Hi I am the first time dog owner of a lovely 19 week old red fox. He was a very confident pup and at first seemed afraid of nothing but for a few weeks now he seems vary wary of strangers, especially men. I thought we had socialised him well but am now concerned maybe we were not thourough enough. It started with him backing away when strangers reach their hands out to pet him. Now sometimes if a stranger is approaching he will stop in the street and refuse to move. He seems inquisitive and does go up to sniff people when they are largely ignoring him, if they then reach out to him he will back away. I am getting myself very upset about this as I am scared the fear might turn to aggression. A couple of times this week he has growled at men who have reached out to stroke him. He has also started getting very noisy with other dogs. He has been very boisterous with them up to this point and has been barked at and snapped at (although not actually bitten) by dogs who do not appreciate his lack or manners and boisterous attempts to make them play. The last few days he has started barking and growling to an extent at other dogs. Help please!!!
This is the easier and more normal issue of the two you give. I would respond and ask why you are allowing him to be in these situations where other dogs are forced to bark and snap at him, to get him to leave them alone? Other dogs deserve to be able to enjoy their walk in peace and not to be harassed by young puppies. Keep your puppy on a long-line, teach him a recall, and don't allow him to learn that play with other dogs is the best thing ever, or you will only continue to lose control over him: https://dogsnet.com/over-friendly-dog/ For the other issues you mention, this is very concerning, especially in a young puppy. Yet again, you need to be protecting HIM this time - from the advances of people. You need to be marching off in the opposite direction and forgetting about being socially polite in human terms - protecting your puppy is far more important. That is only going to prevent things getting rapidly worse though. In order to actually see improvement, you will need to work with a qualified and reputable behaviourist or trainer, to help build his confidence whilst he is still young. It is much better to seek this help now whilst he is still young and impressionable, than to wait until he is older. If you say where you are based, we will be able to give some pointers. Lastly, you (and everyone everywhere) should be enrolled in a force free puppy training class - where your trainer should have been your first port of call with these problems, and able to refer you on if unable to work themselves with it. In fact, if you had enrolled in a force-free training class at a young enough age, your puppy may well not have developed these problems in the first place. Everyone - no exceptions - with a puppy, should be enrolling them for training class. It's not optional. You wouldn't have a child and not send them to school... In general, it sounds like you are just letting what happens, happen, with your puppy - you are letting him run up to other dogs even when his advances are unwelcome and unhelpful for his own social learning, and you are just letting people approach to interact with him even when he is scared of this. You really need to learn how to manage things much better, and when and how to intervene!
Hi, many Thanks for taking the time to respond. To add to my initial post, we have been taking him to a force free pupy training class since he finished his immunisations. I have e-mailed them for advice on these recent issues and just posted for some guidance, and I was hoping some reassurance. I take on board your comment about the other dogs, I maybe wasn't clear. He is always on a lead when this happens and the dogs owners are present and OK with my puppy greeting them. I understood letting him greet other dogs was an important step in his socialisation. He is not aggressive with other dogs but just a bit puppy like and will sometimes reach out a paw etc and get swiftly told off. I am not letting him continue this behaviour and move him away when it is clear the other dog is not interested in play. As for letting people touch him, again I wrongly thought it was good for his socialisation but I will amend my approach. Thanks again
Hi Benji My fox red has been quite similar to yours apart from the growling at strangers. He has never liked people he doesn’t know attempting to stroke him and always backs away. I used to apologise for him doing this but now think”why should every Tom Dick and Harry touch him” if he doesn’t feel comfortable with it. He will still bark if someone spooks him or makes too much eye contact when approaching. However that is getting better and we have noticed recently after many vet trips and lots of handling that he settles much quicker when people come to the house. You can buy leads that warn people about a dog’s behaviour. My first had “nervous”on it but that led to people trying to prove all dogs like them! It is now blue and says “training” It looks a bit like a service dog lead which most people understand you give them space. He then chooses who he wants to sniff etc. As far as other dogs reacting to his boisterousness I would say it is just him being put in his place. All puppies need to learn and it is not just humans that do the teaching! You will learn from regular walks which dogs to avoid and which ones will want to play. Good luck with the training. Julie
Hi Benji, I completely agree it's quite confusing. We try to do the very best for our pups but sometimes it seems we inadvertently do more harm than good. I let my pup say hello to other dogs and let her meet lots of different humans to help with socialising her, but now at 18 months she is very cautious around people and also backs away from them. It's not easy this dog owning
