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| Newlywed03 |
Our puppy is about 17 months old. He's an absolute sweetheart, we've had him since he was 9 weeks old. When he was a puppy, he was fine with strangers so long as people didn't reach for him from above (we figured this was from being grabbed so much at the rescue). Once he hit about 9 months, he no longer allowed strangers to come up to him. We've been taking him to the dog park since he was 4 months, and he's fabulous with other dogs and there are several dog "mommies and daddies" that he adores. We try to take him everyday, weather permitting. Socializing him with other dogs was very important to us.
If someone comes to the house, he will bark and won't stop on command. He won't let them touch him at all. If it's a woman, after awhile he mellows out and eventually he's fine. He seems most afraid of large men (which is interesting considering my husband is a big guy and he loves his daddy!) and children. What he will usually do at the dog park is follow someone around, sniffing from behind, but if they turn around at all or try to pet him, he runs off or backs off and barks. We don't have any children, and none of our friends have kids. The only kids he's exposed to are at the park. If people ignore him, he's fine. Every once in awhile that perfect child will come to the park, ignore him for awhile, and then just start playing with the dog without the dog even realizing thats whats happening.
Long story short (ok, not that short), how can we get him used to other people? we certainly don't want to force him to let others pet him, but with spring around the corner we know we will have more visitors and want it to be a fun visit, not a stressful weekend for our dog.
Any suggestions? |
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| elaine16c |
I think you should perhaps enrol at an obedience class.
This should get your dog used to the company of other dogs abd perhaps help with his behaviour |
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| Jasperpage |
I agree with Elaine. As well as general obedience, the trainer may have experience in this area and may be able to give you a training program to work through to solve it.
Other than that, you could try things such as taking him out of the room as soon as he reacts badly, leave him out and then go out and try to bring him back in (removing him as soon as he's bad).
You need to try and break the connection between strangers = something to fear.
Can you think of any way you can get him to associate strangers with having a good time?
Perhaps you could control the barking first and then give him treats or play with his favourite toy when a stranger comes into the room and stop when they go out (by getting someone he doesn't know to come in and out of the room).
Jasper
Writer for
www.devonpets.co.uk |
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