Real quick here, I would like to just pose a question before I actually bring to light more specifically my situation.

I am wondering if anyone has experienced a time or fear period in which a dog has become inherently afraid of the owner or their actions with no actual abuse involved yet is better with strangers, new environments, etc?

-Lamarr

Really? Sounds odd, unless you UNKNOWINGLY did something to create this problem. But I can't imagine how that would happen.

I this the dog's owner & is this 'owner' the one that feeds, walks, trains & plays etc with the dog?

Is this a normally shy or fearful dog? How was this dog BEFORE with strangers?

I dont know if this will help you any, but when my male got to be about a year old he started pulling away from me acting like he didnt want anything to do with me. Yet, when someone eles would come over he would get so excited to see them go right up to them. I got to where I thought the dog didnt like me at all. What it was, is I would get busy going to work and daily stuff and it got to where the only time I would go to him is to grab him to make him go in his kennel or something he didnt like When I grabbed him I also was going over the top of him, without realizing what I was doing . He got to where he would draw back from me if I came near him. I was also, this sounds funny I guess but when I pet him I always did it softly, and he would always walk away from me. He likes to be petted firmly if at all. I would just start paying attention to some of the things that you do, maybe you dont realize your doing something that really annoys him

Great points and questions. I am the owner of this dog and have been since the dog was a pup. I do everything for her as well. She will be 2 in a few days. She has progressively been getting more afraid of me over the last few months. Nothing major, and I mean literally, has changed over this past year besides the usual training things. I can deal with the usual puppy antics of loving strangers but as she has been getting more fearful of me, she has been gravitating more to strangers. She loves them, always has, so nothing new. She has become more needy in wanting attention from everyone, but me. She is not a shy dog in the least and is forever curious and trying to get into new things. Ultimately, she is a great people/pet dog.

Now my issue isn't her being afraid of me always, but over me moving fast or any type of corection now and I even get a hesitation with petting her now. I did this experiment with a friend. I had them fain hitting her in the face, and she didn't do anything. I raised my hands straight up, and she screamed bloody murder as if I had been repeatidly beating her. That's to where it is now, but it has never been that bad over these past few months. Even will make a little peep if I look in her general direction fast. Other dogs are fine. So no issues there. Again, nothing has changed big over this year.

Now I am thinking she has become afraid not of me but my energy. I don't want to keep seeing my dog like this. I know I've done a horrible job explaining this, but any ideas are welcome. Ask away please.

-Lamarr

Sounds like maybe a trust issue, I would go back and try slowly doing things that she likes to do . maybe more time spent on fun things with alot of praise and treats. I think sometimes we or least I get caught up in routines and dont realize that I'm doing alot of pushing and grabbing to try to keep my schudule,My dog started thinking, what are you going to do to me now. Things changed back around when he turned two. I also made sure when I did reach for him I always did it underhand.

I can't tell from your post what kind of training you do or what kind of dog it is, both in terms of character and breed.

I did note the word "corrections" and wonder if you made some mistakes with corrections..

I think you should start from scratch with a marker based training system with lots of reinforcement.

I'd positively reinforce with super food treats any collar grab.

hope some of this helps. Andrew May

Lamarr,

What is your response when she does this? If she likes your response she'll continue the behavior.

My dog likes to go everywhere with my family; and enjoys the car alot. If you were to see him cower into the back of the car when we open the door to let him out you would swear he had been beaten..... other than me, noone else makes him get out of the car; they baby him and let him stay in there. And tell me "Ma, the dog didn't want to get out of the car" to which I go open the door, take his leash and he jumps out waggy tail....because I've never given in to the act.

Just to be on the safe side; I would have her checked out by a vet if you have not done so just to rule out a physical reason for her response.

Does she know basic obedience? If so I would keep all interaction between you and her to that level. Have her sit put on a leash and walk...no play; ignore her. Send her to her crate when guests come over and reduce the attention she is receiving so that she will begin to work for YOUR attention.

Good points by Debbie and Andrew....if in fact you have maybe unknowingly caused her to distrust you; I'd follow their suggestions.

Edited by Sheila Buckley (12/13/2010 07:53 PM)
Edit reason: To comment on previous post

So this dog I speak of is a rottweiler who has advanced obedience training and training in SchH. mainly in obedience and tracking. No bite work for a while now, and well before issue hit like it has been these past few months. Corrections are same as most, some leash, collar, or verbal corrections. Right now though, the corrections I am speaking of are just a simple "no", "leave it", "off", etc. with a little bit more emphasis than my usual speaking voice. As for marker training, this is a marker baby. Was only taught that way, and only will be. I have, since this started a few months ago, been toning down the corrections, playing and doing more fun activities with her, and using food/toy rewards as well.

She has still been getting more jumpy the less I pressure her. This however isn't the case with anyone else, 1) because most people won't yell or correct someone elses dog, or 2) most people don't understand what one little acknowledgement of a negative behavior can do. This last point brings me to another point I saw mentioned. The last thing I would do is actually reward her for any of these behaviors, at least not on purpose. I can guarantee you she doesn't like the response she gets as you can see it in her eyes. I do my best to stay calm about the situation and remove whatever she is going after rather than even touch her.
Another thing with touch, I always come from underneath her head now, bend to her level, etc. and she still flinches.

She has been cleared of everything. I want to put this out there too. This dog has always been very high strung and is all over the place regularly. The dog has a very short attention span( hard time focusing) and will chase a blowing leaf if given the opportunity. She finds enjoyment in the little things and she will pester strangers for hours with just the possible notion that they have to move eventually. I don't let her do this, but she has had made an effort. I will remove her from any situation like this where she begins to obsess.

Training is a daily occurrence, and when isolated she is great. But when you have a dog scream in public like how she does, it is grounds for animal services to be called. I could honestly care less about the embarrassment, but it is the look in her eyes that is killing me. It pains me to have my dog do this towards me. One more thing, of course it is possible I could have made mistakes, we all do. But to the degree with which she is reacting is as if she were a dog who has been actually abused for this past year. That is not something that I nor the people around me could have not noticed happening up until this point. She handles training well, these issues usually stem from when it is time for her to be just a dog. Our relationship as a worker to trainer is good but as two companions is horrible and getting worse. The training is having no positive effects on my relationship. And lets all be honest here, every game we play, every thing we do with our dogs, is a type of training session whether we meant to or not(reinforcement or learning something new).

I'm sorry, I know I haven't answered all the questions, but I can't think anymore at the moment. I'm still open, and have been still working on this daily. Talking about it really is helping me to stay calm and actually giving me a different perspective both from your responses and actually analyzing what I am actually doing daily. Thanks and keep 'em coming. Remember, I am doing my best to explain and sorry it might not be clear but keep in mind typing the situation is hard to put into words.

- Lamarr

What does your Schutzhund training director say?

I'd be contacting the breeder, and asking to speak with owners of other dogs from the same litter.

I think focusing on what and where things went awry is not the best use of your energy. Whatever has happened it seems to be getting worse so stop everything you are doing and begin again.

My suggestion is go back to square one and reestablish pack structure. Until you are the focus of her attention; I would not have her around other people or dogs. You mention she does well isolated then that should be your starting point. And introduce distraction very slowly. But I would not begin any obedience training until she was initiating contact with you.