My beautiful labrador girl has been well socialised since coming home to a house with two other gentle dogs. Walked in busy parks to socialise with other dogs and people, is attending puppy school and is doing really well. She hasn't had a bad experience but has become very fearful of other dogs. Met a black lab today who only came gently to say hello and she started bucking and yelping to get away. She normally just shies away but this was extreme. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm going to speak to her dog trainer Friday but just wondered if anyone can advise meantime. She loves people by the way and pulls to say hello to them so it is only just other dogs that are the problem.
Hi @Niecer When you say dog trainer you mean puppy school instructor? When did you puppy start puppy school? How did you precisely socialise your puppy in parks? For how many weeks has she been fearful of other dogs? What did the instructor do?
Hi Michael yes the puppy school instructor. Sula started when she was three months old and is fine there. It's only when she meets other dogs out on walks at the park, the woods or the farm we go to. Actually today I let her off lead and she met other dogs and she was much better just a little fearful at first and then ok. Met another guy with a chocolate lab girl today and he said that she was exactly the same and still is! I think the black lab she met the other day was hopefully a one off reaction. Think I worried a bit too much.
Is there any off-leash play or contact in your Puppy School and if so, how is she during that? I don't recommend allowing her to meet other strange dogs on walks, to be very honest. You are basically playing Russian roulette when you do that - because sooner or later, she will have a bad experience when meeting another dog. She will meet a dog which is reactive - because many other people are irresponsible and will walk these dogs off-lead. I would really recommend avoiding other dogs in public places and having a pool of specific 'dog friends' which you know she gets on well with and allow her to meet those. If there are dogs at class she seems to like, why not arrange to meet up for a walk with one of those a few times? Lastly, dogs which are worried about other dogs, should not be meeting them on leash. On a leash, a dog is trapped and can't escape - and this only causes the dog to be more afraid. If you were afraid of spiders and I dragged you up to one on a piece of rope and made you 'say hello' to it, it's not going to help and can make things a lot worse. If you are off-leash and free to choose to move away from the spider, you might actually decide to go and investigate it and allow curiosity to take you closer to meeting it....
Hi Jo that makes absolute sense - I agree! I am walking her off lead in a large field and her recall is great. She has met a couple of other dogs that she knows and has been fine, even a dog I knew was ok that she hadn't met before and she was ok. I'm not letting her off lead in the large park we walk in, just in case, as there are all sorts of dogs that go there and it is too risky at the moment. By and large she has come on leaps and bounds and I am very proud of her!
