 Radar is afraid of people falling on him
#365281 - 08/15/2012 10:17 AM |
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I had a really bad fall a few weeks ago that fractured my foot and left a gash on my leg. On my way down, I fell on Radar who screamed and hit the end of the leash. We took him to the vet and he's just fine, vet couldn't even locate any tender spots that may be bruising. Most likely it just scared him, but my reaction to my own pain was less than calm.
Now the problem is whenever someone is walking him and they might stumble, lightly trip, scuffle their feet a bit more than normal, or if one of the feral cats in the area pops out of nowhere, he freaks out. Shakes, hits the end of the leash, looks around wild eyed waiting for something bad to happen, cringes. He basically acts like someone's beating him.
What can I do to build up his confidence and help him move past this? My own foot is healed enough that I can walk a moderate distance to work on this.
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: SamanthaTopper ]
#365282 - 08/15/2012 10:33 AM |
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I would gradually do 'fake" falls, starting off with just a gasp,then when he doesn't react to that, adding a fake stumble until he's not reactive. I had something similar happen to my last dog and I did this and it took awhile but eventually he forgot the bad experience. Poor Radar, it must have been terrifying for him and to know you were hurt. Good luck. Jodi
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: SamanthaTopper ]
#365283 - 08/15/2012 10:33 AM |
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I would gradually do 'fake" falls, starting off with just a gasp,then when he doesn't react to that, adding a fake stumble until he's not reactive. I had something similar happen to my last dog and I did this and it took awhile but eventually he forgot the bad experience. Poor Radar, it must have been terrifying for him and to know you were hurt. Good luck. Jodi
Edited by Connie Sutherland (08/15/2012 12:49 PM)
Edit reason: duplicate
My animals are not "like" family, they ARE family. |
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: Jodi Moen ]
#365298 - 08/15/2012 12:49 PM |
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I would gradually do 'fake" falls, starting off with just a gasp,then when he doesn't react to that, adding a fake stumble until he's not reactive. I had something similar happen to my last dog and I did this and it took awhile but eventually he forgot the bad experience. Poor Radar, it must have been terrifying for him and to know you were hurt. Good luck. Jodi
This sounds like a good idea to me. I wish I had thought of it. 
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: Connie Sutherland ]
#365303 - 08/15/2012 02:34 PM |
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Good advice from Jodi. I would only add this: Do you have a happy, silly, playful voice you sometimes use with Radar? If so, I would incorporate that into the "fake" falls. So you do a little deliberate gasp or stumble, followed immediately by your happy voice, "Oh, look at me, I'm such a klutz! That was silly, wasn't it," accompanied by whatever affectionate pats he's used to receiving from you. In other words, act like it was a silly, funny thing you did instead of something scary. But don't overdo your reaction. Just make light of it, then move on in a positive, no-nonsense manner.
I've used this technique on my own dogs over the years when they have become temporarily frightened by normal, everyday occurrences. Seems to work.
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: SamanthaTopper ]
#365307 - 08/15/2012 03:33 PM |
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I'm not so sure about this idea with a Malinois. You may end up with a dog that will never heel again. I think the cats are a separate issue.
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: SamanthaTopper ]
#365311 - 08/15/2012 04:59 PM |
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Steve wasn't the only one who thought this might make some dogs of a certain temperament a suspicious mess .... I got a couple of PMs saying this, and they made sense to me.
So .... yeah, I can see that.
Steve, are you thinking of handler-sensitive dogs?
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: SamanthaTopper ]
#365313 - 08/15/2012 05:04 PM |
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Handler sensitive and probably a little on the sharp, nervous side.
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: steve strom ]
#365315 - 08/15/2012 05:19 PM |
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Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting that the handler actually fall or go down on the dog, just mimicking some of the noises a person might make if they did go down. I totally agree cats would be an entirely different issue, but if the dog is afraid of someone shuffling their feet, I would shuffle my feet when feeding the dog, walking the dog etc. I agree it is a fine line with getting the dog over his new fear. Jodi
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Re: Radar is afraid of people falling on him
[Re: steve strom ]
#365316 - 08/15/2012 05:25 PM |
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I'm not so sure about this idea with a Malinois. You may end up with a dog that will never heel again. I think the cats are a separate issue.
I agree with this. I think that if the situation arose where something freaked him out, I would just continue on like there's nothing to be concerned about, give an easy obedience command, like heel or a position, and reward for obeying it.
Or, is so freaked out when it happens that he's beyond obeying a command? If I were to go down the desensitization route, I wouldn't start while on a walk, but just inside going about your daily business.....make the gasping noise then immediately give him a high value reward to start changing his attitude about it and making it a game.
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