I forgot about the fire truck.

[BrittanyMast]

I took Piper on our usual walk through town yesterday. She was doing beautifully. I have been trying to put her in all situations possible; however, I forgot about fire trucks. We're walking down the sidewalk and I see a fire truck, full sirens blaring coming towards us. I can see that she is starting to get nervous, put her head down and back away. Ijust keep praising and walking, "You’re ok, Piper" "Your safe,don't worry". She keeps her head down and backs up as fast as she can.Thankfully she's almost 6 months old and I definitely have her beat with weight... but boyis she strong. About 30 minutes later, after she calmed down I walked her bythe fire station/trucks about 10 times praising and giving treats. She was fine with the truck. I feel like she is approaching a fear stage. She gets very nervous when she hears other dogs bark, the wind, etc. Anys uggestions on how to get her use to that noise, as I do not want this to happen when she is older and weighs a lot more. Is there something I should have done differently?

 

[Kate Williams]

Just be consistant and wait out the stage. Don't back down on training during this time and keep socializing. IMO they get through the stage faster when you just keep moving through it. Some alone time helps them gain confidence so letting her hang in a fenced yard by herself is a good idea just stay close enough to peek on her every now and again. They need the confidence to quickly navigate the stage. Good luck with her. Remember this is a temporary stage it will pass.

 

[Geisthexe]

Ok I just want you to know that I am not being mean on what I am about to say bc what you did was wrong!

1st you NEVER patronize the dog when it goes into any behavior you do not want. By you say "it's ok" "don't worry you safe" YOU are rewarding her by voice bc I bet it was a high voice / frustrated voice but not a firm voice of correction. With this said ...

Then next time you get near something she starts to act afraid of DO NOT FORCE HER TO WALK PAST you want to stand there, allow her to watch it, listen to it. While you say nothing ignore her by voice. If she fights allow her to fight but allow her to work thru it.

While it is happening, she calms down while the noise is still on, call her to you ask her to look at you (assuming you have trained ie: focus/look/watch me*** and praise her.

Before you no it, if you allow the dog to work out the problem you will see the confidence in her build. By patronizing her you are creating a bigger problem later.

Now if the dog is afraid of the object.
Take the dog, while on leash, put a treat half way to it and walk the dog to the treat. Stop do not move from spot see if she starts to investigate, drop a treat half way again closer, walk dog up to the treat, again allow her to investigate,
Now drop the treat right in front of the object, walk her to the object & treat, if she comes up to it eats treat drop another and another while she doesn't argue with you and either just stands there looks at your or starts to investigate ... Your on a right path!!

Yes dogs go thru fear stages, make sure you recognize but do not baby thru it

Hope I haven't upset ya and given you some advice you can use .. I do this with all my students

 

[Tiger12490]

Ok I just want you to know that I am not being mean on what I am about to say bc what you did was wrong!

1st you NEVER patronize the dog when it goes into any behavior you do not want. By you say "it's ok" "don't worry you safe" YOU are rewarding her by voice bc I bet it was a high voice / frustrated voice but not a firm voice of correction. With this said ...

Then next time you get near something she starts to act afraid of DO NOT FORCE HER TO WALK PAST you want to stand there, allow her to watch it, listen to it. While you say nothing ignore her by voice. If she fights allow her to fight but allow her to work thru it.

While it is happening, she calms down while the noise is still on, call her to you ask her to look at you (assuming you have trained ie: focus/look/watch me*** and praise her.

Before you no it, if you allow the dog to work out the problem you will see the confidence in her build. By patronizing her you are creating a bigger problem later.

Now if the dog is afraid of the object.
Take the dog, while on leash, put a treat half way to it and walk the dog to the treat. Stop do not move from spot see if she starts to investigate, drop a treat half way again closer, walk dog up to the treat, again allow her to investigate,
Now drop the treat right in front of the object, walk her to the object & treat, if she comes up to it eats treat drop another and another while she doesn't argue with you and either just stands there looks at your or starts to investigate ... Your on a right path!!

Yes dogs go thru fear stages, make sure you recognize but do not baby thru it

Hope I haven't upset ya and given you some advice you can use .. I do this with all my students

I absolutely agree was thinking pretty much the exact same thing

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[BrittanyMast]

geisthexe, tiger12490
That's exactly what I was looking for! thank you so much!

 

[Mooshi's Mummy]

100% what Deb said.

 

[DennasMom]

Ditto! When Denna gets startled or acts afraid, I have her sit and look at me (which gets her a treat), then I try and figure out what did it... if I can figure it out - sometimes it's a flag or banner flapping in the breeze, we'll go back to "check it out". I let her go at her own pace, and if she doesn't approach it after a minute or two, I will... which normally gets her to follow me and see that, yeah, it's just a flag. We'll walk by it a few more times as it's flapping, just to prove to her that it wasn't worth worrying about. Depending on the collar you have, if it's not tight enough, the dog could back right out of it and RUN... so, double check your containment devices. We use a slip lead for that reason - there's no way she can back out of it!