Socializing
 

Max and I had our first informal training session today with a big dog. I was very brave and didn't panic, but I forgot to do my part giving commands and praising. Luckily the neighbor who owns the big dog is advanced enough to be a professional trainer and she did a great job handling me.

How did Max do, you ask? :p Very well. He sniffed the other guy and he spent 10 minutes just sitting side by side with him. Both the dogs had already had long walks.

Max has a problem passing other dogs because he thinks he needs to protect me, and his little brother Teddy. My father has been taking Max for his morning walk over the past week and he has not barked at other dogs.

My goal is to teach Max that he doesn't need to protect me or bark at other dogs. I'll keep updating and I hope to get pictures.

Sounds like progress :) Great job Max!

Thanks Ryan! We met again today with the big dog, Buddy. His owner leashed him to a post and then took Max's leash to do some walking exercises. The expression on Max's face was priceless -- he was smiling, but looking back at me as if to say, "Is this okay, mom?" :p

We hung out with Buddy for a long time today, just sitting and sniffing and walking a little. Max sat and offered his hand to Buddy's owner -- too cute!

Buddy's owner recommended a local trainer who has a lot of experience in dog obedience competition. I'm looking into signing up Max for classes with the trainer.

Buddy is going to be busy for a couple of days, but I hope to get pictures at our next meeting.

YAY Maxman! I'm so proud of you AND your owner. :)

Thank you Brit!

We met with Buddy the big dog this morning, our third get-together. Max didn't bark once on approach. In fact, he didn't seem all that interested in Buddy today. I brought treats this time and Max performed sit and down, but no handshake.

Max demonstrated great awareness about moving out of the way when Buddy would move or swing his tail (must be all that practice avoiding me rolling over in bed, lol).

When Buddy barked (not aggressively, just a typical woof woof) at a strange man walking down the street, Max was flustered and jumped up on me to be picked up. I was surprised because he hasn't done that since he was a puppy. Instead of picking him up, I happily said, "Buddy has a big voice, doesn't he?" Max appeared reassured, but I think he had been challenged enough for the day and was happy to head for home.

Next up in our socializing agenda is Buddy's brother, the dreaded Chow mix that is Max's nemesis and big-time barking trigger.

Maxman had his first meeting today with one of his biggest neighborhood barking triggers, a Chow. Neither Max nor the Chow barked -- it's a miracle! They just checked each other out.

We kept it short and went back to the Chow's brother, Buddy, who is much more laid back.

Max is very comfortable with these dogs, he even looks for them when we are out, but I was disappointed that he barked like mad at other big dogs on our walks last night and this morning. A lot more work is needed.

We tried introducing my other Yorkie Teddy to the big dog, Buddy. Teddy demonstrated fear-aggression. He is fine passing dogs on the street, but he wasn't eager about getting close to a big dog. Poor Teddy received bad responses from a couple of smaller dogs on our walks and I think that has set him back socially.

You're absolutely right that YOUR attitude will determine a lot of what happens. My first Kerry Blue Terrier started being a little dog aggressive... got into a couple of fights... and I became terrified of meeting other dogs. My terror fed her protective instinct, which made her MORE dog aggressive... it was a vicious circle.

With subsequent dogs, I've been very careful not to let my fear come to the fore... and I have two Kerry Blues and a Biewer Yorkie who love to meet other dogs, and who regularly with 3 labs, a couple of Australian shepards, and various other mid-size dogs. Can't emphasize enough the importance of regular walks with other dogs.

I'm glad to hear that Max is making progress!! I know you guys have a lot of work still ahead of you, but it is awesome that he is making friends with some larger dogs.

I know how you feel. Sometimes I think I'm not getting anywhere with Kaji's fear reaction. Kaji is more of a flight than fight, and he panicks. He's gotten to the point where he accepts Priscilla, and Adi and of course his two little playmates, but that's it. That's the extent of his world other than my family and other dogs. He's getting better with walks too. But on play dates in a place we've already been with people and dogs he already knows, he still freaks out. He'll play and run for what seems to me be only 10 mins, and then he has to sit right by a human. He's done. He whines, he cries, and he seldom goes back to playing. I feel like it's 1 step forward, two steps back sometimes. :(

I agree, unfortunately I have good reason to not trust the majority of the dogs or their owners in my neighborhood. I'm looking into other options for more get-togethers, more socializing and desensitization so that we can pass the dogs that we cannot safely meet nose to nose.

Thank you. We definitely have a long road ahead of us, but this is a start.

Yes, we took a couple steps backwards today. Argh. Maybe because Grandpa was walking Max when they encountered Max's new big dog friends. The Maxman was really worked up today. The only good news is that the Chow did not return fire, lol. He's over it.

It is very normal to have set backs and it gives you room to train and help them generalize.

JL

Thank you, that is good to know.

I was reading a book last night by Barbara Woodhouse titled "No Bad Dogs: The Woodhouse Way." While I strongly disagree with her use of choke chains, I did like her tip to say "What a good dog!" I tested it on my boys separately last night on our walks and they both responded to the word "what." Every time I said it, they would look up at me happily and they seemed more eager to follow commands.

I usually say "that's a good boy." The sound of "what" is a real attention grabber.

Can I suggest a few books for you more in line I think with the way you want to go as in no choke chain?
I agree with her though we tend not to rward our dogs with our voice enough. I have one dog that likes that sometimes more then food.

JL

Yes, please do share book titles.

To start with and if you are interested in more let me know

On talking terms with dogs by Turid Rugass
Cultures Clash by Jean Donaldson
The Other end of the leash by Patrica McConnel
The Power of Postive Dog Training by Pat Miller
Control unleashed by Leslie McDevitt

JL

Just wanted to share with you our success yesterday. On usual meetups with Priscilla and Adi, Kaji will play and chase Uni and Missy at the beginning and then lose interest pretty quickly. He starts to whine and complain and spends most of his time in someone's lap.
Yesterday we had a breakthrough. He played fetch OUTSIDE! Kaji is a fetching maniac inside, but outside he's uninterested. He fetched outside with the girls yesterday. He played most of the time and even tried stealing the ball. He kissed the girls until they dropped it. :p I'm so proud of my boy.

I appreciate the recommendations and I'm going to look for these books this week. :)

Way to go Kaji!!

You should be very proud. Love the technique he used to distract the girls, lol. Do you have any clues to what brought about this change?

I blame Adi. :p She invites us over often and he's getting use to that area. That's where we met up yesterday. My guess is he was comfortable enough to let loose. He had fun and panicked less than usual.

Thanks for posting
 

This is a really good topic. I'm learning a lot and I'm glad to see that thinngs are getting better with your dog and Kaji too.

You are lucky to have Adi. I'm glad Kaji is opening up and getting out there. He is too handsome to be hiding himself. :p

If you want anymore let me know. Feel free to PM me.

JL

Thank you very much. I started with McConnell's "The Other End of the Leash" and I am enjoying it very much.

Yesterday, Max and I worked on socializing with people at Tractor Supply. He loves a crowd. :p

It's nice to know someone out there is having the same problem I am. Lolli does protective/territorial barking and growling, but never aggressive in the sense of biting.

There is this one other yorkie, though, that this lady walks sometimes and I run into her (though I actually try to avoid her, the only person I avoid). The reason is because well she has 2 yorkies but generally only walks the boy. And she always comes to me wanting our dogs to kiss and hug but the problem is HE IS MEAN. He aggressively barks but aside from that he nips with his mouth. They never get close enough for anyone to bite but I just hate how she wants to continue (after almost a year) to try to meet. I think that the problem is her dog more than mine.

The reason I think that is because Lolli, very much like you and your experience, gets to a social point when we don't run into her that Lolli starts being nice. From afar she barks but up close shes curious and sniffing all over the dog. But once we meet her again, it's all over. And now 9 months later Lolli was the one who started the aggressive barking at her dog.

I don't like that. Lolli makes break-throughs but gets set back because someone elses problematic dog. I'm not saying Lolli is perfect but I also don't put her into other peoples walking space knowing she is being territorial.

I only do the meet-n-greet on 2 occasions, one if she is not freaking out in a frenzy. I try to get her to sit still when she is barking aggressively rather than go up to the dog (because that's when she stops, I want her to be able to be calm before the up-close enouter too). But it's wishy-washy. She does it up close sometimes, too. Anyway, the other occasion is if the other dog owner is clearly ok with Lolli barking and freaking out.

There is this guy who has some kind of beautiful purely white dog, looks almost wolf-like but not sure which breed. It's a calm dog and very nice. And he is confident Lolli is not going to bite. But the problem is I don't run into him that often, but I wish I did because he seems a bit knowledgable.

I guess my problem is OK we are outside and she is barking at people walking or people walking their dogs and is really upset about it. What to do from there?

Hi Nico! Belated thanks for your encouragement.

Sounds like we do have a lot of similar problems.

Teddy was perfectly socialized until he had a couple of bad encounters with leashed and unleashed dogs. Now he is unpredictable.

I took Teddy to the city last week and we encountered a pack of 4 greyhounds. They were perfectly behaved and following their owner's commands. The owner invited me to pass them on the sidewalk. Teddy heeled perfectly and walked past them without a care in the world.

We stopped for a traffic light only a few feet away from the pack and Teddy stood admiring the greyhounds with great curiosity while I spoke to the owner. I wish I had asked him more about training.

My biggest challenges socializing and training my boys are: 1) finding good dogs and smart owners, 2) finding owners who aren't afraid of Max's barking, 3) handling dangerous situations without leaving a lasting negative impact on my boys. When off-leash dogs come charging at us, I cannot help but pick up my dog. No one is going to convince me to leave him on the ground to see what happens.