Vermont_BC Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 Hello there. I could really use some advice on insecurity and aggression. My 10 month old male BC is insecure around strangers. We do obedience and agility training, and I am always working with him on something. I think the long winter of limited socialization has made him very unsure of strangers. If we are on leash, he will retreat and bark if someone approaches him directly. Understandable, yet it becomes a big issue if people want to say hello to him. If we are on leash walking among people there is no issue. Worse yet is his behavior off leash on trails or around the house. He will charge people, get all ruffled up, bark at them and circle. This is the part that is beginning to border on aggression and has me concerned. I know that BC'S are not golden retrievers and tend to be more cautious. We have gone to being on leash all the time but I want my dog to be social and understand that new people are a good thing not scary. He is very dog friendly and highly socialized there. If these people strangers come with dogs they are automatically cool people and he loves them. Also if we meet new people at historically fun places (our training facility, where he goes for daycare, etc) then those people must be cool too. Any advice on how to deal with the off leash behavior would be great. Or stories on skittish, fearful, brash BCs. We are working on improving our recalls and I often carry one of his toys when we are on the trail. I'd hate for him to be on leash forever or for this to turn toward nipping or biting. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermont_BC Posted April 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 I should also mention that all of his training has been positive reinforcement. I try to put him in situations where he will be successful and increase his confidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess's Girl Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 First, I would stop letting people approach him directly and say hello to him. My Tess was a bit nervous around new people when I got her. She improved dramatically when I stopped asking her to let people pet her and instead let her approach people on her terms. I always paired new people with a tasty treat or her ball for a reward, but I didn't make her get very close or let them touch her if she didn't approach them first. If people tried to approach her I would just say, "I'm sorry, she's shy." I also went to a local walking track, took a blanket and sat down far enough away from the track that Tess was aware of the people walking by, but wasn't nervous about them. As people approach I continually treated her, and they walked away I quit. After a few sessions she began to associate the approach of new people with good things. Tess still could really care less about meeting new people, but she is no longer nervous or cautious around them. I let her choose whether or not she wants to let them pet her. I don't have any specific recommendation about the off-leash behavior. It's great that you've gone to on-leash for now. You can also use a long line, that way he has a little more freedom but you still have control. I'm sure other members will chime in with some advice. The members here are very knowledgeable and their advice is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermont_BC Posted April 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 Good tips thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 Pretty much what Tess's girl has said. I'd add that some people will want to ignore your requests - you must do something to keep your dog feeling safe. Tell people he's in training, (which he is) tell them that you don't have time to chat, even step between the well-meaning but not so dog savvy person who is trying to pet him. You can also be pro-active and ask people to help train him. Something I've had good results with is doing a sort of curving in towards the scary thing and away, in a comfortable pace. Gibbs has done well at this. So just ask the friendly stranger to stand there and you do 2 or 3 passes at the curving in and away with your boy. If you watch well socialized, friendly dogs greet each other off leash, that's what they frequently do for their first couple passes. It's pretty neat to watch. I'd do this routine once or twice for each outing, assuming you find a friendly stranger to help you. Your job in the above exercise is to stay relaxed and matter of fact. You can do a quiet 'good boy' or a head scratch, if he responds well to those. It's great that your boy likes other dogs so much, and that he's more at ease with people if they have dogs with them. Smart boy! Good luck, and let us know how you get on. Ruth and Agent Gibbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camden's Mom Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 What you describe your boy doing off leash is exactly how my boy started to act as he entered adolescence. All of the details are the same: didn't happen in familiar places or if the other person had a dog, etc. The off leash behavior surfaced rather suddenly, so I was shocked and caught off guard. I immediately instituted a regiment of prevention because I didn't want him practicing this behavior and have it become more ingrained. You've already been given lots of fantastic advice so I'll try not to repeat what others have said. What I wanted to add was work we did on leash that helped us tremendously once we got back off leash. For whatever it's worth I began to realize that my dog was sensitive to changes in his environment. If we'd been out walking the first person whose path we crossed really startled him and would be far more likely to set him off then anyone we'd pass afterwards. To help with this specifically I'd walk Camden on leash and as soon as he saw someone off in the distance I'd acknowledge that I saw them as well. I'd make it no big deal, usually saying in an upbeat voice "I see him, it's fine". Even though he wasn't reacting to the person in the distance I wanted him to understand that I was also aware of our surroundings and could handle any situation that might come up. Between blocking people from approaching him when he wasn't comfortable and nonchalantly acknowledging people entering our environment we built up a lot of trust. Another thing we did on leash was practice set behaviors when we encounter other people on a walk. For example, when we pass a runner or another person walking I'd ask him to heel up with me and rewarded heavily. If a biker or horseback rider was passing I'd ask him to sit and reward heavily. As a result, by asking for these behaviors every.single.time we passed someone, he eventually began to do it on his own without any cue at all! IOW, he's new default behavior, upon seeing someone while on a walk, is to come back to me and give me his focus. This is still a work in progress (he's nearly 2 years old) but we do this on every walk, so he gets to practice it daily and keeps getting better! By doing all of this work on leash it did a LOT to help him deal with changes in his environment off leash. Does he run up and heel to me every time he sees someone off leash? No, but he DOES look back at me as if to let me know "someone's comin' mom!" and I have about a 3 second window to say either "OK, you can say hi" or instruct him to come back to me. Still the biggest hurdle for my boy, even after doing all of this work, is that first person we encounter. The longer we've been out without seeing anyone the worse the reaction. Once we've passed the first person he seems to understand that we'll be seeing more people and he's extremely trustworthy off leash. For now, when we go for an off leash hike I always leave him leashed up until we see someone else on the trail. I hope there will be a day when he spots that first person and doesn't freeze and stiffen up, but until then we'll just do what works for him. Good luck, I know this behavior is startling and frustrating but you can work through it. Be patient, go at his pace and do everything in your power to prevent him from ever getting a chance to practice this behavior again. Oh yeah, and keep us posted on how it's going!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermont_BC Posted April 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 I am so thankful for such detailed replies. We now have a game plan! Thank you so much. I will let you all know how we progress :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vermont_BC Posted May 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 Update! Mica is doing fantastically well. Strategy on the hikes is working great. Socializing with people is going great too. Thanks again for the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 Great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camden's Mom Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 Wonderful news!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 Great to hear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted May 11, 2014 Report Share Posted May 11, 2014 That is awesome news - keep up the good work. Ruth and Agent Gibbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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