Puppy's first walk
I'm hoping that the more she goes out the more she will be used to it. I just can't take her off the extended lead though, a banger went of the other day and she just bolted. She also is scared of cars but runs towards them! Is this normal? She enjoys the field and i really want to take her off the lead but she ran the other day at top speed when a dog appeared in the distance. I have kept her on a short lead and got her to meet a neighbours very gentle little spaniel, all he did was put his nose to hers but she poohed herself! Any ideas? |
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| Oh that poor thing! This is what happens when puppies are not properly raised, but rather kept confined for their first few months. Pups need to experience different textures under their feet, daylight, moonlight, lamp light, indoors, outdoors, etc.
Now you will have to do this with her. You might begin each new adventure with Bach's Rescue Remedy on her tongue. It might help calm her. Does she have a binkie? Something she carries about when nervous? This might help on the new adventures. Begin small, say just outside. Then reward. After several days of this, go down the walk. You get the idea. You will spend your life together encouraging her into new activities. I had a dog like this. She was a most loving dog but anything new and she trembled. Finally about age 5 she switched. She returned from the vet drunk from anesthesia......when she regained control, she was changed. Maybe she found being drunk was worse than any imagined horror. |
| Bless her heart.
Mojo was kind of the same way at first. His breeder lived way out in the country and hardley ever even saw a car go by. He had never had a collar on, let alone a leash. The first 4 or 5 walks I had to carry him back home. We didn't venture too far until he got used to the leash. Try not to react to noises. She will pick up on that and think it is something to be afraid of. Mojo would try to run away if he heard something strange. It is hard not to reassure them but, I would just tell him "this way", the command I always use when he would want to go off in the wrong direction. Unless you are in a fenced area I would not recommend letting her off leash until, you are 150% sure she will respond to the "come" command in a distracting situation. Puppies especially can be very unpredictable and things can happen so fast. |
| Just some ideas... I'm not a professional dog handler.
Each positive encounter will build her trust and the time to build her confidence is now while she's a puppy because it's very difficult trying to control a 65-80 pound adult with the same fear. Avoid any and all negative situations because it will reinforce the fear. I would enroll her in a puppy kindergarten if you can (ask your vet for a good referral)... she will meet new people and puppies her own age in a controlled situation. We have a mostly blind sheepie pup that was fearful of a few things as a pup. We encourage her to explore new areas and sounds. We would drop pot lids on the kitchen floor to make a big noise and would say "What's that?" in a friendly voice. We'd get down on the floor to take a look at it. We encouraged her to come up and check it out herself but didn't force her to. We would then clang it softly on the floor and talk to her and laugh so she'd wiggle. If she sees that you can approach it and not be harmed, she may also choose to investigate. You can setup 2 or 3 people that will greet your baby during a short walk down the road. Give them each an extremely tasty treat (for the PUPPY  ). As you approach each one, have the "stranger" say hello and offer her the treat. With each positive encounter, it may show her that it's lotsa fun going for a walk.
Always make it fun and end on a positive note. You might also want to take her to a grocery store or busy mall parking lot and just sit in the car with her (don't take her out) so she can see people moving about. I would not take her off-leash until you are absolutely certain she has become comfortable with her surroundings (and anything that might unexpectedly enter it) and will return reliably to you when recalled. Especially if she's running toward cars! I just can't bring myself to 100% trust any of my dogs off-leash. Good luck to you! |
| She sounds a little anxious. The biggest mistake I made with Dancer was when she acted scared of something I coddled her and said "Oh it's ok, that's a good girl" BIG mistake. All I did was teach her that it was good to be afraid of whatever it was.
You need to be non-chalant in all situations. Take her to all kinds of places to socialize her to people, dogs, kids, noises, traffic etc. Just ignore her reactions, and praise her when she is calm and showing some confidence. You'll need to do it a lot in order to re-establish behaviours you want, or she may end up timid and anxious all her life. Obedience or agility classes are a great idea too. Good luck!  |
Why don't you try walking your dog round the garden for a bit, even if he pulls and starts going a little mad, ignore him and keep walking, he'll soon get fed up of it. The next thing I did was put Ollie in the car and take him to a field and walk him about there, then when he got comfortable, I took him near a road, he got startled a few times, but I just reassured him and laughed like it was nothing to be scared of and carried on, gave him lots of praise and a few treats. i had to do this a few times then when i took him out in the street and near other animals and people he was fine. When I say to him now Ollie where's your lead he just loves it and can't wait to get out of the door - you'll be fine and remember your the boss, mmmm who am I kidding  |
| I hope Molly won't be like this until she's five years old! She doesn't really have a comfort toy - she likes anything that is not hers! We had Molly from 8 weeks, but i can't believe she was really confined. The breeders would let them play in the back garden etc.
I'm really not sure why she's like it. I've taken her out in the car regularly since she came to us, the first two times she was a bit worried but after that fine - especially as i would go and pick my husband up the road at the beginning to make the car a good thing! We've had people to stay and our french teacher visit and she's fine with them. In the house she is not at all worried if i drop something suddenly or if my husband shouts because his football team have scored - in fact she runs to him to check he's not hurt and licks him! A good example is a cat was in the garden once - just sitting there and she ran straight back in and preceded to bark at it from the safety of the back door! She's even frightenned in the back garden though, if kids go past or music is playing etc she won't go out. Last night was halloween and she did two wees inside for the first time in ages because she wouldn't go out. If i put her out and go with her she is better but still tries to run in if there is a sudden noise. Thanks for your comments though, i probably do say 'oh its okay' everytime she stops in her tracks. The idea about setting people up with treat is good too - although i don't know how to get her away from the door in the first place! We tried taking her on a lead around the garden (and she did fight furiously at first) but she is quite accepting of that - she doesn't seem to want to leave her house though. |
This sounds just like Ollie, he really fought with his lead, got himself in such a state, but I thought, no, you're going to have to get used to it, so fight all you like - I just didn't back down with him one bit - and its hard because they look so lovingly at you - just keep telling yourself this is for her benefit. Its so easy to give advice, I totally understand your situation, it breaks your heart to see them struggle or be unhappy - keep at it though and don't give in  |
That poor girl  This is a site about the Bach Flower Essences relating to dogs:
www.healthynewage.com/animal-remedies.htm There are several ones you can try for Molly, just match the symptoms. You can combine different ones with no problem. Good luck! |
| I would suggest picking up a copy of the "Dog Listener" by Jan Fennell. Here is a link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... 26-1159251 . I think it would really help you with training plus the author lives in the UK so maybe you could look into one of her seminars too. |
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