Have you neutered this dog yet? If not I think he needs to be ASAP. I also think letting people feed him treats at the puppy park would also be a good start. He needs to know if your not worried then he shouldn't be either. Take his favorite toy or food and have people interact with him and you and ignore fearful behavior. Keep working at it, he's still young. As for the vet thing many dogs that are fine elsewhere freak out at a vet clinic. I worked for a vet for 8 years and the smells alone in the clinic would set animals into a panic.

Brenda wrote:

***Richard,
I agree with you but he's already growling and snarling. I'm scared to let anyone near him now. I'm afraid he will bite.***

Brenda,
I can definitely relate to your concerns and fears, but they should not prevent you from socializing your puppy. In your case I would strongly recommend using a muzzle when introducing him to strangers and especially children. Other than obvious benefits, it will give you peace of mind, confidence and will help you relax enough to approach people with your dog on loose lead (very important) and not jerk on the lead every time you even "think" he may bite. If you are afraid -- and you can't help not being afraid -- your dog will perceive this as a threat coming from a stranger. I would use a basket-type wire muzzle that would allow him to pick up small treats.

Good luck and keep us posted <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> .

Hi Brenda, I am going to add my two cents to this. I have a dog who has bad nerves and I was still able to work with him.
What I would do, is as everyone else says socialize him totally. But having said that, find the distance that he is comfortable with when kids or men are around.
Keep him loose leashed,(if you tighten the leash when approaching men or kids, he will get protective and feed off the tight-leash language). Get him used to the comfort distance and gradually slowly move closer each day or two. Just by an inch or so. When you are at a comforable distance let the men or kids give him a treat (one of your own treats). This should desensitize him from the fear. If he does growl, I would redirect him with something else, like heel. Don't have people leave when he growls, but you can. If the people do, then they are reinforcing his growling.
As far as the e-collar goes, I would learn from Ed's tapes how to use it before even considering it(unless of course you already know). You can mess a good dog up by not using it correctly. I don't know what you had in mind for it, but if you pair it with kids and zap for growling when they are around he may pair the kids with the unpleasant zap of the collar, making things much worse. There are good ways to use the collar with the lower settings, but you must time it correctly and understand the principles first. You are lucky that he is a pup, he can still be worked with, in my opinion, but the work has to start immediately. Is he going to be a pet, or do you have a job for him eventually?

If you plan on using the Ecollar for this one send a private message to Uncle Lou.

Phyllis,
Thanks for your "two cents". I appreciate everyone's input and feel this is a wonderfully helpful web site! I am working with a trainer from "Sit Means Sit" as I don't know the proper way to use an e-collar. I'm not fond of them but Brian will teach and guide me. I depend totally on the professionals and will listen carefully as I don't want Tanner to end up worse. Tanner and Tessie are pets only. I love the Shiba Inu breed and am totally happy with both of my dogs. I'm the type of person who will "research a situation to death" in order to learn. I also rely on others support who have had a similar experience. I want to make sure I handle this correctly. Whatever the case may be we truly love Tanner. I will probably be on this board often and hope all of you don't mind my rambling. You guys are great and I feel so much better knowing you're just an e-mail away! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Karmen,
I forgot to answer your question, yes, Tanner has been neutered. Now my legs, cats and anything else he could hump are safe! I brought treats to the puppy park last night, great suggestion. Only trouble is I get a pack of dogs at my feet, I'm quite popular!

OK folks, I finally caught up with this thread. I saw my name mentioned a couple of times. If ever you think I should chime in on a topic and I haven’t, just drop me an email. I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers but I know a few things.

This is one of those problem areas where I don’t like to get involved. Someone’s description of a dog as a fear biter is someone’s else’s dog-aggressive dog. People don’t always diagnose problems the same way.

Brenda, you say that you’re in Las Vegas and have used Fred Hassen’s “sit means sit” (what a great name for a dog training business) methods. I wonder why you haven’t gone back to them for more training??? Most everyone knows that Fred and I have parted ways. We don’t agree on lots of things regarding the use of the Ecollar.

Usually the recall will cure lots of the fearfulness so I wonder if you’ve done any of this work. If so what have the results been. If not, why not???

I rescued a dog like this. He had been seriously abused (by animal regulation no less) and was convinced that everyone was his enemy. It took me a couple of weeks of hand feeding and just sitting by his run to convince him that I was his buddy. He tried to bite me twice but I overlooked it. My fault, I pushed him too fast. It took months of feeding treats and petting while he wore a muzzle, to convince him to tolerate other folks. He never friendlied up except to those people who spent at least a week hand feeding him. Everyone else stayed his enemy. He’d tolerate their presence and petting, but didn’t enjoy it at all.

But you’re problem is with a puppy and that’s a bit different. I’d try the Ecollar to teach the recall, providing that you know how to do that. That will go a long way to curing his insecurity and will focus his attention on you.

I’d work on having strangers feed him but if he’s the slightest bit snappy, I’d make sure he wore a muzzle so they were safe.

I WOULDN'T use the Ecollar as a means to correct eiether his shyness or his aggressiveness. Using it like this is likely to increase the problem rather than make it go away.

Lou,

We don't want to bug you if you are busy!!! Sooner or later you will catch up.