Quote: jose miguel gome

Thank you for all your comments.

Yesterday we started a "program" of taking him to new locations as regularly as my girlfriend can.

We took him to a new place with few distrations. He was really engaged with her and followed her everywhere. Despite that, he didn't ate food very well. I'm not sure if it had to do with being fed 5 hours ago or if it had to do with fear/anxiety in the new enviromment.

What do you think?

Is there any measures to be taken inside the house to make him a little bit more confident?

This is going to take time; you are not going to see a huge change in one or two sessions. If the dog is not engaged with you and not interested in working, it might be helpful to simply expose him to the site a few times with no stress/work and then begin to add in training sessions. And yes, a hungry dog is far more interested in food than one with a full stomach. Once you get to the point of actually working the dog in the strange places, do so before his meal and perhaps even skip a meal and then take a very high reward treat - cut up beef or chicken perhaps?

In regard to what to do at home to build his confidence - it was suggested earlier and I can only "ditto" that recommendation - Marker Training. It is probably the single best thing you can do for this dog while at home and then you can use it anywhere. There is tons of free information and ebooks on this site which will get you started. Today! It is that easy to learn and will work wonders with your dog.

Start marker training, continue taking your dog to quiet, no stress sitations, give him time to become comfortable, then start adding fun, no stress training (using markers) when your dog is hungry and using high value treats. Patience is the key with an insecure dog.

I'm going to let someone else advise on the "going for her ankles" but it will be helpful to know if she is running when this occurs or just walking next to him. It would not hurt to have a toy, rope, tug or towel in hand to distract and engage him with when he does this.

 Quote: barbara schuler

I'm going to let someone else advise on the "going for her ankles" but it will be helpful to know if she is running when this occurs or just walking next to him. It would not hurt to have a toy, rope, tug or towel in hand to distract and engage him with when he does this.

Hello Barbara and thank you for the help.

The "going for her ankles" happens both when she is running (making drive) or walking next to him on a normal walk. It happens sometimes, not all the times.

 Quote: jose miguel gome

The "going for her ankles" happens both when she is running (making drive) or walking next to him on a normal walk. It happens sometimes, not all the times.

I would just redirect with something appropriate (toy/rag/etc...). Stay away from correcting him at this point while you are trying to build his confidence. All positive and upbeat.