Scared Of Other Dogs

[anniebellshafe]

I have had Zeppelin for a little over two months now, and he very much enjoys his walks, however whenever there is another dog or even a stray cat he whines and kind of speeds up his step until we are past and then will still look back before he stops to sniff or pee. This hasn't been that much of a problem as whenever I see someone walking their dog I just make sure to be on the other side of the street and it's no big deal, but yesterday we were walking (unfortunately in order for us to go on a longer walk we have to walk on a pretty busy street), and someone came around the corner with a little dog who started barking at Zeppelin which spooked him and he jumped into the road and almost slipped his collar. Thank God, there was no cars coming and I was able to adjust the collar, however he went into statue mode and I couldn't get him to move until the lady with the dog started walking.

 

My question is, is there anything I can do to help him overcome this fear of other dogs (and even cats)? The first time Zep met my mom's dog, Arlo who is a terrier mix, he was terrified, but with a lot of work we were able to make him comfortable with Arlo and now they get along great and even play together. I was thinking about obedience classes at Petsmart or something of the type to just get him accustomed to other dog breeds. Has anyone ever done this? Also, I know 2 months is not that long, is this something that may just take time as he gets used to his new surroundings?

 

Side note, he is not at all timid around me or my husband.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

My Tia was terrified of other dogs and this is not uncommon with greys that are new to pet life--afterall they may have never seen a non-greyhound dog! I took a two pronged approach to deal with the problem.

 

1. I enrolled her in an obedience class. It was not for the training so much as just to socialize her with other dogs. I am glad to see that you are thinking about doing this. Make sure the class is being held in a large room and that the trainer knows and accepts what you are trying to do. Tia's class was held in a National Army--it was a huge room. We started at the other side of the room from the class as she was terrified, slowly we moved closer and the trainer would bring gentle dogs over to socialize with her (who can be scared of a baby Newfie?) By the end of the classes, Tia would walk in the circle with the other dogs (although she was still unsure about the beagle that kept baying!).

 

2. When we would meet dogs on our walks, I would not force her to walk by them--we would stand as near or as far away as she was comfortable and would watch the other dog (telling the other dogs owners to stay away as she was scared). I would feed her treats and talk to her in cheerful, confident tones about the other dog (what a tail he has! What a pretty face!, etc..) My trainer told me that by trying to comfort her as I had been, I was validating her fears that the other dog was dangerous and making the problem worse. So I had to concentrate on being upbeat in my comments. Gradually her fear disappeared although she was never at ease with badly mannered dogs and we tried to avoid those types.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Scouts_mom

[sobesmom]

Well - IMHO - you're actually at the "lucky" end of the spectrum of reactions. Aggression is hard to deal with. This is also hard to deal with, but you don't have to worry about possible conflicts, or other "owners" bad reactions.

 

So - slow and steady. I think introducing to dogs you trust, and giving your pup time to acclimate one-on-one is a great idea. Also - time. Your dog is VERY VERY new. Think of all he's had to absorb in 2 months! What a world change!

 

For now - I'd just take it easy. Don't push it. Continue avoiding on walks. Just wait it out. You could have an entirely different dog on your hands in 2 or 4 months. Zep could just decide to greet every animal on a walk a month, or 2 months from now , you just don't know at this point. Don't push. Don't worry. Just wait. After 6 months, if nothing changes, then address it.

[DocsDoctor]

Yes I would be looking for a nice all breeds obedience class with a good positive-methods trainer. I did this with my first greyhound, Doc who found all the other funny-looking dog breeds out there a challenge to begin with, and benefited hugely from the opportunity to meet them under controlled conditions. We had fun, improved our mutual bond, and learnt lots - me too, especially about reading dog body language. I think for an experienced dog owner they are probably less useful - I have not felt the need to repeat the course with Ken - but back then I hadn't owned a dog since I was a child, maybe this is the case for you too? As a new owner I found it really useful and a boost to my confidence.

 

I would say, have a look around and if you can find something suitable starting in a month or so, that would be the ideal time. The better the two of you have bonded the more you will both get out of it. If the Petsmart course doesn't fit the bill, ask around - I found my course via our vet.

[anniebellshafe]

Thank you all! I did not think about the importance of a trainer in the obedience class that will understand Zeppelin's situation and cater the class to fit Zeppelin's needs as well as the other dogs. This is my first dog on my own, I had dogs growing up as a child, and have been wanting to adopt for a long time but waited for my husband to get out of the military before we adopted.

 

Two months is a very short time, it feels like so much longer, but in a good way! I'm definitely lucky he is not aggressive, the only time he will growl at other dogs is if he is in a limited space and there is no way to get away from them, and then it is not bared teeth, just noise. I will definitely wait a little bit longer to give him more time to adjust, I'm a teacher so I was thinking if I do an obedience class, summer would be a good time.

 

Thank you all for your advice!

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

One thing nobody has mentioned, get a harness for your boy. If he gets frightened and tries to back out of his collar, you NEED a harness to keep him safe. Here is a good one that a lot of people like:

 

http://2houndswholesale.com/No-Pull-Harness/

[PatricksMom]

Seeing them scared is frustrating and hard to deal with. Fortunately, it sounds like Zeppelin's fears are relatively mild so an obedience class may be helpful (fear aggression is an entirely different beast, but even that you can make a lot of progress on). I would consider his overall stress load--can you reasonably limit his exposure to other dogs outside of class for a while if need be to help make sure he's not getting overwhelmed and he has a chance to regroup between classes, or is that not feasible given your living situation? I know you're avoiding other dogs on walks, but it may help to avoid walking in places where he'll encounter other dogs for a while. Or, by summer he may be doing much better, two months isn't that long. And if you can find a class with larger dogs, that might help--it seems like fear of other breeds is worst with small dogs (or maybe that's just my experiences).

[racindog]

Two months is too soon for a dog with his issues to be stressed additionally by obedience imo. What you need to do is show him and let him learn that YOU will protect him from the other dogs/scarey things. You need to focus mostly on what they call engagement-which is getting him to focus on you. It takes TIME. Much longer than 2 months usually. You 2 have got to go through stuff so he can see that he can trust you to protect him and he doesn't have to be afraid. So do take him around and about everywhere you can just don't force him to interact. In fact if he wants to hang behind you "for protection" good! Let him see that you will stand between him and the other animals or people he may perceive as threats right now. In time he will more than likely settle down and be much more relaxed because he will have learned & know that his Mom is with him and he don't have to fear. If you try to do stuff like obedience before you establish engagement you won't be nearly as successful and it will likely be stress involved instead of fun like it is supposed to be. It could even have a negative effect. You will be so glad you established good engagement and thus got off to a good start first! There are many times it is very useful. Do not misinterpret engagement as some sort of sweety pie dog training flavor of the month. It is the basis of the relationship that military working dogs and police dogs form with their handlers. It is not uncommon to see these apprehension trained force to be reckoned with brave warrior dogs with their legs wrapped around their 'dads' (handlers) during rapelling or trying to hug their dads ever so tightly when they begin water training. They have learned they can trust that their 'dad' will protect them. THAT is how they are then able to be trained to do so many remarkable things. But FIRST comes engagement. You have to have that first. And that takes time and shared experiences with your dog so they can get to know you. Oh and if you want to do 'something' in the meantime look into Nosework classes. That is 100% positive and stress free and the dogs love it. The biggest thing with that is seeing to it the dog has fun! That will not stress him and will only enhance your development of engagement----and its a lot of fun! A lot of dogs really have a positive response to it and relax and improve once given the opportunity to do it. Some shelters teach it to the shelter dogs to improve them so they can find their forever homes and be more adoptable due to how much they improve by doing it. JMO.

Edited February 16, 2016 by racindog

[Guest WildSparkler]

Sounds exactly like my girl! She was totally scared of any other creature (besides cats or squirrels...) when we first got her. One time a kid with a 5lb puppy walked up to us on a walk, and I swear she jumped 5 ft in the air and turned to sprint the other way! We would do as others suggested, and step off to the side and let the other dog pass by, or cross to the other side of the street. My parents also have 2 small terrier types who she was scared of at first, but now gets along fine with as well. I think it is all just exposure! It did definitely take more than 2 months for her too. If there are any Meet and Greets for your adoption group in your area I would bring him to those! Our group holds Meet and Greets at PetCo, so there she was able to see other dogs while being around other greys and see how they react. She is still definitely shy of dogs other than greys, but much better! Now on walks, she will start crouching and start wagging her tail when she sees other dogs like she wants to play, until they look at her, then she tries to hide behind me, until they pass by us, and then she turns around to play again, haha.

[Roo]

I have no advice to offer, but I like your idea of an obedience class and I may use this for my terrier! She's afraid of other dogs - she sees (or hears) a dog on our walk and she's instantly in "Oh no, don't let it get me!" mode. I may look into classes at the local petsmart and see how I like the trainer. Thank you for the idea

[anniebellshafe]

Seeing them scared is frustrating and hard to deal with. Fortunately, it sounds like Zeppelin's fears are relatively mild so an obedience class may be helpful (fear aggression is an entirely different beast, but even that you can make a lot of progress on). I would consider his overall stress load--can you reasonably limit his exposure to other dogs outside of class for a while if need be to help make sure he's not getting overwhelmed and he has a chance to regroup between classes, or is that not feasible given your living situation? I know you're avoiding other dogs on walks, but it may help to avoid walking in places where he'll encounter other dogs for a while. Or, by summer he may be doing much better, two months isn't that long. And if you can find a class with larger dogs, that might help--it seems like fear of other breeds is worst with small dogs (or maybe that's just my experiences).

 

I wish I could limit his exposure but unfortunately I live in South Florida and in a heavily populated area, we do have a nice sized fenced in backyard where he does zoomies but he really loves his walks. Yes, the small dogs really freak him out, maybe it's all the barking! lol

 

 

Two months is too soon for a dog with his issues to be stressed additionally by obedience imo. What you need to do is show him and let him learn that YOU will protect him from the other dogs/scarey things. You need to focus mostly on what they call engagement-which is getting him to focus on you. It takes TIME. Much longer than 2 months usually. You 2 have got to go through stuff so he can see that he can trust you to protect him and he doesn't have to be afraid. So do take him around and about everywhere you can just don't force him to interact. In fact if he wants to hang behind you "for protection" good! Let him see that you will stand between him and the other animals or people he may perceive as threats right now. In time he will more than likely settle down and be much more relaxed because he will have learned & know that his Mom is with him and he don't have to fear. If you try to do stuff like obedience before you establish engagement you won't be nearly as successful and it will likely be stress involved instead of fun like it is supposed to be. It could even have a negative effect. You will be so glad you established good engagement and thus got off to a good start first! There are many times it is very useful. Do not misinterpret engagement as some sort of sweety pie dog training flavor of the month. It is the basis of the relationship that military working dogs and police dogs form with their handlers. It is not uncommon to see these apprehension trained force to be reckoned with brave warrior dogs with their legs wrapped around their 'dads' (handlers) during rapelling or trying to hug their dads ever so tightly when they begin water training. They have learned they can trust that their 'dad' will protect them. THAT is how they are then able to be trained to do so many remarkable things. But FIRST comes engagement. You have to have that first. And that takes time and shared experiences with your dog so they can get to know you. Oh and if you want to do 'something' in the meantime look into Nosework classes. That is 100% positive and stress free and the dogs love it. The biggest thing with that is seeing to it the dog has fun! That will not stress him and will only enhance your development of engagement----and its a lot of fun! A lot of dogs really have a positive response to it and relax and improve once given the opportunity to do it. Some shelters teach it to the shelter dogs to improve them so they can find their forever homes and be more adoptable due to how much they improve by doing it. JMO.

 

I will definitely look into nosework classes! Obedience training was more an idea for him to get accustomed to other dogs, not so much for behavior, although he definitely has a special relationship with my husband as he has somewhat become a therapy dog for him (no training, just comfort on his sleepless nights).

 

Sounds exactly like my girl! She was totally scared of any other creature (besides cats or squirrels...) when we first got her. One time a kid with a 5lb puppy walked up to us on a walk, and I swear she jumped 5 ft in the air and turned to sprint the other way! We would do as others suggested, and step off to the side and let the other dog pass by, or cross to the other side of the street. My parents also have 2 small terrier types who she was scared of at first, but now gets along fine with as well. I think it is all just exposure! It did definitely take more than 2 months for her too. If there are any Meet and Greets for your adoption group in your area I would bring him to those! Our group holds Meet and Greets at PetCo, so there she was able to see other dogs while being around other greys and see how they react. She is still definitely shy of dogs other than greys, but much better! Now on walks, she will start crouching and start wagging her tail when she sees other dogs like she wants to play, until they look at her, then she tries to hide behind me, until they pass by us, and then she turns around to play again, haha.

 

That makes me happy to hear, maybe Zeppy will take the same route, he definitely does the same jump in the air and try and run bit!! I will look into meet and greets with other greyhounds, I know my agency has them, the last one was at a dog park for "doggie-palooza" and so I was a little nervous how he would be with all the other breeds, but I like the idea of him seeing how other greys react with other breeds.

[PatricksMom]

That makes me happy to hear, maybe Zeppy will take the same route, he definitely does the same jump in the air and try and run bit!! I will look into meet and greets with other greyhounds, I know my agency has them, the last one was at a dog park for "doggie-palooza" and so I was a little nervous how he would be with all the other breeds, but I like the idea of him seeing how other greys react with other breeds.

M&Gs have helped Leo a lot, because he gets to see other breeds (our weekly one's are at a dog friendly farmer's market), but he can do so with the safety of an entire pack of greyhounds to back him up.

[racindog]

This is a good book too with lots of useful info. I think you would find it very helpful.

http://www.amazon.com/Team-Dog-Train-Your-Dog--/dp/0425276279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1455812957&sr=8-1&keywords=team+dog