I was wondering how many of you have had success working with a shy dog to over come his fears. If so, how did you go about it? Did you use motivation only?

The reason I ask; I have a less than ideal temperament male shepherd. He has a lot of play/prey drive.
While I know this dog will never be a truly stable dog, am I kidding myself thinking I can rehabilitate him? I know this is a genetic issue and I can’t perform magic, but could I help him calm himself and deal with people and new situations?

Let me give you an example:

Dog and I can be heeling around and he is doing fine. All of a sudden he hears or sees something and perceives it as a threat. He will give a little alarm bark and then a growl. As soon as I distract him with the toy or food, he goes back to the open mouthed good expression dog he was just 3 seconds ago.
I have tried working him in new situations and feeding him whenever people approach. If it is too much for him, I back away creating more distance between the dog and the strangers. I’m trying to get it through to him that people bring good things, food, toy, etc.


I know it’s almost impossible for anyone to assess his temperament in a few words, but I’m sure you all have seen this type of nerve bag dog. Unfortunately I happen to have one of them. I was just wondering if I’m in a state of complete denial.

Thanks for your help. Any input would be appreciated.

You as your dog's pack leader decides who is and who is not a threat. You must teach your dog that while you are walking the people around you are not a threat. You do this by correcting your dog when he shows aggression at inappropriate times. Email Richard he will tell you how his dog determines who is allowed in the house and who is not. The point is you must show your dog that it is you that who determines this not you.

...not him.

Vince P

Thank you for the reply. I have tried correcting him for his aggression, I have corrected him so hard (on the prong collar) that he will lie down and wet himself, but the dog continues to woof woof growl while he is on the ground. I have also used the e-collar with some success. No matter how strong the correction, the behavior will not stop.
I can only make it stop if I redirect his attention to food or the toy.

Could you give me an example of how you would correct the dog?
I don’t want him to see strangers and new situations as bringing on compulsion; won’t this just make the dog worse? I understand if the dog was stable and had a good temperament, it would make sense, but with a dog that is already a nerve bag?

I also understand that timing is of the utmost importance, I don’t want to praise him with food and toys for acting out aggressively, nor do I want him to associate the correction with people coming near.

Could you maybe give me an example of how you would go about correcting this type of dog?

Again, thank you for your help.
Julie

Wow. Tough one. For 90% of dogs correcting them for this behavior and then having the stranger feed him (through a muzzle if necessary) usually works. But you have tried this and you are correct that you do not want to associate strangers with corrections. This is difficult but if done correctly will work. If you can determine when this behavior occurs and feed him just before he acts aggressively he will associate the stimuli that makes him react aggressively with positive reinforcements, which will extinguish the behavior. Example: people with blue shirts spook him and he growls at them. As soon as you meet someone with a blue shirt before he reacts aggressively feed him with something he loves or play ball if his prey drive is stronger than his food drive. Soon he will be seeking out people with blue shirts.

PS. The key to this is BEFORE he reacts aggressively or he will associate the aggressive reaction with the positive reinforcement, which will only reinforce the undesirable behavior.

Vince P

Thank you for the help! I will keep working on this and we’ll see what happens.