nervousness around other dogs

[jackieb]

simba is very afraid of other dogs im trying to take him with us were ever possible. Hes just started puppy socialising too

I find at the park he will bark alot i do as they suggested and move him away and tell him quiet

Any other suggestions what we can do ?

we have a friend near by with a huge rottiweiller but this really scares him so we are leaving that for the time being. I dont want to install fear with him! So we arent letting them play until simba s less afraid!

[BMDLuver]

We had a 12 week old Dane here for a week. She towered over two of the dogs here and yet she would have all her fur raise, bark at them and run away. This went on for 24 hours then she got the picture that all was ok and she had a blast for the rest of the week. She then moved on to a home in Ontario with 3 adult great danes for fostering and did the same thing. Now she loves any and all dogs. It's just a confidence thing. I'm not too sure about the moving away and saying quiet as it seems to me that is reinforcing the lack of confidence... I'm not a trainer though so I could very well be wrong.

[StaceyB]

Be careful not to comfort her fears.

[LoNScamp]

Originally Posted by StaceyB

Be careful not to comfort her fears.

One of the most common things people do when their dog is acting fearfull is to tell them it is ok, or that they are good and it is ok, or pet them etc., without realizing they are reenforcing the fearful behaviour. It is best to carry on as if nothing has happened. I ususally say "you're being silly and keep on with what we are doing".

I have a 77 pound GSD, my next door neighbour got a min Shnauzer last week. He is nervous of Lola, when he comes to visist which is frequently, I make sure that he has contact with her, but make sure it is in a space where he can go under something like a chair if she is too much for him. The first couple of times he came over he stayed right away from her. Yesterday, he followed her around a bit and acutally chased her tail and went into play stance. Lola also understands gentle, leave and baby, so that helps, not to say she hasn't gotten carried away and put her big paw on him.

The other thing you may want to try is a word like "friend" said in a really upbeat manner around people and other dogs that he is comfortable with and integrate it into his meeting other dogs. I've done it with my rehomed dogs, when I wasn't sure how they would react to people and dogs and it has worked well. I usually use it in a sentence, something like "look a friend and babble on in really upbeat tone repeaditly using friend in the sentances".

[LoNScamp]

Last post I mentioned that when the puppy from next door came over he was nervous of Lola, so I did a varity of things to make him more comfortable. Well it paid off, this 11 week old 5 pound min Schnauzer is no longer afraid of my 77 lb. GSD. He chased her and harrased her so much yesterday she went upstairs to the bedroom to get away from him. Lucky for her he isn't doing stairs yet. LOL

[StaceyB]

A little work goes a long way.
A big problem people have when correcting any behaviour is they think that behaviours will be corrected in a couple days. Thinking this way makes them try something for a couple of days, it doesn't work so they try something else and so on. They never stuck to anything long enough for anything to work.