Dog Owner Chat v4

[Imzadi83]

any confidence training and trust exercises i can use on my rescue dog to make him more welcoming to people who aren’t a threat.

Counter conditioning and time work best. You can also build up his confidence through training, sports, etc.

Is this a problem on leash? When someone's at the door? When someone comes into the house? What behaviors are you seeing? Barking, hiding, peeing, etc?

[juicebox!]

its a problem with every single person he sees. you can be a mile away with your back facing him and not doing a thing. he barks and growls.

[Suiki]

My dog is 10 months and he still doesn't like the brush, even though we have been brushing him a lot. Sometimes I just have to give him something to bite on, but that means he doesn't learn anything and the problem continues the next time we brush. He loves cuddles and such so I hope that he one day will realize the brush doesn't hurt him. But I'm not sure if I should just force him and let him free when he's calm, or reward him with treats like every 30 sec when he's calm then extend the time? People suggest different methods so I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with the same problem?

I've got a dog who had the same problem so this is what I did for him. Brushes tug on your fur and scratch at your skin so it makes sense dogs feel wary of them. I started with my dog by teaching him that brushes are fun and getting brushed means treats and praise. Each time he sits still and lets me run the brush through his coat once or twice, I praise and give him treats. This changes the association of fear to food and praise. You know your dog and what he can and can't handle so just take it at his speed and encourage him that getting brushed isn't the end of the world. I've also got a little diabetic iggy mix who unfortunately cannot have most treats since the poor guy also has a billion allergies. He hates baths and no matter how much praise I give him, he's practically hairless so nothing I do will make him like water so he's a case where I just gotta force him through it and hope he doesn't hate me by the end. My point there is, don't feel bad if you just gotta do what you gotta do to keep your dog healthy and clean.

I do give him treats after he sits still then try to extend the time and I've done it since I got him, but it's not helping. :/

[Imzadi83]

its a problem with every single person he sees. you can be a mile away with your back facing him and not doing a thing. he barks and growls.

One thing I would recommend starting with is teaching "let's go" and giving into leash pressure so that you can redirect him when he becomes reactive. Then you'll have to work on counter conditioning. You want to try and keep him under threshold (not reacting) and reward him for not reacting to the approaching stimulus (person). If he reacts to someone a mile away that may be that you have to be a mile and six feet away. Reward him for succeeding at that distance and slowly approach. This will take time so don't rush it. You want to build up a positive association between him and what he is reacting to. Remember to stay calm, you want him to see you acting like the stimulus is nothing to react to. If you freak out because you know he's going to react he'll only react more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4vEayrRyB0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-L2qtD7MQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR0au_e0Cno
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM2xyrQ-414
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PhqFdaNduo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMLrYaoxNOs

Some dogs can benefit from calming products like Thundershirts, spirit essences, etc. They are not solutions in their own right, but can sometimes help. Some dogs have such bad anxiety that it is necessary to involve medications, but that is something you'd need to discuss with your vet.

Remember only to use positive methods of training, never punishment, which can make the problem worse.


@Xtra - You may need to up the value of your treats, and try an entirely new brush if his old one has such a bad association.

Rewarding him with treats when he's calm and extending the time slowly is exactly right. You just need to up the amount of time slowly. If he'll let you brush him for 30 seconds then do that and reward. Do that for awhile before moving to 31 seconds. If he becomes anxious you may have to go back to the 30 second mark or even less.

The idea is to keep him under threshold as much as possible. Distracting him with a toy is perfectly fine (you can still reward him with extra treats) for when you just need to get it done. Try to only give him that toy when you're grooming him to up it's value.

Use small training sessions often. Also train in different places, not just the living room for example. Counter conditioning can take time, it may seem like your not making progress for awhile then suddenly make a break through, then may even go backwards a bit. Stay calm and keep at it.

[wolfgirl2011]

My dog is 10 months and he still doesn't like the brush, even though we have been brushing him a lot. Sometimes I just have to give him something to bite on, but that means he doesn't learn anything and the problem continues the next time we brush. He loves cuddles and such so I hope that he one day will realize the brush doesn't hurt him. But I'm not sure if I should just force him and let him free when he's calm, or reward him with treats like every 30 sec when he's calm then extend the time? People suggest different methods so I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience with the same problem?

I've got a dog who had the same problem so this is what I did for him. Brushes tug on your fur and scratch at your skin so it makes sense dogs feel wary of them. I started with my dog by teaching him that brushes are fun and getting brushed means treats and praise. Each time he sits still and lets me run the brush through his coat once or twice, I praise and give him treats. This changes the association of fear to food and praise. You know your dog and what he can and can't handle so just take it at his speed and encourage him that getting brushed isn't the end of the world. I've also got a little diabetic iggy mix who unfortunately cannot have most treats since the poor guy also has a billion allergies. He hates baths and no matter how much praise I give him, he's practically hairless so nothing I do will make him like water so he's a case where I just gotta force him through it and hope he doesn't hate me by the end. My point there is, don't feel bad if you just gotta do what you gotta do to keep your dog healthy and clean.

I do give him treats after he sits still then try to extend the time and I've done it since I got him, but it's not helping.

I'm not sure how well this will work, but I do it with my dog when clipping his nails. If your dog has a solid 'leave it' command you can try setting a treat or something that he loves in front of him to distract him, then just put the brush on him without actually running it down his fur. Then allow him to get the treat. This puts his focus on the treat instead of on the brush and then builds a good association with the feeling of the brush. Then you can try setting the treat in the same spot and doing a small stroke with the brush and allowing him the treat with praise right after.
It may not work if he's as focused on the sensation of being brushed as you say he is, but it's always worth it to try.

[Suiki]

Thank you both for the tips! I'm going to give him his favorite treats that he rarely gets from now and try the methods to see what works best!

[StarFish.]

Hello! I'm new Here! You Have probably seen My sister Harlow. Stalking around here talking about deacon! But I'm here to share some Info About my dog Zeus!

Zeus Is a pitbull great Dane Mix
He's Fat.. Hehe
He loves food!
he knows How to sit,Stay,And lay down!
Zeus Is huge!!!

[LizzytheWolf]

After a very long stay in the hospital, I was allowed to go home today and Justin was so excited.

Chess isn't doing too well, she's chewing her front paws a lot and ripping out her nails. She's bleeding a lot and whines whenever she walks on a hard surface.
I tried bandaging her paws and making an EC but she always finds a way out of them.

Word from the new friend I made over summer break is that Xaida's old owners got her back and now it's even worse. Friend sent me a video he took of how she got loose, she has no ID and they let her run around in other people's yards until someone returns her.

[eleutheromania]

So happy right now, mom just got a new house and the dogs love the fenced yard. only issue is the yard behind ours has a overweight dachshund mix and she does not like them. she literally will stand at her fence growling and barking at them no matter where they are in the yard. Anyway, some pictures of the boys. video of them in the yard can be found on IG



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[Marley.&.Me]

okay but how???

what happened


bring back my tiny 4.5 pound puppy please!!

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