Over the last week I have noticed that Maisie is starting to show signs of becoming fearful of things that she never used to be. Things like seeing a person that she doesn't know approaching - ears back, low growling and refusing to move. This has happened with kids on scooters, bikes, small kids, men, etc. All these things haven't been a problem before. Just now we were coming back from a walk and we came across a young boy was on a bike, she put her anchors on and started to growl very quietly. The boy got off his bike and approached us, she growled but let the boy stroke her. We then saw the same boy again about 5 minutes later, lots of tail wagging, but as he approached she quietly growled again. I don't know what has started these reactions.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling She's about 6 months now right? Could be a few things - one, her hormones are starting to kick in so could be making her feel differently, and two, she could be going through the second fear phase. It's probably a combination of two. I didn't know anything about the second fear phase when Penny went through it and unluckily for us it hit when she was in season so she was cooped up at home for the crucial few weeks. As a result I beleive this is partially the cause of some of her behaviour issues now. There are two ways people handle it - the first is to just keep the dog in and away from things that are affecting it, and the other is to extra socialise the dog with everything. Personally I would opt for the 'pretend she's an 8 weeks old puppy again' method as I've seen what the 'keep away' method has done to my dog.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Thanks Lauren, I did wonder if it was her age, but didn't know if I was just using that as an excuse or not! She's really not herself at the moment and seems sad (like a sulky teenager :) I didn't know about the 2nd fear stage, but it makes sense, so I think I will re-do all the socialising that we did in the first few weeks.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Hi Debs You could use some counter conditioning if you can predict when something might scare her. For example when a person is approaching let her see the person then get her attention with a really high value treat and feed it or hold her attention with it while you pass then feed. Counter conditioning is used to alter association. At the moment a person approaching means scary but you are going to try and make it mean nice tasty treat. ;D
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Good idea to go back to 'puppy' level training. Treat new people, bikes, skateboards etc as brand new things that you need to gradually help her get used to. Go so where where you can sit at a distance that she's comfortable with (might be 10m, might be 20m, might be 40m) and, whenever any new person it thing appears give her a treat if she's not growling or fearful. If she's fearful increase the distance. If she's pretty relaxed decrease the distance a bit. Don't let anyone approach if she seems nervous or is growling. Her growling is a polite way of saying 'please don't come any closer!!!". If the person rudely ignores her request and keeps coming she may feel pressured to escalate it. If she's clearly uncomfortable with someone approaching ask them to walk away. If you need to, walk her away from people who insist on approaching. If they will co-operate, give them some treats, have them stand at a distance she's ok with and have them throw treats to her. As she becomes ok with that they can move closer. Hope those ideas help a bit
Re: Becoming fearful and growling We had this too, and I really believe it is a point that you can ruin the dog, if you don't go about things in a way that builds confidence. Rachael has given great advice.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling My main source of information when Charlie was a puppy was Ian Dunbar's books. I think he is a bit over the top on the socialisation thing although I did follow his advice (and to be fair, he has done some original research). His general point about teenage dogs makes sense. His point is that although it is critical to take advantage of the very early weeks when pups are learning what's scary and what is not, he also places a lot of emphasis on the work not being over at that point and structured socialisation must continue through adolescence and into adulthood or "desocialisation" may be alarmingly rapid. If you go to http://www.dogstardaily.com/ and create an account (it's free) and search "adolescent changes" you will find his take on this, and some stuff about what to look out for, and what you can do to help. I don't want to cut and paste for copyright etc.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Thank you Racheal and Jen, I'll definitely be doing everything that you suggest. Yesterday she was scared of three boys on scooters - they very kindly came over and let me put treats all over their scooters (think they thought I was a bit crazy!), Maisie did eventually approach and hoover them up! Thanks Julie, I'll go and have a read.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Hi Stacia, I think she is ok, she's eating, drinking, pooping : as normal. We've just been out and she's in a very buoyant mood today!
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Julie, brilliant article! Time for a change of scenery and to meet some new people on a daily basis! Thank you
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Nothing to add to the great advice you've already got, the temptation is to avoid things sometimes when this happens but best to just keep at it. My girl started to get a bit nervy about a lot of things in the city bustle when she was around eleven months, I did what Rachael recommended, kept exposing her but only at levels she was comfy at, and she now strolls along Princes Street without a care in the world....new things can still spook her and she is three...same process of building confidence...we managed to walk past a scooter yesterday after many weeks of me standing by one of the local kids ones ( minus kid) and putting sausage on it. And embarrassingly chirpy stroll pasts. Now we just need to get sorted on a moving scooter .
Re: Becoming fearful and growling [quote author=Debs link=topic=7700.msg107714#msg107714 date=1410088671] Julie, brilliant article! Time for a change of scenery and to meet some new people on a daily basis! Thank you [/quote] I'm so glad it helped.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Penny also has issues with scooters. I don't know anyone who has one but we do live by a school so I can expose her to them on an almost daily basis when we are ready for that. At the moment I'm desensitising her to the noise - like you would with thunder or fireworks as I think this is what upsets her most about them.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Coincidentally Harvey (12 months) has just started to be nervous around things that he previously used to bound up to (see my Feeling Guilty post about an encounter with a boy on a bike). More socialisation for us and a bit more effort to find 'new' stuff rather than sticking too rigidly to a routine - met two uniformed policemen on a visit into town on Sunday and Harv was perfect (wouldn't do to upset the law would it )
Re: Becoming fearful and growling We had a full-on barking incident recently, at a guest to our house... Couldn't work out what the problem was, until finally we realized the visitor had a t-shirt on with a fish face with huge great eyes!!! ;D : Note to self: next dog, remember to proof against stupid t-shirt designs...
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Did your guest have to remove his T-Shirt Karen? I had a barking incident during the winter with a walker coming towards us, I couldn't understand why Hattie was barking at this man then I realised he was wearing a flat cap. We could write a book : x
Re: Becoming fearful and growling Penny used to have a thing for people with umbrellas! Now I've walked her a few times with one myself she has seemed to realise that they are actually ok.
Re: Becoming fearful and growling [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=7700.msg108056#msg108056 date=1410204085] Penny used to have a thing for people with umbrellas! Now I've walked her a few times with one myself she has seemed to realise that they are actually ok. [/quote] Do I have to wear a flat cap then ;D
Re: Becoming fearful and growling [quote author=charlie link=topic=7700.msg108101#msg108101 date=1410209058] [quote author=Penny+Me link=topic=7700.msg108056#msg108056 date=1410204085] Penny used to have a thing for people with umbrellas! Now I've walked her a few times with one myself she has seemed to realise that they are actually ok. [/quote] Do I have to wear a flat cap then ;D [/quote] With that logic perhaps i should get myself one of those stupid little scooters hahaha that could be interesting!
