BrodyinMN Posted January 20, 2008 Report Share Posted January 20, 2008 Our 1-year old BC, Brody, has been acting very apprehensive when our daughter (age 18) comes into the house. She lives with us full-time and plays and gets along with him fine the remainder of the time, but when she first comes into the house (after school, shopping, whatever), he backs away, shows his teeth (but doesn't growl) and will try to find a corner to hide in. At least 2 of these times, he has peed on the floor (the only times he's ever done that since we adopted him as a rescue dog a month and a half ago). We've had her wear different clothing (thinking he associated it with a negative event in his prior life - which we know nothing about), approach him differently (outgoing vs shy), and it doesn't seem to make a difference. His behavior towards her hasn't always been like this, but we believe it started after she accidently hit him in the eye when playing with a tennis ball 1 week ago. His eye started to redden and swell immediately, and my wife and daughter took him to the emergency clinic, where they treated him for a corneal staining with a quick shot and put him on eye drops to reduce the swelling. His eye healed well in a few days. Since that time, we laid low on the ball tossing for a few days, but since we resumed it, he has been fine playing with any of us, including my daughter. Has anyone else experienced behavior like this? If so, what did you do or would recommend? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SincereArtisan Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 Is Brody crate trained? If not, is their a room you can close him off in when you leave? What I'm thinking is that you should try crating him/shutting him off from th entrance to the house. When your daughter comes home, have her do her own thing for the first 10-15 minutes before going in to let him out to potty. When she goes in to let him out, tell her not to make a big deal out of it, no praise, no cooing, just open the door, "C'mon Brody!" and let him out. Ignore him, and any reactions, don't make eye contact. See if this lack of interaction helps him understand that her coming home is not a big deal and nothing to fret about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted January 21, 2008 Report Share Posted January 21, 2008 I think he might get over his fear of your daughter quickly if her arrival = treats for a while. My dog was (is) really fearful of strangers, but was able to make quick love associations with people who were willing to give him high value treats. Sounds like Brody's a bit spooked by a very specific incident, rather than a pattern, so maybe quickly overriding the "spooked" wiring with "cheese!" wiring would help? Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyinMN Posted January 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Is Brody crate trained? If not, is their a room you can close him off in when you leave? What I'm thinking is that you should try crating him/shutting him off from th entrance to the house. When your daughter comes home, have her do her own thing for the first 10-15 minutes before going in to let him out to potty. When she goes in to let him out, tell her not to make a big deal out of it, no praise, no cooing, just open the door, "C'mon Brody!" and let him out. Ignore him, and any reactions, don't make eye contact. See if this lack of interaction helps him understand that her coming home is not a big deal and nothing to fret about... Thanks Mary and SincereArtisan - Brody hasn't been crated since we adopted him. His foster mom told us he had been uncomfortable in the crate and she had no problem with him having the run of the main floor when she was gone. We have had the same results, so we have not been crating him. We are thinking about having our daughter come in through a different entrance to the house without him seeing her for a while so she has time to lay low. Also, we can have her bring him into the garage when she comes home and take him out in the back yard immediately so he doesn't pee in the house. The arrival = treats is a good idea as well. Actually, I don't think our daughter has been rewarding the dog with treats in the first place, so it is probably a good time for her to reward him when necessary, rather than just my wife and I. Thanks again for your suggestions and we'll let you know how it goes! George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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