used greatly with veterinary procedures - including dogs holding still for blood draws: https://youtu.be/B1etEN_KYcI , injections and ear checks: https://youtu.be/7Z8CdwQibgA and reducing fear at the vet’s: https://fearfreepets.com I highly recommend you ‘Like’ Laura Monaco Torelli’s FB page and watch all the public videos you will find there: https://www.facebook.com/pg/abtconcepts/videos/?ref=page_internal Laura lives in Chicago with her Rhodesian Ridgebacks - and this is her particular area of interest, as a trainer. There is also a book just out by Deb Jones called ‘Co-operative Care’: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0578423138/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_FyLqCbN5QTWCJ I can really recommend this too. The Fenzi Academy also frequently have courses on co-operative care (also by Deb Jones) - although the next course isn’t until April: https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/2392
Thank you for all this useful information! I am currently reading Lorie Longs "A Dog Who's Always Welcome" and adding lots to his training. He seems to be learning to cope with his fear more, as many times lately I have seen him get nervous in a new setting, adjust himself, listen and look at me and then greet a stranger or dog. The greeting of course is still very timid (but now I know it is valuable progress and not to push him). One of his main problems is just over-enthusiasm with new things: i.e, barking at cars, the first people he sees. After the first couple 'new' people or things he settles down and will not only take treats but listen to me with complete attention. On the grooming behaviors he is very accustomed to me touching him. He'll let me clip every nail without avoidance or nervousness. He dislikes having his teeth brushed but won't show fear or aggression. He does get nervous when others touch, per say, a paw, but I feel that if the person stayed with him longer than 15 minutes he might allow it nicely. It just takes him awhile to adapt to anything new. He's been on the floor, laying on his side in a new place that he adjusted to (over 40 minutes) while two friendly strangers pet his whole body and he happily licked their face! When he was 11+ weeks old I used to bathe him often and then he would sleep on my lap while I felt in between his toe pads. I've also been brushing his teeth since about 13 weeks and have cleaned his ears two to three times. He received his first rabies vaccine two weeks ago, which he was nervous for but behaved well altogether. He also got on the scale by my direction and took treats from me.
