Help please! Luna is scared of people and I'm not really sure how best to help her overcome this; I don't want to do something wrong and make her worse. We got her at 10 weeks old and set about socialisation straight away. We went to rhe shops, to the school at home time, to the train station, etc and saw lots of different people, noises and sights. She soon got scared though and would back away from people who tried to stroke her, even the vet commented on it. Over time this has gotten worse and she now barks at people who come into the house or onto the garden. At home I can manage it to a point as if she's out of the room when they enter and I let her in after she's not too bad with them and if she does bark I'll remove her for a few minutes till she calms down. She's not happy when out on walks though. She will happily walk behind someone to sniff them but if they try to approach she will back off and bark to warn them to stay away. Should I be asking some dog savvy friends to help us and if so how exactly should we be doing it? We have an 11 month old lab pup and I don't want him picking up on how she behaves with people and I'm worried I did something wrong with her socialisation and I'll repeat it with Magic and end up with him scared of people too
Hi and welcome! Sorry to hear Luna and you have problems. It is possible she found some of the interaction with people traumatic. Kona and I share almost identical storry (you can read more about Hypothyroid and behavioral problems, if interested), and I think you should check her health, too. Some great excersises are describe in the book The Cautious Canine, and if possible, consult a dog behaviorist.
I did question if that was what had happened that somehow someone approached her to fuss her whilst she was still a little pup and didn't see the little warning she gave off resulting in her fear of people. That worries me immensely that it could happen again with Magic though. She's fine health wise so no worries there. I'll definitely take a look into that book next though, thank you!
I'll look up for the website that deals with fear, can't find it via mobilephone. Kona, for example, does not have almost any visible sign of a disease, except the behavioral problems.
Maybe she had a traumatic experience during socialisation, maybe it was all too much for her, and in her case it would have been "less is more". But it's more likely just the way she's wired. Having two nervous adult dogs and one very robust 8-month puppy, I am all but certain that the majority of this sort of thing comes down to breeding. My two older dogs (they're not "old", they're not quite three years old) would bark at people when they were about the same age as your Luna. It started a bit younger, but went on for a good long while. They had especially strong reactions to children. The good news is that they got over it for the most part, so I'm sure Luna can, too. Yesterday, I walked my boy through town (something that doesn't happen very often and makes him quite anxious), and we passed lots of other people, including about ten children in total. He didn't bark at any of them. So, it can be done The way you do it is by keeping very much within your dog's threshold - that means observing from a good distance - and by giving her lots of treats and praise for watching calmly. Don't let anyone approach her - you sometimes have to be on the brink of rudeness with this. If someone tries, just stand in the way and say "please don't touch my dog". Or a simple "no" stops most people. If you wish to, you can explain afterwards that she is nervous. It's important with a nervous dog that she learns you will protect her, so if someone insists on walking towards you, turn and walk away with Luna. Stress hormones can stay in the body for several days, so it's important not to try to work on this every day, or you will end up with a "trigger stacking" effect. Make most of her walks in places where she doesn't have to contend with the pressure of people, and work on it maybe once a week. You can use the Look At That technique (talked about extensively on the forum, give it a search), but the important thing is that you don't push too hard or you can undo any good work you've done. Take it slowly and, as much as it won't be an overnight transformation, you should make progress.
