Our 16 week old female has gotten scared of people over the past three weeks or so. She pulls and tries to run when strangers try to approach her. We have taken her to puppy class at the local petsmart and she does well in that setting. She is a little nervous walking around the store, but she does fine. We walk her twice daily and if other walkers don't pay her attention she is fine. However, when someone wants to approach her she gets scared. We have had her for 7 weeks and she loved people at first even allowing them to pick her up or pet her with no probs. We take her to the local farmers market and to the park on a regular basis. Other than this issue she is a very well behaved and as well trained as a16 week old can be. I asked the vet at her 16 week visit and she just said she needs more socialization. I really don't know how we can do more than we are.
After she is around a person for 5 or 10 minutes she is less nervous and does let them pet her but the casual contacted person, she freaks. Any suggestions?
She doesn't need to be petted and fussed over by a bunch of strangers. I'm generally friendly and outgoing, but I'd freak out to if random strangers started approaching me regularly to fuss and gush and interact. Some people would love the attention - me - not so much.
Socialization is only works if it is positive. Show her that strangers are neutral, if people want to interact, tell them your puppy is in training at the moment and it is not a good time. She may be more accepting as she gets older, but if all you get is her calmly ignoring people, that is a win.
She doesn't need to be petted and fussed over by a bunch of strangers. I'm generally friendly and outgoing, but I'd freak out to if random strangers started approaching me regularly to fuss and gush and interact. Some people would love the attention - me - not so much.
^ This. So much of this. I was with a close friend upon her request when she went to visit her Golden Retriever's breeder and meet the puppies, and the breeder brought this up when I requested her thoughts on early socialization. What Castlemaid said were her exact words. And that's coming from someone who breeds a dog that's considered one of the most "friendly and outgoing" of dog breeds.
I'm also of the opinion that a dog doesn't need to be loved on by perfect strangers every time you go out with them. I would take time to reflect on what her body language is telling you and respect that she feels uncomfortable in those situations. I think it's more important to consider how your dog is feeling rather than what your vet is feeling in this scenario.
I would work on engagement with her out in new environments and build her trust in you. Don't worry about greeting people, have her out experiencing sights, scents and sounds. Take her places and have short training/play sessions and make it fun for her.
Our female GSD started doing the exact same thing around the same age. She continued to be fearful for a while, and then became reactive. However, she was never aggressive. Now, she is almost 18 months old and I have seen the reactivity severely drop off after she turned a year old. We worked with neutral socialization for a long time, but she finally seemed to grasp it after she turned about a year old. Don't worry if socialization is always an ongoing, changing process for you and your girl. It can take a long time, but eventually she should start to settle down. We don't let anyone pet our dog, and we even discourage strangers from looking at her directly in the eye. Some dogs are just more temperamental than others.
I would work on building the good drives. Prey and social drive. So treats/obedience in social drive, and prey drive with a toy when around strangers, etc. You want her to be able to switch into those drives in seconds.
And hopefully with enough repetition and consistency and since she is still so so young, she will automatically assume social drive in those situations, or at the very least switch into social drive from defense drive.
You also have to show her that you are her advocate. Speak up for her, and tell people to ignore her until you can read in her body language she truly is 100% comfortable and is in social drive and than people can toss treats, give treats, etc. Some dogs just dont care for strangers. (Not saying they are defensive, aggressive, or scared- they just couldn't care less a stranger is around, they are more worried about where you are and what the next agenda is going to be!)
Just some thoughts.
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