[GSD246]

Need some help training Kaya. I'm at a complete lost on this and every trainer or training school has been closed for months. My issue is she goes off on strangers. She will not accept treats or toy distractions.

If they are around for over 10 minutes I can calm her down. But nothing less. I've even tried getting in front of her and she has snapped at me.

I know she's just scared. Nobody but family is around us due to covid. She was doing great before our first shutdown. It's like I just kind of lost her after that. I just wish I could get her around people and just work through obedience. Lucky for us though we don't have anyone gathering. At least it's lucky for not spreading the virus.

I have a vet appointment tomorrow but I don't think she'll be able to go. Because of covid I can't even go in with her. I can't imagine she'll be willing to walk in alone.

 

[Fodder]

is this your 14 month old?
that information is useful...
also, what does “going off” mean?

 

[GSD246]

Yes, she's 14 months old. By going off I mean she's growling and snapping at anyone that approaches us.

 

[Sabis mom]

Does she do this on leash or off leash? Does she do it when she isn't with you?

 

[GSD246]

Does she do this on leash or off leash? Does she do it when she isn't with you?

On and off leash. She doesn't go out with any else besides me. The other day we were running agility when someone came into the building early. Because of covid we sign up for timeslots online to reserve the building. She was not at all happy with that. Unfortunately we were finished and I was resetting the room for the next person. There is a fence around the training area. She did respect that boundary. She could have just knocked it over.

 

[Sabis mom]

How far from you does she get? A few feet? Or will she chase someone?

 

[GSD246]

How far from you does she get? A few feet? Or will she chase someone?

I really don't know. I've never given her the opportunity to actually go after anyone. I think she's just scared of strangers. She was kind of like that when I first took her home. It only lasted a few weeks. We went to 3 different puppy socializing classes a week and I took her to various different stores every weekend to meet with people since she hadn't had all of her vaccines yet.

She was doing great. Then things were shut down for us and they've been down for almost a year now.. We went on vacation for a week and had a dog sitter come to my house.. It was shortly after I returned that she started this behavior of going after strangers.

The sitter did allow a man who I never met come into my house. She never admitted to doing this. It was my neighbor's who told me about it. I wouldn't have minded her having a guest help out since we have 3 dogs. I just wanted to know about it. It's hard finding good sitters.

 

[Sabis mom]

Vet appointment. Put a muzzle on her and go. Usually vet clinics can provide muzzles if you don't have one.
My fear aggressive dog actually does better without me. So Covid works for her. It's more common according to my vet for dogs to do better without their owners.
As for the rest. Keep working on it. If she won't take treats give her more space. Just keep slowly bringing the distance down. My dog moved in inches, so it can be slow going.

 

[Chloé&Buck]

Hi,

You may simply not have "banilized" strangers enough.
My GSD was quite aloof and suspicious when I rescued him (10 months old at the time), then we had a very busy period of time with a lot of people coming to our house... and it definitely chilled him down. We also walk through quite busy places everyday, so he's got used to it.
Also, most shepherds I've seen react ways more intensely to an "isolated" person showing up in an otherwise quiet environment, than to a "crowd", like in a market environment for instance.
Though we practice social distancing, we still all walk our dogs in my area so we see people everyday on our usual walk. I don't know how it is where you live.
But anymay, until you can take her to at least midly busy places (like a walking path or park where several people are moving around), I'm not sure you will make great progress with this.
Because working 1/1 you make it easy for your dog's brain to "lock on to" its target and get into a reactive fit, whereas with a small crowd, the brain is kind of flooded and you can use this "hesitation" time to guide and reward your dog while he's not reacting (hope that makes sense).

 

[GSD246]

Vet appointment. Put a muzzle on her and go. Usually vet clinics can provide muzzles if you don't have one.
My fear aggressive dog actually does better without me. So Covid works for her. It's more common according to my vet for dogs to do better without their owners.
As for the rest. Keep working on it. If she won't take treats give her more space. Just keep slowly bringing the distance down. My dog moved in inches, so it can be slow going.

They gave me a muzzle to use. It was kind of pointless really. She relaxed the second they took the leash from me. No issues at all leaving me behind. She saw Bridget going in and was instantly on board with this plan. I must be screwing something up when I'm holding the leash.

Hi,

You may simply not have "banilized" strangers enough.
My GSD was quite aloof and suspicious when I rescued him (10 months old at the time), then we had a very busy period of time with a lot of people coming to our house... and it definitely chilled him down. We also walk through quite busy places everyday, so he's got used to it.
Also, most shepherds I've seen react ways more intensely to an "isolated" person showing up in an otherwise quiet environment, than to a "crowd", like in a market environment for instance.
Though we practice social distancing, we still all walk our dogs in my area so we see people everyday on our usual walk. I don't know how it is where you live.
But anymay, until you can take her to at least midly busy places (like a walking path or park where several people are moving around), I'm not sure you will make great progress with this.
Because working 1/1 you make it easy for your dog's brain to "lock on to" its target and get into a reactive fit, whereas with a small crowd, the brain is kind of flooded and you can use this "hesitation" time to guide and reward your dog while he's not reacting (hope that makes sense).

I do that. My biggest issue is people not respecting boundaries at all. One man ran up behind bumping into me so of course Kaya went airborn after him.

Once I find the right distance for her then everyone and their mom wants to try to pet her. Of course she just hates the idea of that. I really should see about getting a custom harness for her. We don't see too many people out right now but they'll be back out when the weather warms up again.

 

[Chloé&Buck]

Oh OK, if it's just about people bumping into you then it's not a huge issue I guess. Some "hand shake" exercises could help, where somebody comes to give you a hand shake but without paying any attention to the dog so she learns that people come and go with no consequences.
But I'm confused about this 10 minutes delay to calm her down you were talking about, in whch situation would you she be out of control for over 10 minutes ?

 

[GSD246]

Oh OK, if it's just about people bumping into you then it's not a huge issue I guess. Some "hand shake" exercises could help, where somebody comes to give you a hand shake but without paying any attention to the dog so she learns that people come and go with no consequences.
But I'm confused about this 10 minutes delay to calm her down you were talking about, in whch situation would you she be out of control for over 10 minutes ?

Bumping into me and running past is just kind of rude given how much space there was. I think he trying to move me out of his way by force rather than walking around me. But that isn't commom. I only bought it up since kaya came extremely close to getting her teeth on him.

10 minute delay is how long it takes me to get her use to a room with people in it. Eventually she does start to relax. Then she'll meet them on her terms. After that everything is fine and they can even hold her leash. But it completely resets the next time we see them again.

Anyway, I think your right. She just needs more opportunities to train around people and they'll come. For now I'm thinking about using a muzzles with the holes that allows treats. That might allow us to get closer to people once she is use to it. I'm not going to lie, I'm paranoid of her biting someone.

 

[JunoVonNarnia]

Juno and I still go to stores and just hang out in front (difficult during COVID times, I know), just watching people go about their business. Any store I can take her into, I will just so she can get used to strangers coming and going.

Maybe you could try this at a distance, and then make the distance less as she gets more comfortable.