Pup scared of people! Help needed

[Nebula]

Hi,

My dog is great; good on walks and is getting better around the house. However, he has one problem, or one 'serious' problem. He is petrified of people. My dog is 9 months, a lab mix and playful with other dogs and just generally in the house. If we are on a walk, and pass a stranger human, he freezes, and stares. If this person tries to touch or offer their hand out to him, he cowers away with tail between legs. And no, he doesn't growl, bark or anything. Just freeze and cower.

The thing is, he's well socialized, and this seems to so suddenly have come up. No one has ever, ever hit or hurt him. I suspect that it possibly could be the "threatening" posture that humans use when seeing a dog - of course, they don't mean any harm but going up in a pup or dog's face isn't the cleverest thing to do.

Anyway, any suggestions? I really don't want him to be scared of people for the rest of his life.

[rachel540]

Hi there! This may be a classic case of the second fear period, have a read through this thread: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1981

I can only say what I would personally do in this situation, i'm sure others will add advice. I would avoid people for a little while, mange the situation and keeping walks fun and stress free would be the number one aim, this may involve walking at odd times or avoiding people by doing a quick u-turn or crossing the road, keeping a good distance from everyone. By doing this it should be clear at what distance your dog feels comfortable, and keeping at a distance giving lots of praise and treats for relaxed behaviour. Its up to you to ensure your pup is relaxed and happy. By having a week of relaxed walks (avoid pent up stress) try closing in on that gap between your pup and strangers very slowly (at your dogs pace, you seem to be clued up on her body language so use that) still giving lots of praise and treats for relaxed behaviour. As you have already recognised people can be quite intimidating so you need to stop them. This behaviour may pass but the last thing you need is people/strangers giving your dog something to be scared about. Give this a try and let us know if you notice a difference in your pup. If her behaviour continues to be fearful its probably out of my league and the experts on thsi forum with experience in this area will be able to help.

My pup is quite sensitive and they each develop at their own pace, give it time.

[Nebula]

Thank you for linking to that thread, if that's all it is I'm glad that I'm not doing anything wrong with him myself.

I'll try what you said, and see if he improves. This morning on his walk I took some cheese and gave him some when he passed strangers quietly, that seemed to work a bit.

[emmabeth]

Just a pointer - you are aiming to classically condition him that people = good stuff. So people are the trigger for YOU giving him high value reward, it is NOT dependent on HIM doing anything but being there.

Obviously if he is so stressed he won't take a reward then you are too close, keep more distance in future, but do not wait for him to behave nicely, or make reward dependent on him behaving as you would like, because you are not training a behaviour, you are aiming to change his emotional state.

Some people get worried in a situation like this, that they are rewarding fearful behaviour but you just cannot do that by giving a dog a treat when he sees the object of his fear. You CAN reinforce fear by: adding more fear, ie, telling a dog off, hitting them etc, and also reacting very fearfully yourself would do this (after all, if YOU are scared, there MUST be a reason to be scared), and of course by forcing a dog closer than he wants to be, but not by giving him a reward for just seeing a person, no matter whether he looks a bit worried or is happily skipping along.

[Nebula]

Thanks for the pointer, Emmabeth. I'm trying to condition him, and some progress seems to be made, but since we live in a quiet area it's hard to tell exactly. So, when a person appears you give him a treat, right? I know the basic concept of this, but I'm not sure of anything else.

[jacksdad]

So, when a person appears you give him a treat, right? I know the basic concept of this, but I'm not sure of anything else.

correct. the thing you want to change your dogs response to HAS to "happen" first, before giving him the treat. That way the "scary" thing predicts good things.

See scary (at safe distance is the ideal) THEN get a treat.

I did this with my dog for his fear of other dogs. I did a strait up other dogs = treat. I also didn't worry too much if he was making a growling noise, barking, making chuff, chuff noises etc. the difference between my dog today and when I started this simple step is HUGE. he is more calm, he deals with other dogs MUCH, MUCH better than he used to. in fact he has helped a couple dogs who were also dog fearful have positive dog/dog encounters and begin to over come their fears. He is now SUPER gentle with small, young and old dogs. prior to taking this simple action of other dog = something good, he would flip out over other dogs that could be as far away as 200 yards. and even after we had managed to reduce his safe distance to something more "reasonable". he stalled in his progress.

He is living proof this did NOT reinforce his fear response or his other unwanted responses towards dogs. his fear of other dogs has been GREATLY reduced, and his unwanted responses have been replaced with proper dog/dog signals and communication.

[OnceInAWeil]

Here is a video that might help with the mechanics of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdraNF2hcgA

[Louisehg]

My recent trick with my pup, who is always disturbed by men on our walks, is to always have some extra large treats with me and as we walk towards the guy I click and stuff a big treat in his mouth so by the time we walk past the man Coda is chewing on his treat and doesn't pay any attention to the guy! I feel good because he isn't barking and lunging, he feels good because he is eating something GOOD and generally our walks are really enjoyable!

[Nebula]

Thanks, everyone.

@Jacksdad - Congratulations with that, it's a great example how much difference positive training makes.

Speaking of that, I know a dog who's dog and human fearful, we raised him as a pup but sadly don't have him full-time any more. So, as the fear got worse, the owners have called a 'dog trainer', who, unfortunately, uses choke collars and dominance stuff. And they pay for this, when if they only did a little research they could most probably train that dog for free.

Anyway, back to my pup, on his morning walk he saw a person talking and walked past without the freezing or cowering. So I think that he's changing a little. (: