Is it too late to socialize him?

[dands]

We have a 1yo yorkie boy. We tried really hard to socialize him through the past year, took him to training classes, on walks, gave treats to total strangers to give to him when we took him out.

The trouble is, he's still so frightened of people. When we go on our walks, his tail is stiff and his ears are alert. Also if he sees someone try to approach him, he'll either crouch back and try to sniff them without letting them touch him or he'll growl/bark. . Also in our home, if someone comes in, he'll bark and just seems scared all around.

He's our first dog so we don't know how to make him better socialized to people. Eveerytime we try to get him to meet people, he'll bark. Any advice?

[brendah]

I am sorry I have not had this happen to me. I hope someone comes on here soon with some advice for you.

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by dands

We have a 1yo yorkie boy. We tried really hard to socialize him through the past year, took him to training classes, on walks, gave treats to total strangers to give to him when we took him out.

The trouble is, he's still so frightened of people. When we go on our walks, his tail is stiff and his ears are alert. Also if he sees someone try to approach him, he'll either crouch back and try to sniff them without letting them touch him or he'll growl/bark. . Also in our home, if someone comes in, he'll bark and just seems scared all around.

He's our first dog so we don't know how to make him better socialized to people. Eveerytime we try to get him to meet people, he'll bark. Any advice?

How long have you had him ? It almost sounds as if he's been abused in his previous home. If that's the case it will take time.

[dands]

We've had him since 8 weeks old. I know now that's too early but we didn't know back then. . We met his mom dog and the breeder and there was absolutely no abuse in past house or ours. His mom dog was actually very friendly.

What Can we do to help him get socialized and like people more? With just us in the house he's very good,it's just with other people. Any steps or exercises you can share would be very appreciated.


Any tips appreciated.

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by dands

We've had him since 8 weeks old. I know now that's too early but we didn't know back then. . We met his mom dog and the breeder and there was absolutely no abuse in past house or ours. His mom dog was actually very friendly.

What Can we do to help him get socialized and like people more? With just us in the house he's very good,it's just with other people. Any steps or exercises you can share would be very appreciated.


Any tips appreciated.

So much for that theory. I have a dog that had some serious abuse before he came to me and now he's fine. It took just about a year. I took him every where I went with me and exposed him to everything I could think of. I did this daily for about the 1st 6 months then at least 5 days a week after that. Then one day he just woke up and it was like he decided he was a brave boy and he's been fine every since.

I'm sure someone will post with some good tricks to try soon. Good luck with him. Hmm have you tried Rescue Remedy or anything like that before you take him out? Maybe you should so he will be a little more relaxed.

[alaskayorkie]

I just saw your second post, so I had to tweak my advice. But I definitely think you can make good progress with this pup.

It sounds like you've been doing a lot of the right stuff! Good for you. I'm no expert and have only owned and trained Yorkies for about the past six years. And I really don't know enough about your situation to give you what little informed advice I might have. In other words, take my advice with a grain of salt.

Little dogs in general are understandably afraid of the world. There are lots of things that can hurt them. One of their prime defense mechanisms is to bark and appear more fierce than they are. Or, conversely, to appear completely fearful and docile so as to pose no threat.

When I see fear in mine, I don't coddle them but I make sure the situation doesn't escalate so they feel overwhelmed. I let them get used to what's scaring them and decide for themselves that it's no threat.

On a walk, if he's showing fear of strangers, just stop and put him in a sit-stay. Get his attention, treat, and let the strangers pass rather than approach. Pay no attention to the strangers yourself. When he makes progress at that, you can pass strangers a little more closely the next time, and eventually let them approach.

Your obedience classes are terrific and should help. On walks, you can work on formal heels. If the dog's attention is on you as it should be, he's less likely to notice scary things going on around him. You're controlling his world, and he knows he can trust you. They start getting scared when they think they're in charge of protecting themselves.

For barking when someone comes in the door, try putting him in a sit-stay and not releasing until the guest is seated comfortably away from your dog and the situation quiets down. As an exercise, get someone he barks out to come in the door, come in and sit down until the situation calms down. Then have them do it again, several times.

Basically, any time you see that fear, back off what you're doing or just don't let it escalate. Let him know his environment is safe. Once he starts trusting that you're in charge, your progress should come in leaps and bounds.

Hope this helps and that others have some advice too!

[dands]

that's encouraging and reassuring to hear that he was able to overcome his fears even though he was older. Did you keep him out with you when you were out or keep him in a bag? What did you do if he bark/growled? did you correct him? If so, how? Was it just being out with you helped him or did you do anything special like give him treats? How many hours a day were you out with him? Was it all of your errands that you ran with him?

We're really really wanting to help him.

[dands]

Alaska yorkies, thanks for your advice. So when he barks, should we not correct him? Right now when we're on a walk and he barks, we'll say no and tug back on his leash. What should we do instead?

Also when we sat on a bench today and dogs walked by, he started barking at them. so I started covering his eyes so he wouldn't see the dogs walk by. I got desparate to calm him down. What should we have done?

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by dands

that's encouraging and reassuring to hear that he was able to overcome his fears even though he was older. Did you keep him out with you when you were out or keep him in a bag? What did you do if he bark/growled? did you correct him? If so, how? Was it just being out with you helped him or did you do anything special like give him treats? How many hours a day were you out with him? Was it all of your errands that you ran with him?

We're really really wanting to help him.

Um well no bagging this one he's a Wolf Hound mix and for some reason I never could find a bag big enough for him, lol. Yes I took him on errands, like when I went grocery shopping he went with me. I would take him out and walk him the perimeter of the parking lot. Lots of noises and things go on at shopping centers. We did this alot even when I didn't have errands I took him places like that. also Petco to get used to people and strange dogs. I think Alaskayorkies has some really good info . I would start with his advice as Ive seen him and his dogs in action in his videos.

[YorkieLily]

My Yorkie, Lily, does the same thing! We have had her since she was 12 weeks old, and she has never had any bad experiences with people. I know this cause she is always with me when we are outside. One thing I know I did wrong when trying to socialize her, was I let too many people approach her on our walks. When she reached 7 months of age, her behavior changed somewhat. She started barking at everyone we met on our walks. She is not an unsocialized dog. We have attended puppy-classes, and classes in everyday-obedience. We walk everyday, and she comes with me to work and everywhere else. I felt helpless and clueless of what to do to make her stop barking at everyone, and I started to read a lot about behavior and dog training. About three months ago I started training her with a new technique I found, and it works! It takes time, nervousness is not something you can train away in a few days. My main goal is to make her associate strangers with something positive, and to be sure how she is expected to act. I do this with a clicker (you know those small boxes you press to make a clicking sound) and snacks.

I started with short walks and few obstacles (strangers). When I saw someone walking toward us, I put Lily at my side, and as soon as she spotted the stranger I "Clicked" and gave her a snack. (Of course I had trained inside with the clicker so that she knew the click means reward.) It is important not to click and reward if your dog has already started barking. But the very second the dog sees the stranger, this is when you click. The dog will then look up at you to get the snack.

If you do this as a rule, is consistent, the dog will realize that stranger approaching means "snacktime, contact mom". But it takes time! Really! At least with Lily it does. Sometimes she just HAS to bark, but she has gotten so much better. Now we can pass people while walking. She sees someone coming toward us, I call her to my side, and we have eye-contact while we walk pass the stranger. I then click as soon as the stranger is beside us, and she gets the reward as the stranger passes.

Of course some obstacles are larger that others. Lily gets really stressed when we meet children outside, and bikes. Children on bikes... Or bikes coming really fast. But we're working on it, and even that is going better. Yesterday we passed to small girls on their bikes without a single bark from Lily. Well, we can't really pass then yet, but we can halt, get eye-contact and let the children pass. I click when the children are a little distance away, and I click again when they are nearer. The snacks I give Lily then, I don't let go of, so she is busy nibbling at the snacks while the children pass. Also, I never pay much attention to that strangers myself, my full attention is toward Lily, to make her keep her attention on me.

This is my advise, and worth trying. All dogs are different, but this method is a 100% positive and at least it can't do any harm trying it. Patience is a must of course, as it is in all dog-training.

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by dands

Alaska yorkies, thanks for your advice. So when he barks, should we not correct him? Right now when we're on a walk and he barks, we'll say no and tug back on his leash. What should we do instead?

Also when we sat on a bench today and dogs walked by, he started barking at them. so I started covering his eyes so he wouldn't see the dogs walk by. I got desparate to calm him down. What should we have done?

I'd be lying if I said I haven't done exactly what you have at one time or another -- even taken to shaking a can filled with pennies to startle him into stopping barking. But any success I had was temporary.

I think you also have to attack it at another level. Why is he barking? He's afraid and thinks it's his job to solve the problem.

For your first example when he barks when you're on a leash, he's trying to solve a problem and you're making it tougher for him by giving him the leash correction. The problem just got worse. Now he's trying to fight off the perceived threat -- and you.

That's when I think you should try distraction techniques. If you can anticipate the problem and get his attention doing something else, that would help. But even after he barks, try to reel him back in with a favorite toy or special treat. If you ignore the threat and give him something better to focus on, he's going to forget about it.

The bench example is sort of the same thing. He saw a threat and was trying to solve the problem his way, but you covered his eyes. The problem got worse.

I find that dogs don't see as big a picture as we do. If you can distract them from what they're worried about, they forget about it. Make yourself more interesting than the "threat," and the threat goes away.

Is that the right advice for you? I'm not sure. I've had some success following it. My most recent problem has been the dogs barking at the window when someone walks by. I used to shake a can of pennies and "punish" them for it, but now I just walk up to the window and look out and tell them "it's OK." For some reason, it works. They did their job and alerted me to the danger, I followed up, and they were good with that.

All barking is not bad. I want them to bark when an intruder is coming into my home or a threatening dog is charging and I don't see it. But once you've been alerted and address the problem, the barking should stop.

So I kind of weaseled my way around your question. Should you correct them and tell them to stop barking? I think a No Bark is fine, but make sure you follow up with something better to do.

[red98vett]

Originally Posted by dands

We have a 1yo yorkie boy. We tried really hard to socialize him through the past year, took him to training classes, on walks, gave treats to total strangers to give to him when we took him out.

The trouble is, he's still so frightened of people. When we go on our walks, his tail is stiff and his ears are alert. Also if he sees someone try to approach him, he'll either crouch back and try to sniff them without letting them touch him or he'll growl/bark. . Also in our home, if someone comes in, he'll bark and just seems scared all around.

He's our first dog so we don't know how to make him better socialized to people. Eveerytime we try to get him to meet people, he'll bark. Any advice?

It sounds like you're doing what you can - have you tried holding him when strangers approach and let him sniff while feeling safe in your arms ? My Cheri is a little intimidated by kids - will climb up my leg and I don't know why - children are nothing but nice to my girls - never had a problem so I don't understand it . I hold her and she always seems to relax a bit

the safety he's not feeling is showing and we really never know why some are so skittish - but I bet you can make progress !

[charmed239]

I know what you are going through..Riley did all that when he was a puppy. well except barking on a walk.(I think he was to scared to bark) it was bad. and he came to us that way. I think he may have been mistreated, he was 14 weeks old and I know for a fact this women gave them no interaction. this was a puppy mill I was trying to help shut down. so when potential buyers were around, thats the only time they got out of a cage. anyway, bottom line, he was sick and totally scared of EVERYTHING especially humans. I watch a lot of the dog whisperer. so I used some of the tricks on there, the first thing I learned was when the dog is acting scared and, Riley would shake like crazy it was sooo sad. you absolutely NEVER EVER!! pet them and tell them it is ok! If your dog is scared and shaking or crouching or just acting scared and you give him affection at that moment, you are actually telling the dog that this behavior is good. So you want to wait untill they stop acting scared, when the dog starts to calm down and stops acting scared, the second you see this that is when you give him affection. and I did this faithfully with Riley, and it is hard I know, because you feel so dam bad for them, but Riley stopped acting so scared all the time after I started this. it wont work over night, but if you are consistent you will start to see an improvement before you know it..hope this helps.

[Rhetts_mama]

I'd definitely keep trying to socialize, but let your little one lead the way. Do you have friends/neighbors who would help you out by just letting your puppy sniff without trying to make any contact ?(no talking, no looking, no touching- all of those can be perceived as a threat by an unstable/fearful dog) Then as your puppy becomes more comfortable with sniffing, very slowly introducing petting? It's going to take a while, but if you can let him have some successes on his terms, he will eventually learn that people are ok.

[spiritwings1202]

My Daughters Yorkie use to do this and I found that when she met someone new I would just pick her up and let her sniff them out while I held her and it made a big difference. Aslo when someone came to the door I always picked her up so that she was at their level.