Advice needed!!

[OutLaw]

So my cane corso pup Outlaw is about 7 months old. I taught him how to sit and lay down, we are now working on focus. When we got him he was extremely fearful of everything and anyone. He was not socialized properly. He and I have a very strong bond and he now loves to play with my mothers Doberman knuckles he also doesn't mind the two toy poodles either. He is friendly and loving towards everyone in the household, but if a new person enters the house he barks and growls at them. His reaction worries me a bit and I've been giving whoever enters the house a treat to feed him so he calms down. He is also very scared and afraid of other dogs that he doesn't know. My friend brought her pit bull over and we tried introducing them I couldn't get him to calm down and stop barking and growling. I want to socialize him but I'm not sure how to start, could someone please give me some advice?

 

[scorning]

It sounds like your puppy needs more time and space to become comfortable with new people and animals. Instead of asking him to interact with new people and animals right away, I would try going to places where he can see them from a distance. The distance should be far enough away that he doesn't react. Then you can treat him for remaining calm. You can reduce the distance over time, trying to keep him under threshold at all times.

At home, you can do the same thing by using gates or a crate where the dog is contained at a distance and can see people but not interact with them. You can treat the dog for remaining calm, then gradually close the distance and/or remove the barrier while keeping the dog on the leash.

The point of these exercises is to give the dog lots of opportunities to be around new people and dogs without having any bad experiences, and to have the appearance of new people/dogs actually be an indicator that something good (treat) is going to happen. I'm actually working through this with my Great Dane right now. My goal for him is to just ignore people and animals around him. I don't think he is a dog that will ever enjoy being touched by strangers, but he should be comfortable enough to be around them without negatively reacting.

 

[DennasMom]

I would also recommend getting OUT of the house to meet other dogs in neutral territory.

It sounds like you're making good progress, but he's still not interested in sharing his own home with strangers. I think he needs to meet more 'strangers' (dogs and people) out in fun places - like strip malls or ON-leash parks where you can observe people/dogs from a distance and make sure he's comfortable just observing before you take him in closer to actually meet or interact with the strangers.

In the home, I would work on just a very strong "place" command... and make sure he knows that's a safe space - where strangers will NOT approach him, where he can observe the new people without fear of needing to protect himself. Strangers should come in and IGNORE him... and randomly maybe toss him a treat without actually looking at him or making eye contact, so just them being in the room makes treats "appear".

Once he's comfortable observing from a distance and can remain calm on his 'place' during visits, you can have the strangers try to entice him to come to them, with treats, baby talk or toys. If he doesn't engage, go back to ignoring him. If strangers sit on the floor, versus up on a chair, that might help him be more curious about the whole thing, too.

I would also say when he barks and growls at new people coming into the house, don't get angry or mad at him. Don't yell "NO" at him - he's trying to tell you he's uncomfortable, and asking for your help. I would calmly leash him up and remove him to his crate or a back room to let him know you don't need his "protection", and YOU will protect HIM by removing him from the uncomfortable situation. If he's ok with that, you could leave the crate/room door open, so he can choose to come check out the new people on his own timeframe.

Anything and everything you can do to boost his confidence will help. Teach tricks - so you can praise him for doing as asked - take him on walks to new places to explore and really encourage him to be curious about new stuff (people, places, dogs, objects, etc.). It might take time, but he'll come around as long as you're consistent, patient and generous when he's done something you like.

 

[Courtney H]

I ha e found dogs are more territorial in their homes, so I agree that bringing them to a neutral area is best. Even the yard would be better than in the house.