Max and I were on a walk this evening, two event scared him, this dog appeared out of no where and chased max whom was on the lead...I somehow managed to calm him down after the dog disappeared. Then two very noisey kids in push chairs/prams and that sent him over board, tail tucked between his legs, bum almost touching the floor and kept darting off! He is a bit of a puller on this lead but never to this extent. I should add that he's 7 months old and this has only ever happened once before at home when he knocked a table over! He's also wary of bikes. Has this ever happened to you? And what did you do to overcome this? Many thanks Max and his human pal, Victoria
Re: Something spooked my puppy Hi, sorry Max had a bit of a scare today. Does Max get off lead time? Does he react differently if a random dog approaches when he's off lead? You could try taking him into town or a local shopping area where there are usually lots of prams around - you could sit down with him and reward for no reaction to prams, noisy children and other dogs. Start by sitting not too close, but close enough that he can see everything, and slowly move closer, rewarding for calm behaviour. It will take more than just one session doing this Good luck and let us know how you get on x
Re: Something spooked my puppy hello there I think dogs do sometimes "spook" at things for no real reason - it's just a defensive mechanism (that might be a lion in the hydrangeas at the bottom of the garden! ;D ;D ;D). My boy (who is confident to a fault, and can calmly watch fireworks outside and is generally untroubled by any movement or noise) decided a flapping bit of tarp on a scaffold could be a big scary monster on last night's walk. ;D ;D ;D But if it's a regular thing, eg if he is always nervous, or always nervous of bikes, or kids, or strange dogs then you do need to think about what you can do about this. Did you miss any bits of socialisation, or maybe it's his personality... whatever, you need a programme to slowly and gently get him used to the things he finds scary. Best of luck with it!
Re: Something spooked my puppy Hi Naya, yes he gets let off the lead but usually when not many people or dogs are about as his recall isnt all there yet but its improving. Off lead Max always tries to entice play with other dogs however not all dogs like this behaviour. Other times he just keeps sniffing dogs especially if they're males oddly enough. Max just lately sits down when he sees something especially birds! Thats a whole other story with birds he seems to be fascinated with them! I could sit in the park as theres always loads of kids there and start to train him there before moving to a busy town area. Hello Julie, Max has been scared of bikes ever since a kid whom may I add had a VERY disgusting additude towards dogs shouted and swore at max whilst ruding on his bike towards/into us. As to say I was not amused! Since that day I've been taking him to a popular bike park where we ether sit and watch or take a walk. Always rewarding good behaviour id say only 5% of the time he's scared of them now so he is getting better slowly Thank you both ;D
