At six months old Poppy is a delightfol dog (apart from the poo eating) - friendly, quick to learn, Great recall, gets on well with dogs, children and actually everyone - except she is very weird about old people. If she spots someone elderly (by which i mean white -haired, stooping, slow, possibly leaning on a stick) she gets very nervous, will growl and even Bark. Today for instance wie had been on quite a long walk, and we spotted an old lady going for a walk with her son. Immediately Pops stiffened, her hackles went up, and she started growling and 'huffing'. I put her on the lead to walk past, and tried to distract her with treats, to little avail. Normally she will do anything for food. I am at a loss to explain this behaviour. I think she finds the stooped body posture and awkward movements threatening somehow. When we take her into town, where there may be many older people, this doesnt seem to be a problem - it's on our own turf, so to speak, that this happens. Any advice, or ideas what might be going on? Clearly i want to get on top of this before it becomes a problem.
Re: Pup doesnt like Old people - advice please? Hi Karen , you say that this is only on your patch ? Its ironic because Sam , not the bravest of dogs , will growl when out and about is he sees something that isnt normal, to him . For example , we always walk past a garden gate and the other day there was an upturned wheelbarrow by the gate, the hair went up, he growled and had to be practically dragged past it : When Poppy isnt on your patch , then she accepts that everything is different, different types of humans, different scenarios, but at home , she expects order and regularity and clearly, an older person with stick etc. is not supposed to be there . Take treats and as soon as she reacts, get her to focus on you , make her sit and when she is looking at you, give her the treat and tell her what a good girl she is, just distraction techniques really . Sam was just the same a few days ago when he saw a man with an umberella , I think its a Lab thing , a place for everything and everything in its place
Re: Pup doesnt like Old people - advice please? The whole socialisation programme is fraught with difficulty. The window for socialisation is so small, that most of us miss out something. I discovered the other day I had missed out 'white buckets' with my pup! She thought a white bucket my OH had left in the garden was the devil himself! It is very common for old people to get missed out of the socialisation process, just as in some families, where there is not much contact with kids, children can get missed out. And old people and young kids often have different body postures, gestures and so on than the rest of us. So old folks and children are quite common 'fear objects' for young dogs. This is why socialisation 'lists' include so many different types of 'people'. The only solution is lots of exposure. And though it does take a lot longer to socialise an older pup, it is absolutely doable. She just needs to meet lots of old ladies. I appreciate that can be easier said than done. Pippa
Re: Pup doesnt like Old people - advice please? Thanks to both of you. Yes, thinking about it, we really didnt introduce her to many - if any! - older people when she first came home - that just slipped through the net... So odd, especially since Bones worked as a therapy dog at the local retirement home until just recently!!! Right, so now we'll need to be on the hunt (so to speak!) for old people to introduce Pops to. Perhaps a very wise thing to do now - before I take her home at Christmas to meet my elderly parents for the first time!!!!!!! ;D
Re: Pup doesnt like Old people - advice please? Hi Karen I was thinking about your "old people problem", It could be difficult to get a helpful old person to assist with a bouncy lab. How about introducing Poppy to elements? eg having a walking stick at home, especially if it's one of those that click with each step (that might be part of the problem?) and then when she's happy with that trying a bit of a shuffling walk, even better if you can get a helpful friend to assist. Our wolfie was scared of people in hi-vis jackets so we started with a piece of day-glo fabric and then progressed to a jacket on the floor until ultimately he was OK with the jacket and the person wearing it. Might be a stop gap? Anyway good luck. Kerryn
Re: Pup doesnt like Old people - advice please? [quote author=editor link=topic=737.msg3651#msg3651 date=1347800318] I discovered the other day I had missed out 'white buckets' with my pup! She thought a white bucket my OH had left in the garden was the devil himself! [/quote] Haha, that did make me laugh! ;D Thank you too Kerryn for the 'elements' suggestion - will have a think about how best to incorporate that. I do have an idea how we can go about first steps of socializing the pup with older people - my neighbour's elderly mother lives down the road, and is very calm and unfazed by dogs, so if she is willing, I might ask if she would be a 'guinea pig' so we can practice behaving nicely when walking past her. I'm sure we'll get there. And once we do, I shall move on to cats as the next thing she has to get used to (just remembered Mum and Dad have a cat, and cats werent in our socialization process either... :)
