Confidence

[Lewis Moon]

As posted elsewhere, Cerb got his first instinct test and he was afraid of the sheep. This was (somewhat) expected because he has a history of basically hiding behind me in almost all situations other than meeting new dogs or people. A week or so back I entered our house through the garage (I usually come in the front) and he didn't recognize me in the dark, looked genuinely frightened, barked and then ran into the back bedroom.

 

I don't want an agressive dog and I'm really glad that Cerb has no real odd fear issues, but I just want him to be more confident. (Check that, Cerb is afraid of man-hole covers and HATES the teeter)

 

Cerb is also SUPER subsissive to any dog of any age as long as they are at least 1/2 his size. He's 22 months old and was neutered at ~8 weeks by the rescue.

[BorderlineCrazy(:]

I don't think I saw this in the post, so excuse me if I overlooked it. But, has this been an ongoing problem, or did it just start recently?

[gcv-border]

I have suggestions for the teeter issue, but that doesn't seem to be the crux of your problem. Unfortunately, I don't have any idea how to help a dog become more confident of "scary strangers that show up after dark". He may just be a really smart boy with a high self-preservation instinct.

 

Jovi

[Lewis Moon]

I don't think I saw this in the post, so excuse me if I overlooked it. But, has this been an ongoing problem, or did it just start recently?

 

 

It's an ongoing problem. To expand the issue; Cerb doesn't cope well with novelty. Not much overt manifestation, but he'll just be hesitant, drool or be stressed if presented with something new. ...and it doesn't seem to be getting better with age and exposure. Six month of riding in the car to agility practice (which he LOVES) and he still drools, puts his head on my (towel covered) arm and looks up at me like I'm punishing him. He passes manhole covers on twice daily walks to the park, I've given him his favorite treats when he got close or touched one (only toe nails...) but he still is deathly afraid of them. If any dog larger than a yorkie growels at him, my 23" 52 lb dog rolls over and pees. He won't get into water deeper than ~1 ft. If another dog is chasing his ball, he'll ALWAYS defer.

 

I'm not looking for a bad-ass dog, I just think his lack of confidence may be holding him back and I wonder if it was something I did.

[Root Beer]

I'm not looking for a bad-ass dog, I just think his lack of confidence may be holding him back and I wonder if it was something I did.

 

I used to wonder if I had caused Speedy's fear issues, but I got to a point where I realized that was useless. What mattered was doing everything I could to help him find the world to be a safer place. I know now that I didn't. It's his temperament. But it really took accepting that he is who he is before that really became clear.

 

I did tons of work with him with desensitization with the clicker and he did eventually gain a lot more confidence. There are still some things that he has never overcome his fear of, but for the most part, he is a happy dog who is not worried about the world he lives in.

 

Since manhole covers and teeters are predictable, you could use Premack for those. I've found that using Premack tends to build confidence in general, the more I use it.

 

Things appearing in the dark is tougher. If you think about it, that is something very reasonable to be cautious about! You could train some kind of "reset", though, to help him snap back to normal once the emerging dark figure is identified.

[Bordercentrics]

There is a lot of controversy over how early to spay/neuter. The two rescues I work with vary. One NEVER sterilizes early and places dogs on a spay/neuter contract. She has never had anyone fail to comply, as she keeps in close touch with her puppy adopters. She believes that pups need all the hormones they can get when they go through fear periods, otherwise they will remain fearful. Other rescuers always sterilize before placement, no matter how young the pup is. The jury is still out on this. Cerb could possibly be genetically predisposed to fear issues. All pups who are sterilized early do not have these issues. It is a tough call.

 

You need to be persistent and consistent in your desensitization program. It is hard to tell how long it will take with any individual dog. Also, some dogs go through fear periods later than others. Just keep at it. Cerb sounds like a sweetheart.

 

Kathy Robbins

[brady's mom]

I'm not sure if you tried it yet or not, but maybe do the Control Unleashed program with him? It helps to build control and confidence and has worked for some of Brady's little quirks (the 'go to your place' bit is absolutely amazing).

 

I hope he works through it though. ]:

[alligande]

I am also interested in this. My young man has just turned 2 and can only be described as a whimp, he has not been neutered. I think it is just his character, once he figures out something is not scary he is fine, eg the evil teeter once he realized he was in control of the movement he flies over even if it goes wrong there is no fear. On the other hand his older brother ran to the front of the house barking at something his reaction was to hide under my legs and stick his head under the coffee table. He looks to me to keep him safe and that is what I try to do, when I answer the door, Brody will be out front making sure all is well, Rievaulx hides behind my legs and just sticks his head around.