A new fearful Lily
She is always supervised outside, so there's no possibility of someone being mean to her. We only have 1 neighbor and he keeps to himself. There's a 6ft wood fence between our yards. I took her into the bank today (which she has been doing since she was a pup, they give her treats) and she was fine until an elderly man walked up behind us and she hunkered down like he was going to hit her and peed. Right in the bank! I am at a loss about what to do or whats going on. |
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| How old is Lily? I think I remember someone saying dogs go through a fearful stage sometimes. |
| She is a little over 2 yrs old. It breaks my heart. She's always been a typical, happy go lucky, social sheepie. My sister's fiance is 6'5", hes very loud and he can be intimidating. The first time she met him as soon as he sat down she was in his lap. The elderly man wasn't even doing anything. He wasn't trying to pet her, he was just standing in line. She went through a fear stage when she was about 6-8 months old. She wouldn't go near anyone wearing a cowboy hat. We ended up figuring out it was the cowboy hats. When introduced to one (with out a person below it) she would growl, snarl and tear them to pieces. I started wearing one around the house and now shes fine with them. |
| I've been hearing they go through a second fear stage, and I think that's what Bailey (also a bit over 2 yrs) is going through as well. I don't know what she's so worried about either, she was everyone's best friend for so long and then she started growling at almost all other dogs. I'm not really sure what to do about it. |
| My first OES was like that, though I think in her case it hit when she was about 21 mos old (and literally seemed to happen overnight. Confused the hell out of me at the time) I've seen/heard enough of it to believe it's genetic - it's nothing you did or didn't do. And 18mo - 2 years seems to be when it hits. I don't know why men seem to be such a trigger for these dogs. That said, you can work through it. Sort of along the idea of your cowboy hat, except you won't be wearing men <vbg> But exposure - in this case also while working on reshaping how she feels about men. Is she food motivated? If so, solicit the help of lots of men over a period of time, start with the most dog savvy ones you can find, and have them come towards you, not too close, not looking at her, not addressing her, NO loud or baby talk, and have them just toss her a really good "cookie" in passing to start. Work your way up till you can have them walk up to you, still ignoring her, maybe talking quietly to you and holding a cookie/treat in their hand waiting for her to approach them and take the cookie (but not looking at her) Eventually they can talk to her, pet her, offer her cookies (you can also pair the presence of men with good things - meaning the cookie comes from you when men show up. Some times you need to start there, depending on the dog. That will also help recreate a positive association.) Warning: this can work so well, especially with a highly motivated dog (i.e. pig), that she goes the other way and becomes an absolute ho. Every time she sees a man she gets all excited and has to check him out. I learned this the hard way when above mentioned bitch once goosed a passing man on the street and he turned thinking it was me  Me:"I'm so sorry - my dog has a hard time with boundaries" He's just looking at me, me thinking I can read his mind: "Oh, sure lady, blame your weird behavior on your poor dog!!" Despite this risk, I have to say it was worth it  It's a bit harder if you have a dog that doesn't care too much about food. Then you have to figure out what else is really, really reinforcing (rewarding) to her and pair men with that to create a positive association. I always recommend people have their dogs (OES, especially) thyroid checked in these cases (full panel ideally) as thyroid being off can result in behavioral changes. But I'll be honest with you: every one I've talked to who's checked it thus far has had their dog's thyroid come back normal. Something to keep in mind, though. Kristine |
| Our Jake had low thyroid and used to eat my arm regularly (he also was intact with a cryptorchid). Having him on thyroid meds and monitored for level didn't make much of a difference in his role as dominant male in the house.  BUT THAT SAID, I'd have her thyroid levels checked along with a full exam to ensure she's not in pain and is otherwise feeling well. |
| I will have to make an appt to get a check up and her thyroid checked. Mad Dog you post is still making me giggle!! Yes lil is an oinker. She is highly motivated by treats and she has an incredible will to please. |
| I hope you get Lily sorted. My yorkie barks as she is scared of everything outside but I think that is a yorkie thing. Perhaps the treats will work...hope so. |
KTB wrote: I hope you get Lily sorted. My yorkie barks as she is scared of everything outside but I think that is a yorkie thing. Perhaps the treats will work...hope so. Thanks! I'm hoping it will at least make some progress. If it doesn't help I was looking at a behaviorist if it comes down to it. There is one in the next town over. |
Saturday I took her to petco, met up with my friend and her daschund mix. Lily was doing great. Wasn't acting fearful of anyone and was playing with daschund mix. Then two corgi puppies (sooo cute!) and thier owner came up and Lily tried to attack the corgi pups.  Nothing happened but she tried all the same. Shes never been aggressive towards any dogs before. She is also stealing people food. I used to be able to leave her with food and she wouldn't touch it. Now its not the case. I started NILF training with her and I'm getting her thyroid checked in Dec. I feel like shes a completely different dog than I've raised. I am beginning to look at her differently and I feel so bad because I feel this way. |
| The dog aggression <?> and especially the food thefts up the likelihood of a thyroid issue. On the other hand, some dogs just plain don't like puppies and find them plain unpredictable and annoying. Was she "attacking" them or telling them off? Take a deep breath. You'll get to the bottom of it. Kristine |
| She was going to attack them. If she wasn't on a leash, she would probably would have severely injured them. I had to hold her back and she wasn't letting up. I had to remove her. |
| Would she have behaved that way if someone other than you had been holding the leash? (Know you can't know that for sure, but worth asking yourself) Kristine |
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