Hi everyone. Surfing the net trying to answer my question, and again I end up here!

I've been doing working on the distraction phase iwth my 1.5 y.o. pekingese. She's very friendly with dogs and people. I'm trying to get her to "stand" "stay" and have a friendly stranger walk up and pet her. Her problem is that when someone approaches she backs up a few steps barking, and then walks up to meet/greet them. When she's not doing OB, she'll run towards people barking aggressively (I discourage this) and then greets them joyously.

I'm thinking this is fear based in some way, but her body language does not seem to indicate fear except for the backing up. Perhaps it's because she's small? I would think the world is quite an intimidating thing to a little dog.

We've been doing the distraction work in a Walmart parking lot, so it's really high distraction and she does really well with most things, including the down stays. Just can't handle people walking up to her without moving. BTW-She's never been stepped on.

Any suggestions?

Roz,
What have you tried to correct this behavior?

Marina

Hi Marina.
I've only tried to do the stand, stay, stranger pet thing twice. When she starts to bark and break the stay I give her jerks on the correction collar and tell her NO. She stops the barking, but then looks confused and goes into a sit.

Like I said, I've only done this twice so far. Wanted to get suggestions before practicing some more with her. Don't want to confuse her.

Roz - if you are not going to do competition work with your dog I am wondering why you are asking your dog to be exposed to strangers this way?

If you are doing AKC obedience compatition then I understand. But if this is just a pet issue - why put your dog through the stress if you dont have to.

I kind of look at it like "why sweat the samll stuff" There are other more important things to deal with for pets. Like coming when called, going to your crate when told to, being quiet when told and doing a down stay when asked to.

If you are doing sport work - well my post does not apply.

Ed

I would like to try competition OB with my dog. So-is this a behavior I can/can't break? I don't really worry about breaking her spirit. She's incorrigible.

Even if I don't compete, I don't think she can pass the Canine Good Citizen with this behavior.

I know-don't sweat the small stuff. But I would like to push her to her best limits. Also pushed me to my limits and learning as a trainer. Besides-people are pretty amazed at a well behaved foo foo dog.

I would first ensure that I have a rock solid stand under MY distractions - I can run around the dog, past him, throw food near him, drag a toy past him, circle him, etc and he won't budge. I can push on his shoulder or hip and he won't move a foot, he'll push back against me to keep his balance without moving. If I offer food 12" from his nose, he won't step forward to get it - he'll wait til I bring it to him. If you don't have that yet, you're not ready for strangers anyway.

Once the behavior is that solid, ask a person to walk past your dog, parallel to him, not towards him, at whatever distance is comfortable for the dog - 6', 10'. Your job is to stay close, praise correct standing,and intermittently treat for the solid stand while the other person walks around. If that's no problem, try having the person walk perpendicular to the dog, across his front, without staring at the dog. If he can walk past the dog closely without it bothering the dog, then he can pause for a second and offer food and continue walking by. When you finally try having the person actually approach, have them approach perpendicular to the dog, walking towards his ribs, not head on. The person or you can treat, and then they walk away, then introduce the stroking and walk away.

Thanks Lee. Upon reflection, maybe I have been going too fast and she's not ready for this high level of distraction. I'm sure she would not stand stay if I started running around her. Sit stay or down stay-yes, but not stand stay. Hmmm. .. What's the dif?