My puppy is 4 months old and we are just starting to walk around the block (10 mins) a few times a week. We did as much socialisation as possible up until this point - carried him about pre vaccs etc, and he has been going to puppy classes for the last 6 weeks. We've also done some off lead socialisation at the local park while he was small enough to want to stay close. My concern is that he is barking at certain people, other dogs and this evening, children. I feel we must not have done enough socialisation prior to now, but how do I deal with this going forwards please?
It sounds like he is over excited. Do you take treats out with you? I would teach a 'look at me' cue. Before he reacts to something get him to look at you and reward. He will quickly get it that if he looks at you he gets rewarded and is likely to do that rather than bark and get nothing. Start off training it at home. When he looks at you say 'look at me' and reward. Sit on the floor with him and after a while don't cue it, but reward everytime he looks at you. Then transfer the training to the garden, then on walks. Hope that helps a bit
The barking at other dogs is possibly excitement but the barking at some people (not all), and the children is definitely fear. He was shaking and pulling away from the children and growling. I didn't push him to let them touch him and moved aside to let them pass. I don't go anywhere without treats! Haha. He's doing really well with his training and I'm very impressed with his loose lead walking. He just clearly is still getting used to the big wide world. I'd just ideally like to know how to react when he is frightened and barking.
I would be very upbeat and say 'come on' in a cheerful voice or try the 'look at me' and treat as it will help him associate the children or 'scary' people with a positive thing happening, but try and preempt before he barks.
My two were scared of children and would bark at them. As they grew bigger, they sounded very scary. They still don't love kids, but they will walk past them with no issues now, even if they're screaming bloody murder, as kids tend to do. Whenever I saw a child, I'd work on the "Look At That" game from Control Unleashed. Starting off at a big distance and slowly, over a period of many months, moving closer. I know one couple with a rock-solid little boy who I met a couple of times once they'd been doing this for ages, who I managed to get to give them treats. I still don't trust them to be petted by kids, so I assess every situation as it arises. I never let kids approach them if I have both dogs, because I can't watch them closely enough to read their body language, which can change in a split second. If I just have one or other, I watch them very closely (and take into account anything else that may contribute to their emotional state) before I allow kids to approach. It's not ideal, because everyone thinks Labs are always so child-friendly, and sometimes you have to be really quite abrupt with people, but I respect my dogs' feelings. You know what, I don't like kids either. I get it
