I’m a little confused about the advice you have given regarding dogs who are timid with strangers. Can you explain the specifics of when each type of training is appropriate?

Question

Dear Ed and Cindy,

Thank you for providing such a large amount of information regarding dog training on your web site It is a wonderful resource that is much appreciated. I have also watched your Puppy Training video, and my husband and I are trying to follow the techniques you presented. I'm writing because I'm a little confused about the advice you have given regarding dogs who are timid with strangers on your web site and in your video. In some cases, your advice is to work with the dog and have strangers give the dog treats while in other cases, you advise keeping the dog away from others. Can you explain the specifics of when each type of training is appropriate? My husband and I have a 5 month old GSD female and a 9 year old Lab. The GSD is one of the best-behaved puppies I have ever met in many ways and gets along very well with our Lab, who completely ignores her at all times, which only seems to make her more fond of him. We do always, always, always supervise the two when they are together, but so far, no issues have emerged and we're pleased with the relationship between the two dogs. The puppy was easily house-trained and crate-trained, and she is very good about not chewing on things she is not supposed to chew on.

One quality that we are trying to improve is her shyness around new people. Socialization has been our primary method for dealing with this issue so far. She currently goes to daycare 3 days a week and has exhibited no aggression or fear of the people or dogs at the daycare. The daycare staff temperament test every dog for fear and aggression before allowing it into the daycare and at least one staff member is always supervising the dogs, which are grouped by size/temperament. I can also check in on the dogs at any time via a web cam, so I feel comfortable that the environment is as safe as possible. We also took her to my parents' house for the first time a couple of weeks ago. She did not show any fear or aggression toward my parents, my brother, or their 17 month old GSD. In fact, she ate out of my mom's hand and let my dad feed her and let her out without a problem. She played with my parents' dog and at no time appeared frightened or aggressive.

However, when we take her walking (which we do at least twice a day every day she is not in daycare), she seems quite concerned about other people and dogs. She expresses her concern by barking and moving away. My practice is that as soon as I notice the other person, I move to the side of the path away from the stranger and ask her and our other dog to sit and wait until the person/dog have passed and then we continue our walk. I correct her for barking by popping the leash and saying ?hush? and stay between her and the stranger because I think that is what a pack leader would do. Her behavior does not seem to have improved or worsened since I started this practice about 6 weeks ago, so I think either the method is not appropriate or I am not doing something correctly.

We are also enrolled in a Puppy Obedience class at our local pet store. The trainer seems to have many of the same views you do about positive reinforcement for puppy training and the importance of being the puppy's pack leader. We are currently working on 'sit' and 'wait' at the door before going out and coming back in. The puppy has already learned 'leave it', 'drop it', and 'give' (for giving a toy rather than something the puppy isn't supposed to have) commands as well as 'watch me' and 'down'. We try to incorporate these commands into our daily routine and try to use them frequently throughout the day rather than just using them during a training session. Also, as part of the class, we traded dogs with another owner (there are only 3 puppies in the class), and practiced giving commands to another person's dog. Our puppy did take treats from and obey commands given by another couple without too much difficulty. She was a little hesitant at first, but once she figured out what was expected, she obeyed and went into the 'down' and 'settle' command and let the couple stroke her while she was lying on the floor without fear or aggression. Our trainer has advised us to ask strangers to give the puppy treats when we are out walking to help overcome her shyness, but the first time my husband tried, the puppy wouldn't go anywhere near the stranger. He did not reward her for that behavior nor did he correct her for it, but we're not sure if we should continue the practice.

I'm concerned about how to handle this issue because I know that the puppy's shyness now could develop into fear biting or aggression later, and I am determined to do everything possible to help her become a well-behaved animal. So, back to my question, what is the appropriate method for dealing with this puppy's shyness? I know we need to continue working on pack behavior and make sure that she understands she is at the bottom of the pack and that we are supposed to protect her (not the other way around), but her nature seems to be quite submissive already ? she requires low levels of corrections, is rarely disobedient, and when she greets dogs she feels comfortable with, she licks their mouths. But, should we continue to try to have strangers feed her treats or should we just focus on keeping her away from them? If the current solution is to keep her away from strangers, how and when should we transition her so that at some point, she can calmly greet others? I'd like to get her obedience to a level good enough to pass the Canine Good Citizen test. On the other hand, if we should continue to have strangers try to feed her treats, do you have any recommendations for overcoming the puppy's reluctance to approach the stranger? Is it possible that we haven't done a good enough job of convincing her that we are her pack leaders and so her reluctance is based on her discomfort with our leadership? I don't expect her to ever be as people-loving as our Lab, but my goal is to get her to a point where she doesn't feel threatened by strange people and dogs.

Sorry for the long length of the message, but I figured you would get a better picture of the situation.

Thanks for your help,
Gail

Accepted Answer

I’d probably take the no treat route with your dog. Let her know that you aren’t going to put her in a position to make her worried and uncomfortable. At 5 months old she’s still a youngster and very impressionable.

I’m not a fan of dog day cares, but especially discourage them for puppies. Too many ways that a problem can occur and you really have no way of knowing what happened. Growing dogs, like growing kids, go through phases where they start to behave differently and that’s typically when you see problems between dogs that previously got along.

In my experience, there really is no reason for my dog to be getting from other people and dogs what I am supposed to provide. Those things are exercise, leadership and attention. I don’t want another dog dominating my dog, I don’t want another person disciplining my dog, and in many cases the people who work at these places (I’m not saying it’s the case at your facility, but in general) aren’t well versed in dog body language and signals. Doggie day cares and dog parks were invented for people, and while the idea is nice we get emails every single day from people who have been taking their dogs to these places and then get into a situation that they never expected.

I’d recommend our groundwork article and Pack Structure for the Family Pet.

We recommend this work for EVERY dog, but shy dogs or dominant dogs especially benefit.

I would direct you to the search function in the upper left corner of the web site for any additional questions you may have.. If you type in your key words it will guide you to articles, Q & A’s and posts on our forum.

I hope this helps.

Cindy