A Pom with a dislike for a lot!

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Lisky
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:57 pm

A Pom with a dislike for a lot!

Post by Lisky »

Hi there,

my little lady, Liska is a 7 year old pomeranian. Throughout the years I've had her, she's been a pretty obedient dog to train and picks things up easily. However, when it comes to walks it's another matter. She is a very highly stung, nervous dog by nature. At first she literally barked at ANYTHING that moved on walks. Over the years, she's calmed down somewhat and essentially walk training consists of me ignoring bad behaviour and when she's good, she gets a treat. Eventually we've had some success with this, it's not perfect, but progress has been made :D So she doesn't bark at every single person, etc.

However, bikes are still a huge problem for her. She hates them. She's not too bad with cars, buses and the like after awhile but bikes are a firm favourite for dislike. She essentially sees a bike approaching, starts continuously barking and even spinning. Once she starts, you've got no chance of grabbing her attention, treats or not. After yet another nasty individual passing a sly comment, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do :( It's generally moving bikes (both push and motor) and the nearer they get, the worse the behaviour. She seems to have the same response to prams, wheelchairs and anything of that nature...just bikes tend to be the most frequent we come into contact with. She isn't an aggressive dog either, but a lot of people misread her body language since she's a pomeranian and a yappy little stinker at times :lol: . Though I can understand why people misread when she dislikes something. To me though it seems like some deep rooted fear, I got her when she was 4 months old so I can't be entirely sure that she hasn't had some bad experience in the past without my knowledge.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can perhaps improve the situation?

Many thanks,
Casey
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Re: A Pom with a dislike for a lot!

Post by Nettle »

You are taller, so you can see the bikes first. When you see one, get her on the side of you that is furthest from the bike, quick-march past ignoring any attempts to bark etc., and when the bike is past and she has calmed down and is quiet, reward her. This is counter-conditioning. Over time, she will change from 'here comes a bike, I have to go into meltdown' to 'here is a bike and I will get a treat.'

To begin with, get as far away from the bike as you can. You can gradually shorten the distance as she becomes more confident.

This has to be done on a short lead - not strung up, but on a normal lead not an extending one.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: A Pom with a dislike for a lot!

Post by Erica »

If the moving bike is too much and you can't find a place where you have enough distance for that to work, see if you can work with still bikes first. Then still bikes with someone standing next to them, then slowly slowly moving it just a little bit, then moving at a normal walking pace, then walking quickly...then standing still in bike-riding position, then riding the bike slowly, then riding at a casual pace, then gradually faster...

It's likely that the more movement the bike is doing, the scarier it is for her. So it'll make her feel safer, if you're having trouble, to work with bikes that aren't doing so much moving. :)
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Lisky
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:57 pm

Re: A Pom with a dislike for a lot!

Post by Lisky »

Thank you kindly for the answers!
I'll keep going with ignoring bad behaviour, treating good :) She's usually okay with still bikes, provided she's familiar with it! :D But yes, I think working with an actual bike where I have control initially and have someone cycle in time towards her is a good idea and something I'll be trying. It's just sad when people misread and pass nasty comments! Tut tut.
jacksdad
Posts: 4887
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:48 pm

Re: A Pom with a dislike for a lot!

Post by jacksdad »

Lisky wrote:I'll keep going with ignoring bad behavior, treating good....
Good/Bad have meanings that get in the way of training. It helps if you switch to thinking in terms of wanted and unwanted, and when you see something you want, "say" I want to see more of THAT behavior and put most of your efforts reinforcing the wanted. initially it may seem like word play/semantics/you say potato I say potato... but it's not and it really does affect how we respond to our dogs when we make this change in thinking.
Lisky
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:57 pm

Re: A Pom with a dislike for a lot!

Post by Lisky »

jacksdad wrote:
Lisky wrote:I'll keep going with ignoring bad behavior, treating good....
Good/Bad have meanings that get in the way of training. It helps if you switch to thinking in terms of wanted and unwanted, and when you see something you want, "say" I want to see more of THAT behavior and put most of your efforts reinforcing the wanted. initially it may seem like word play/semantics/you say potato I say potato... but it's not and it really does affect how we respond to our dogs when we make this change in thinking.
That does make sense and I can see where you're coming from. Thanks :)
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