Rover's Training

[minicooper]

We have been having a problem with Rover's timidity for a while now. Whenever we have visitors he just panics, and hides behind at my feet. We have asked visitors to ignore him and he seems to come around a bit, so we thought we were getting somewhere. The other night we had a 6 year old visitor, and Rover was so scared he pooped! His whole body was shaking. He has never been hurt by anyone visiting, so we are completely at a loss as to why this suddenly happened. It started at about the same time Cooper hurt his back, and we thought that he was missing Cooper because he was crated, but Cooper has been getting around for a while now, and Rover is no better.
I have an appointment with a trainer for tomorrow afternoon, for a "Private Lesson", so hopefully we will get some insight into his problem, and some tips to correct it.
I'll let you all know how it goes.

[Patt]

Sorry to hear Rover is having such a hard time with visitors. I hope the trainer can help if not I would suggest a Behaviorist to get to the reasons why. Good Luck, keep us posted.

Patt

[crock]

Pauline,
So sorry to hear of Rover's situation. I understand completely. I hope the trainer can work it out. Our Darby has the same problem and we have tried everything. Some people he is fine with, other he is terrified of.
Good luck,
Char

[dutchman]

Besides the private lesson you might want to ask if they have a basic obedience class he could take part in. The social aspects of the obedience class can help. Also do you ever take him out ito public places and if so how does he react to strangers there? Here in the U.S. the Pet Smart and Pet Co. chains of pet stores allow owners to bring their animals into the stores while thay shop. Public parks are another place you can generally take dogs to be around other people.

Good luck,

Tom and the boys (Frank, Tanner and Dexter)

[TessieMom]

Tessie, my mill baby, has the same problem. After 2 years of obedience classes, not private lessons but group training, she is better. When she focuses on her job, she forgets her fears. I don't know what happened before I got her, but I try to get her out as much as possible. Others have suggested carrying treats along to have other folks give to Rover will help also. My newest foster boy, Atlas, is petrified of all people -- including me. He is finally coming up to me for treats, but is still running when I put his food down.

Rena and the Waco 7

[minicooper]

Thanks fr all the suggestions. The trainer suggested the private lesson first, mainly so he could evaluate Rover's problem. He has said a group training class may be more beneficial for him.

We are totally at a loss as to what is causing this, because he was very well socialised when we got him from a very good breeder at 10 weeks, and as far as we know, no-one has ever done anything to him. The only thing was that the day after Rover came home, Mini ruptured a disc and was on total crate rest while she recovered, and during that time we were home all the time. Maybe he just got used to being home just with us. He doesn't enjoy going for a walk at all, he is scared of noises, and if he sees a human, he will hide behind me.

He is an extremely brave, confident puppy when no one else is here.

I really hope we can solve these problems, because I hate to see him get so upset in these situations.

[dutchman]

Pauline ,

Count yourself lucky that at least so far Rover's problem is presenting itself as passive shy rather than agressive shyness. With the passive shy dog at least you have a much small chance of anyone getting accidently bit while to attempt to help him overcome his fears.

I won't attempt to say too much here and now if you have found a trainer that you plan to work with. There are multiple approaches to almost aevery type of problem and no sense confusing you with too many options at once.

Aggie was very passive shy sounds a lot like the stage Rover is at now but at first she even had problems bonding to me. Tanner is my aggressive shy boys some similarties to Rover but instead of hiding he will stand stiff get a glassy eye stare then is likely to try and nip or bite. Bot Aggie and Tanner got better with work. Aggie more so than Tanner but again with Aggie once I gained her rtrust I felt safe lhaving other people work with her. With Tanner I have to really know somone and know they are dog smart before I can feel safe having them work with him.

Oh as far as his not liking to go for walks. We had one female when I was growing up who hated to leave home for a walk. If we picked her up and carried her about 1-2 blocks away from home she would walk several miles with us.

Tom and teh boys (Frank, Tanner and Dexter)

[minicooper]

We are so happy with the trainer! He is very knowledgable, and he was so good with Rover! Within 10 minutes of the lesson starting, Rover was eating out of his hand!

He said he didn't think it would be too difficult to overcome Rover's fears, and he also said it is very common for small dogs to have this type of fear at this age.

He gave us many good tips to help him. At the end of our lesson, a lady came in with two Westies for the following Puppy Class. Rover tried to hide behind my feet, and the trainer told me to step aside. Rover went right up to the puppies, something he had not done for months! He even sniffed the lady! Then he walked on his lead back out to the car!

I think he will be fine, with a bit of work.

[Patt]

WOW, terrific news. Looks like your on the right track. Keep up the good work. :bounce: :dog: :bounce:

Patt

[dutchman]

IT's sounds like you have found a good triner. The hard part sometimes is to listen to them an follow their advice. Mort times than not if followed closely the advice of a good trainer works well.

Good luck and and a litle owrk in not time Rover will be a good citizen again.

Tom and the boys (Frank, Tanner and Dexter)

[blazeman]

GO ROVER!

I agree with tom... sounds like a good trainer! We met a Sheltie for the second time tonight (first for Woody) is is totally afraid of my little men. Woody gave him good reason when he was trying to play with him and pulled on his fur :)

[TessieMom]

Great!!! I am glad you found a good trainer. The hardest thing about training is getting the humans to do what they need to. The dogs seldom mess up, but people do! Lots of practice, lots of praise, and be consistent!

Rena and the Waco crew

[minicooper]

We had another little success this afternoon. Rover and I went for a short walk, and he walked very nicely on the lead! As soon as we turned around to head back home he started pulling on the lead a lot, but at least it is a start. We haven't had visitors yet so I haven't been able to gauge his reaction.

The trainer told me that Rover needs somewhere that he can feel safe, so we have bought his crate out again, and he likes to go in there. That will be easier to tell visitors that when he goes in there, he doesn't want to be disturbed.