Need advice: unsecure puppy - Page 1

A 9-month-old puppy started to work with the helper. At the beginning it was not fearful, may be just distracted by the new place, other dogs and people.
For "lift him up", the helper started in aggression, and the dog started to bark him very angry. The next two 2 practices, the dog saw the helper moving around him and barked angry again. The next session, became fearful of helper, reacted barkling and showing his teeth, but also showed that he was in stress. Actually, it is no longer the same. He's much more insecure with strangers and new places.
I suspended the training, only walks in the street and other places with people around.  His confidence is better, but obviously not comfortable as was before.

What advise you can give me?

Tips will be appreciated.

The helper must make balance.  Obviously, this helper went too far in one direction (the wrong direction), and it was more than the pup could handle.  The helper must make only prey with your dog and the bitework needs to become a lot of fun.  Right now it can not be a fight, it must be a game.  Later, when the dog is confident and and has fun with biting, then it becomes a fight.   

agree with zahnburg,

we start young dogs out in prey, and as they mature move to aggression (fight, civil, whatever you wish to call it) when the dog shows the ability to handle the added pressure. 

tips,,its hard to say without being able to see the dogs reaction.  in general, a lot of socialization,  only do tug/bite work in prey, so he will fnd it more fun and a game.

john

Thanks for your answers.

I agree with you, and I blame myself for not recognized in time that the puppy was not able for such pressure.
 
Till now, the other dogs I socialized had no problems. Always happy and very confident and eager to be with people. But this situation is new for me.

In this case, what are the indications to socialize him with people, with focus in rebuild his confidence? He works in prey at home, and enjoys doing it. But he changes his mood when he is out of home, he mistrusts people.

I think that he feels that everything could be a threat, he tries to avoid the strees. If people are calm, he is also calm, he needs his time to be relaxed near strangers. But in front of an unexpected movement, he wants to go away.
 

keep in mind these are just some ideas,  like i said before, it is hard to get a real feel without seeing the dog in person.

1- take your dog to strange areas without people. this can be reassuring for them that new places are not bad.

2- if there are people around, such as at a club, you can give people treats and have them call your dog to them.   when he goes up to them, they reward him.   this can help him realize that not everyone is "bad".

3- make as much noise as possible when you are together.  basically desensitize him to stimulus that he is not use to.  when he responds in a positive manner, praise him with your voice, food, toy, or whatever he really likes.

finally, dont be so hard on yourself.  it takes a long time to be able to read a dog and even longer to understand what their reactions truly mean.  this (to me anyway) is what seperates hobby trainers from professionals.

john

It seems to me that a poor trainer or helper can do great harm in a hurry if someone doesnt understand what they are doing.  

I've seen similar posts.       How does one know whos a good trainer, and whos not?

What does one watch for ?   What would give you the first hint?

2 moons,

you are absoultly correct, it takes a lot of training to get a dog titled, and very little to screw it all up.

i think you could write volumes on good vs. bad.   that all depends on what you consider good.  things that i look for,

dogs trained, number of people within a club that have titled dogs.  a good trainer can title their dogs, a great trainer can help you get your dog titled. 

what to watch for,,,,,,,,, thats deep.   for me it had to do with if i felt comfortable with the training methods that i saw being used.  could they explain to me why they were doing it.  could they show me that all dogs are not trained the same.  are all dogs given the same amount of time.  granted you can not do as much with puppys as older dogs.

just a few ideas,

john

I have a friend who was looking for a trainer, she plans on doing a lot of long distance driving to work with the trainer she chose.   I know she looked around for what she thought was a good trainer.   I guess its just reputation she was considering at the onset.      I would trhink I would either feel comfortable about a trainer or not..    I usually trust my impressions.

I've had dogs I didnt raise that had been damaged by usually idiot owners who didnt know what they were doing.

One feared women because she had been beaten for growling at the owners wife for what I dont know.

I couldnt bring her out of this fear and was concerned she'd bite out of fear.    It was sad because she would have been a good dog without the abuse.

I do believe in alot of socializing.

Its Time for some confidence building exercises. no bites no rag work, just have somebody tease him to the side and run away. You also have to extend lots of praise when this dog acts outwardly in a couple weeks with minimal negative influx he should start bouncing back.

Dont let the helper approach the dog frontal only side of the should then a quick run away.

Hope this Helps.

Steve Simpkins

What House Simpkins suggested should have been done in the first place, when the dog is confident enough then move further. Too much and too soon can be very counter productive.

I worked , once, with the helper who was too hard on young dogs and when I warned him about it he said that I should not interfere with his work and tell him what to do. OK. Next time I brought my older dog (4 years at the time) for some protection training and asked the guy to work a bit with the dog. I did not tell him that the dog was pretty hard and to cut the long story short ,on the long attack, which I decided to do first, the guy found himself on his ass shaking his head like he was hit by the train.  My coment was : Now you see how it feels when someone is hard on your ass and you are not ready for it. Surprisingly enough he took it well and said that he did not expect it from showline.

Point is you have to measure all your actions and training to fit the dog , not to fit what you.