My goal w/ this dog - watch dog for farm, personal companion dog for me. No PP or schutzhund goals. Altho I'm a fan of the sport and the dogs.

My experience? I'm 45 yrs old and trained my first dog at age 10. Had dogs and horses growing up. Trained my first horse at age 15. Have shown horses to national championships but haven't shown dogs. In grad school, trained a lab for off leash obedience work/tricks, then later had a rottweiler/great dane mix dog that would go everywhere w/ me and was totally trustworthy off leash.

Right now have an adopted chi mix and a blue dobie plus the GSD. Basic obedience means on leash and off leash work on sit, stay, come, go out, fetch, out (the ball), leave it, come, heel. Also do pack structure such as I'm always the first person in/out doors. Dogs must be calm/sitting before let out of their kennel, etc. Dogs called off each other (no hard play).

There is little opportunity where I live for others to socialize w/ my dog. I live on a 10 acre farm in the country and an hour or so from nearest major city. I don't want my dog to be friendly to other people. I do want her to be calm and obviously not to injure innocent bystanders! I don't want her starting dog fights.

When I take her to these events, I do walk her around on leash, heeling. Ask her to sit when people approach. She sits w/ me among other campers, etc. I've never heard of anyone having a dog stolen. Usually a horse gets loose and sometimes wanders off at night! It is an organized event run by a manager, often on private land, requiring registration and usually held in a remote area.

Not looking for the muzzle to fix the problem, just to add a safety factor.

Donna

The muzzle would indeed be an effective safety item.

However, the dog has made it clear that she is not OK in the situation she is being placed in.

What is near you where there is activity/people/dogs? I ask this because my plan would be to work with the dog at the edge of her circle of reactivity (to whatever: dogs approaching; people crowding around) with focus on me, with marker training.

I would only gradually increase the level of this kind of distraction while decreasing the distance (not both at once).

If you describe what scenarios you have to work with, I feel sure that we can describe a step-by-step approach to desensitizing the dog.

This is just me, but I would not take the dog with me again before doing this kind of work. For me, gradual desensitizing and focus work are set back by intermittent exposure to the full-blown situations that trigger the dog.

Thank you Connie for your advice. I'm grateful that you understand the issue. Marker training is something I've done w/ horses but haven't spent much time w/ the dogs. I think that's an excellent approach.

There is a state park near me where families camp and there are bike trails, hiking trails. I've taken her there before and she was shy about alot of things. I also have some friends that live on a lake not too far where alot goes on in the summer.

She could use help in new situations. Mostly was raised in a kennel. She was real spooky when I first got her but is now learning to accept new things w/ some hesitation. Still sometimes freaks out over new things. Like she is scared of me when I'm folding clothes - she shies when I shake out the jeans or whatever, and now whenever I fold clothes she slinks over to the other side of the room. to give an example.

I like this kind of work. I wish it wasn't needed, of course, but it can give huge satisfaction as you see how it improves the dog's life and confidence, and your bond with the dog.

Others will help, too, and I'll be back later, but an example of counter-conditioning is this kind of work around the flapping laundry: You could save a piece of the laundry-folding for before her dinner (hungry) and have some super-excellent treats ready (maybe bits of real cooked bacon). Then you could drape some laundry over your arm as you give her a treat. You could jiggle the laundry item as you give another treat (pretty much ignoring the jiggling laundry). Then you could call it a day for now. A big point for me is to start at a non-reactive point (non-moving laundry). If necessary with this dog, that could be the piece of laundry draped over a chair rather than your arm, THEN your arm, and so on.

P.S. I also want to add real quick that marker work is supremely confidence-building for the dog. There's nothing like it.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (04/14/2009 03:46 PM)
Edit reason: ps

I go to shows and camp sometimes too. My male GSD does not appreciate dogs getting in his personal space.
If I crate him in the car or in a crate in the tent - crates are padlocked etc. If he is out of my sight he is behind bars to keep him safe.

I then put up temporary mesh fencing, securely staked to make an enclosed 'yard'. This keeps dogs and people away from him at a distance where he is comfortable and he is in a crate so is perfectly safe.

Why put your dog in a place where it is going to get stressed?