How boost puppy confidence - 2 bad dog experiences - Page 1

Hello. I have a 15 week old pup that loves to roughhouse and play with us and our male GSD cross. She is VERY bold at home and shows little fear in most situations. Until.. She had 2 bad dog experiences. She was being rude and got bit once and got walloped another time. She is now totally and completely terrified of other dogs. How can I help her through this? Thanks

The obvious answer to this is that your pup should only be allowed to play with age and size appropriate dogs for now. You do not say whether the bad experiences were with your other dog or dogs outside of the family. However, regardless, bad experiences can lead to serious dog aggression and or fear or intimidated behavior that lasts a lifetime. Pups will be corrected when they are too much a pain, and done correctly by the right dog, this is not a bad thing. But it can be bad if it happens in the wrong circumstances. I am extremely careful to directly supervise all play with all pups and generally do not let them play with other dogs until I am certain I know the other dog and how it will react and even then, I make sure I am there to stop trouble before it happens. Based on your prior questions, it seems you do not have a lot of experience with GSDs. It might be a great thing to locate a local Schutzhund club or a trainer who works a lot with GSDs to get a little help with some of these issues.

Thanks for your reply. I will certainly use it moving forward. And it was with dogs outside of the family unit. I had assumed, per the owner's steadfast confidence, that their dogs were "ok". I now understand that that was misguided and my error. I already feel terrible hodie. Please don't chastise. But now I have a situation that I am trying to rectify and would appreciate any other tips that one would use, given the circumstances at present.

Pavlov, my friend. Use Pavlovian theory as many trainers do (most of them by experience, they do not know who Pavlov is) associate the bad experiences (presence of dogs) with something "good", aprimary reinforcer (which should be something your puppy likes very much, food, toy, etc). Just one thing: Little steps at a time. If it does not work it means you are going too fast...

I know this has been very upsetting. One suggestion is to set up "play dates" where the other dogs are age appropriate or completely bomb-proof. Make it fun,fun,fun...don't push her to socialize right off-give her something to do,like play with a favorite toy. This will help "shortcircuit" some of the fear. I have a young bitch that is not all that confident and I had to make her socialization a big game, so she looked at as fun time, not a time to get herself all stressed out. She is still very careful around other dogs but I can take her most anywhere without a problem...

You might try enrolling in a puppy class. I really never liked them for the training they offer but where I live it is hard to get a puppy socialized otherwise, so I have to travel. I just tell the instructor I am there for the socializing only, after all its your money you should be able to do what you want, and if you explain what happened they should understand. Bring a toy or food with you for your pup, something she likes, try not to distract other people because some do like to follow the instruction. Most classes are on leash at this age, some have free time after some training. You may find some dogs there are not so sure of themselves also, but chances are they will all be around the same age as your puppy. One other thing, be sure you don't coddle, pet,baby talk to your puppy when she is behaving fearful. A slight pat on the head with a normal tone of "its OK" is enough. If you baby her when she is behaving like this she "might" associate her behavior as appropriate and that you are praising her for it. Good luck to you!!

Thanks for all the replies. She IS in puppy class and does just fine when all are on the lead. She is doing very well actually. I will do my best to find some bomb proof dogs. I do know of some in hindsight. And I will try and take some small steps now with her...after my huge misstep. I feel like an a$$. K

Don't beat yourself up over it. It happened but you're making every effort to correct it. We've all done some dumb things with our dogs but somehow manage to move on (while feeling really bad/stupid/fill in the blanks here... :-) )

kmaot, The others have already said that you should not feel badly. Mistakes happen. However, I know you love your dog and that you do not want bad things to happen. So getting someone to help you who can guide you is still a good idea. I apologize if you felt I was chastising. I did not mean to. But I do know that injuries can result and life-long consequences can also result if a dog gets the idea that other dogs cause pain or intimidation. Good luck.

Thanks hodie. I too know that bad experiences can scar a dog. That is why I was so unhappy with what had happened and turned to you guys (aka "the pros") for help with this. I have done everything else...car rides 10 times/week, walks down city streets, meeting kids on a leash, taken her to Wal-Mart to watch people, cars and buggies go by, puppy school. walking on gravel, grass, concrete, stairs...etc. I am trying so hard to socialize her and will continue to do so.