How To Reprimand A Shy Gh

[schultzlc]

As some of you may know from my previous posts, my Luna is a very shy girl. She has come so far since I adopted her 8 months ago, but there are still times when she reverts back into her shell, and it's hard to get her to come back out again.

 

Here's my situation; like most dogs, she occasionally gets herself into some trouble. The other day I walked into the living room to find her casually chomping away at the edge of the coffee table (this is the first time she has ever chewed something inappropriate). I quickly snapped my fingers, firmly said "no," and uselessly tried to hand her a chewie in exchange for the table (which she wouldn't take). I understand that most greyhounds are very sensitive to being reprimanded, but Luna absolutely freaks out. She will go into a corner and curl up into a ball and just quiver. I have certainly never yelled at her, as I cannot imagine what sort of reaction that would generate, and she never exhibits fear in any other situations.

 

I feel terrible that she feels so bad when she gets into trouble, but I can't just sit there and allow the negative behavior to take place. I'm curious, have any others with shy hounds had the same issue? Also, do any of you have recommendations for a better way that I can refocus her attention on something positive?

[Guest greyers]

Often times we simply snap our fingers and that is more than enough. An "ah-ah!" is helpful to our spooky guys too. Gets the point across without being too harsh for their sensitive nature.

[Guest Tabby]

Tabby is a shy girl too. I give her a "no no" in that low voice and she will drop her ears and slump away. I feel bad but also know that she needs it. I never have to raise my voice with her and sometimes just me walking in the room and catching her is all it takes. I totally feel your pain b/c they can make you feel like you just killed them or something.

[greysmom]

Do the re-direct or trade-up without the verbal/physical reprimand. She very likely knows what's allowed and what isn't and is just testing her boundaries and her courage. Often, the fact that you "see" her doing something she knows is bad, is enough of a reprimand.

[Batmom]

"Aah" or "Uh-uh," firm but not loud voice. Softer than "NO!" yet universal dog language. Then immediate redirect (have the toy or chewy already in your hand if possible) to something acceptable.

 

She doesn't know it's wrong unless you tell her.

[schultzlc]

I have also tried a soft "uh-uh," but get the same reaction from her. The worst thing is that I can't stand seeing her all freaked out so I end up soothing the dog who was just scolded for eating a chunk off of the furniture At least she's a pretty good girl (she even finally learned how to sit on command this week...I knew that stubborn goober understood the word!), so I don't have to worry about it often.

 

Do you think this is something that will get better as I have her for longer? I feel like she is pretty confident in my position as her leader and protector, but perhaps there's still a part of her that doesn't trust me 100% yet.

[Batmom]

It'll get better.

 

You don't need to soothe her after (very tempting, I know), just redirect. Try to think of your "Uh-uh" not as a scold but as an interrupt. You don't need to sound mean, just ... interrupting, KWIM? When possible, might also make sure you're a good long distance from her when you say it (not towering over her), and that your shoulder rather than your face is turned towards her. If she still scuttles, melts through the floorboards, etc. ... she'll get over it. ETA: Keep in mind that you're also teaching her that "Uh-uh" is NOT followed by a sharp smack with a stick, etc. She'll learn.

Edited November 5, 2011 by Batmom

[JJNg]

You don't need to soothe her after (very tempting, I know), just redirect.

The way that most people soothe a dog also tends to reinforce the scared behavior. I interrupt unwanted behavior with an 'uh-ah' that's just loud enough to get the dog to stop. Then follow it with a 'good boy/girl' when the hound goes on to something more appropriate.

 

Especially with the shy ones, I try to remain as casual and matter-of-fact about the soft verbal correction as possible - they can send your anger or frustration which makes things worse. If the dog acts scared, I just walk away and continue about my business as if nothing happened. I find they usually recover more quickly with this approach than trying to go and soothe them.

[Fruitycake]

Is there a noise you make to get her attention that doesn't freak her out? Maybe you could substitute that instead (I use "hey" in a conversational tone of voice, which gets a look up at me - which stops the behavior and that's what I want). I usually follow that with a "please don't do that" and a shake of the head [as if he knows what I'm saying], then I redirect. Just get attention then redirect: maybe give her something to chew or bring her to her bed and give her a treat there or something.

 

I do sympathize, Monty isn't quite that bad, but I know he's a "delicate flower" and so DH and I use the above kind of approach. My Mom and Sister walked him one day when I was at work and he started eating grass and they both said "no" and that night they asked me if he wasn't feeling well - not because of the grass but because he pouted/dragged behind them the whole walk, and looked like they'd beaten him. I explained and they rolled their eyes (and realized that our joking about the "delicate flower" was true!).

[kudzu]

The suggestions to think of & treat this more like an interruption & redirection are very good. Use the least amount of noise/volume & at the shortest duration necessary to succeed at that. Once accomplished just nonchalantly go about what your business & ignore her if she looks upset. If she's like mine, who isn't as shy as your girl but did have some fear/trust issues at first, the last thing she wanted right then was attention. Ignoring her for a bit actually helped her settle again.

 

But I also want to suggest that you actually train some interrupt command. If she is trained to recognize & respond to a particular command then you can not only tell her in a way she understands that she is to stop what she is doing & move on to something else but do it in a way that is not a reprimand. For me that is "Leave It". Our Leave It is said much more like any other command such as Sit or Down or Here would be said in everyday life when the dog is being good but you want them to do something. It's not at all a reprimand. So Leave It is trained ahead of time with rewards. (I confess the dogs that are the most active & make the most mischief are the ones that get the most training on this.) This would give you a way stop the behavior without unintentionally upsetting your girl. And for the record, Leave It for my dogs means leave it alone, it's not yours now & it's never going to be. But the dogs know that they are to stop & move away from the object. That gives them a little something to do instead & would allow you time to think of an activity to redirect her to. Just an idea that's worked for me.

[schultzlc]

Thank you all for the tips! I will put them in action and see what works.

 

Luna does know "leave it." It was one of the fist things I taught her for the sake of putting down things she "finds" outside. I was particularly thankful she knew it the day she caught a squirrel (while attached to me on her 6 foot leash!) and happily walked away from it when I asked her to. I will see how that works.

 

As I mentioned, she really is a good dog, but it's nice to have all of your advice for when the time comes that it's needed!

[mychip1]

Do the re-direct or trade-up without the verbal/physical reprimand. She very likely knows what's allowed and what isn't and is just testing her boundaries and her courage. Often, the fact that you "see" her doing something she knows is bad, is enough of a reprimand.

 

 

My Dustin is shy....though not to the point of Luna....but Chris is right....if he just thinks I have caught him doing something wrong, he feels horrible. I know there are different theories on the trading up concept - but with a shy hound, I think it's the best way.

[NeylasMom]

What happens if you just call her?

 

Even if calling her doesn't elicit a response, skip the correction. Like Kudzu said, leave it and give cues are excellent tools to have in your tool kit. In the meantime, you could distract her from chewing long enough to redirect her using high value food, either by tossing it near her (where she sees it) or if that doesn't work, shaking a treat bag. Then give her an item that's appropriate to chew on. One thing to think about, my guess is she may be chewing because it's soothing, so it may be partially an issue of finding something that is equally soothing to chew on, which may take some time.

[Guest PhillyPups]

I just give a gentle "MoeMoe Fancy Pants what are you doing"? She stops and looks at me. I understand what you are saying, but I cannot bring myself to "reprimand" Moe as I can the others because of her sweet shyness and sensitivity. Dang, I even feel the moments she gets into mischief like a normal dog are cause for celebration.

 

I still remember the day I came home from work, and the trash had been gotten into (a fist for me). How did I know it was Moe? She looked at me with the coffee grounds on her whiskers.