Socialization/Desensitization Following Surgery - Page 1

Sorry this is long!

I have a question about my dogs recent behavior.. At 6 months old (some may say past the prime time for socialization, while others may say opportunities for socialization never end) lately he has been acting out and barking at other dogs/people/mostly children. He was very socialized as a puppy, with the only thing lacking being young children. We just didn't have access to that many young kids. We did take him to a large playground on the weekends and walked through numerous times as a puppy. However, he seems to be more frequently barking at the kids in the neighborhood (and other dogs)...or anyone at night.

Now, normally I would just up the exposure and try to either correct him or distract him. The problem is that with him having had surgery less then two weeks ago we are on a very limited schedule of what can be done activity-wise. We have been outside for elimination purposes only. Every time we see a dog or kid and he reacts I have tried to distract him but to no avail. He walks on a prong, but with him recovering I'm not comfortable giving corrections.

We live in an apartment complex and constantly cross paths with people, even just going right out front. So I am trying to figure out how to curb this reaction he is having despite being stuck with these activity constraints. I don't want him thinking its acceptable behavior. I'm not sure if its a fear phase, or possibly frustration from not being exercised in over a month? Once he is allowed more activity(starting next week we get five minute walks 2x a day, increasing by 5 minutes each week) I want to take him to playgrounds/dog parks just to sit nearby and watch. Other than this I don't really have any idea what to do, and don't want all the hard work we did on socializing him to be lost.

I asked the vets and they didn't have any ideas. Basically saying it was a catch 22.  Any ideas would be great!

Can you take him in your car to areas where you can park up and he can see and hear the people/children. Maybe with the back open (if you have a cage in the car)?

your problem is impossible to adequately address without having access to the dog. i'd look for local help, not from the vet profession, and get an assessment of the actual behavior being portrait. he may just be bored and vocalizing that frustration. based on your description, though, there doesn't seem to be any engagement in place and that's certainly something you can work on -- even with him being laid up. in fact, (food-based) engagement and focus training may just provide the mental stimulation he needs to get through the post-surgery period.

I think we may be able to take him in the car and open the back with him in the crate(we have a pop up for travel), hopefully the exposure might help a bit. We do have a couple places nearby that have football games/parks so that may be perfect. I will definitely try this!

He gets an hour long at home PT session 2x a day(am/pm) with a lot of food driven work such a leave it/take it, watch me, touch my hand with your nose to keep him occupied throughout...but it does not seems to be doing much in terms of excess energy/the issue with barking at everything. I'll continue these, and hopefully with the walks coming into play it'll help some. We also give him bully sticks or knuckle bones, but these only keep him busy for so long.

However, I agree we may have to reach out for some professional help if this continues :(

Thanks to you both!



 

On the mental stimulation front, how about the games where they have to open lots of various compartments to find the treats, there are some quite complex ones, Nina Ottoson does some good ones to really make them think.