Bad day at Nebo's class :(

It was his 2nd day of his Advanced Obedience class today. I guess I can't say it was ALL bad, because he was actually very good for 90% of the class. He did sit, stay, come perfectly, as well as "go to your spot." He had a few issues with "heel" but I must remember he *is* a husky...ugh.

Well, here's the worst part. Nebo has "issues" with strange men. He's never had a bad experience with strange men, or men he knows. Honestly I can't explain it. I thought he was doing better as he hadn't seemed upset by any strangers for a long time. Actually, at the dog park last weekend he wouldn't leave this one guy alone--kept jumping up next to him and licking his face!

Part of the end test (CGC) is accepting a friendly stranger. So the Instructor decided to try that out. She picked one of the Petsmart employees--a man. The guy walked right up to Nebo (I think he startled Nebo some) and Nebo let out a low growl and barked at him! :eek: The man had treats to give him...Nebo would take the treats gently out of his hand, but he wouldn't let him touch him. He was hiding behind my legs. :( We tried a few more strange men, and the scenario was the same. He acted very skittish, and wouldn't let them pet him. He'd let the Instructor pet him just fine (he loves her :rolleyes: ).

This is so frustrating. He'll never pass acting like this. Any ideas?? I was thinking maybe I'll get some really, really good treats (like chicken/hot dogs) and take them with me on walks. I'll just let strangers give him those yummy treats. I was thinking maybe he'd associate the special treats with strangers and eventually get to where he'll let them pet him. What do you think?

I still don't know if it's possible to get him better about strange men in 4 weeks......:( It's just so frustrating because he's not like this with ALL strange men. He was very friendly with anyone and everyone at the Pet Expo a while ago....

Daisy has a "thing" with men too, who have canes or hats. She gets really nervous when they come up to her in the park, dog park or something.

I think thats a good idea with the treats.

Have you noticed what makes him "go off" on men? A hat, the way they dress, etc..?

Sorry, I don't have much advice. :(

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Originally posted by wolf_Q
I was thinking maybe I'll get some really, really good treats (like chicken/hot dogs) and take them with me on walks. I'll just let strangers give him those yummy treats. I was thinking maybe he'd associate the special treats with strangers and eventually get to where he'll let them pet him. What do you think?

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I think that sounds like it will work! And if it isn't all ironed out in four weeks Nebo can always take his CGC again. Maybe he can just smell evil....could be his sixth sense kicking in.

Didn't your trainer have any suggestions?

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Originally posted by Kater
I think that sounds good! Didn't your trainer have any suggestions?

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Yeah basically to just take him where he can meet strangers often and have them give him treats.

GoldenRetrLuver, I've tried to notice if there's anything particular about the man, but I haven't really seen a pattern yet.

Wish I could be of more help, but it sounds like you've gotten some good advice already.
I sure hope he snaps out of this....and quick!

First I think you are doing a wonderful job with Nebo.
Keep it up, and see what happens.
(Maybe he is having a bad day.)

My Aunt/Uncle owned a GSD that disliked men.
The only 3 men she would accept was
my Uncle, (who she adored), my dad and my grandfather.
She also was the best dog/and most obedient trained
dog they have ever owned. For some reason her
protective instincts kicked in when it came to men? :confused:

We've been there & done that!

Smokey was obviously a MAN-fearful dog - must have been BADLY ABUSED :mad: by a may during his first year. Heck - he was hand-shy of ME for weeks!

He got a lot better by being *gently* exposed to men. If he was pushed or forced up towards a man - he would shake & quiver no matter what was offered as a treat; and would totally ignore the treat - even after The Man had left.

What began to "work" for SmokeMutt was to allow HIM to approach the Strange Man - never having the Man approach Smokey. A little odd at times - the Quivering Dawg peering out around a a file cabinet or a door; but it did work. It often took two or three visits from the SAME man - but in time Smoke would tentatively *creep* forward and *s*t*r*e*t*c* out his nose for a sniff or two. As long as the Stranger didn't reach out - Smoke would creep closer.

I must add - Smokey NEVER growled, snapped, or even showed his teeth - his reaction was *fear* and a desire to flee away from the stranger.

I'd try a combination of Good Treats AND having the Testing Strangers sitting down and NOT trying to make physical contact unless or until Nebo makes the First Touch to a hand or a leg. The act of *reaching towards* Nebo might be a fear trigger. (Let Nebo's nose tell him there's a treat to be had.) Another thing to try is to tie Nebo to a bench, tree, or railing; then you *meet* the Stranger some distance away. Engage the Stranger in conversation and then both of you *s*l*o*w*l*y* walk towards Nebo - all the while TOTALLY Ignoring him. As long as he remains calm - continue the approach.

Whatever you do - Take It SLOWLY!
You can't rush him into trusting people he doesn't know!

i have no more advice other than trying the yummy treats and exposing nebo to as many men/strangers as possible.

and good luck with your CGC test i hope all goes well for you and nebo.

i am having simalar problems with clover at the moment she freaks out when approached by strange men, especially older men (the chiropractor is an older man and he had to crack her back into place) *ouch* and now she is deathly afraid of strangers not soo much women though.

she was realy bad *scared* the other day an older man tried to pet her but he lent right over her and freaked her out which resulted in clover bashing her tail bone/ back end into a wall and hurting her back again which made everything worse :( so i will have to get her out meeting strange men now (but i dont want her trusting everyone she meets, especially strange men)

Ah the ups and downs of training eh? I've no advice to
offer, because I've the opposite problem. If anybody talks
to Oz, he just gets so excited. Can't contain himself from
jumping up on'em. If people ignore him and don't talk
to him, then he's fine, but I've a feeling they probably
talk to the dog in the CGC test, so I doubt we could pass
yet either.

Par...

All of the above advice sounds pretty good. One other thing that the trainer told me to do when I was having problems with Rosco. -When Rosco would do that, I would tend to coo, telling Rosco that it was ok and I would pet him. In my mind I thought I was reassuring him that the person is ok. The trainer told me that I was rewarding him for his behavior. She told me to snap his leash and tell him 'NO!' whenever he acted negatively towards a person.

What you're planning on doing Amy sounds good to me, make meeting men and other strangers a positive thing for him and he should get over it in time.

I know you know this already but NEVER yank his leash and tell him no when he acts aggresive towards a stranger. Agression breeds agression and he will associate the leash yanking and yelling as a bad thing and he will never get over his fear of strangers. Instead either ignore him or redirect his attention somehow IE. make him sit or do a trick that he knows really well, or even turn him around do something to get his attention back on you and then praise him like crazy.

Quick question though, does he act like that when he's off leash as well or is it only when he's on leash?

I was thinkng about you the other day when we started therapy class and wondering how Nebo was doing...


The only suggestion I can offer is everywhere you go, ask men to give Nebo treats. If he seems hesitant, ask them to kneel down to his level. If he still is hesitant, (and they are willing) have them face away and offer the treat behind their back. Try to find men with beards, in hats, tall, short, anything you can think of. The man that is often used in our therapy tests is the President's of the group's husband. He looksl ike Sant and honestly, at least one dog in Cincy's class failed becuase she was scared of him.


Goodluck! I'm sure Nebo will do good :)

Thanks for the advice everyone. Well, I decided I'm going to take him for a walk every day and have at least one stranger give him a treat. I went on a walk today and had 4 people give him treats. The first person was a young boy, and Nebo was friendly with him. The second was a middle aged woman and a young man, Nebo was very skittish with the man. He will go up to them and take treats, just very cautiously. The man did bend down and talk nicely with him. The fourth was another woman and he was ok with her. Good news was no growling/barking or anything like that (honestly that shocked me when he did that at Petsmart!)

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Quick question though, does he act like that when he's off leash as well or is it only when he's on leash?

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It seems to be only when he's on leash...

I'll bet that was really embarassing for you! I hope you can get him to stop. What's he like with teenage boys?

Nebo seems to have made improvement in the past two days. On his walk tonight he encountered a woman, 2 men and a group of children. He was not scared of the woman at all (seemed pretty interested in the cookies she was carrying :eek: ). He was a bit timid with the second man, but not bad. He took the treat ok but didn't really let him pet him. The second man he actually went up to him, and sniffed/licked his hand (now he's expecting them from everyone! :rolleyes: ) and acted just fine with him. My dad stopped to talk to the guy (about trucks..lol) and Nebo was ok the entire time.

We ran into a group of kids on the way back. I made him sit and he was very nice about letting them pet him, and he took treats nicely from him.

Now here's the funny thing........a few days ago we went by this house with a fake scarecrow guy with a pumpkin head. It's right by the sidewalk. It scared the crap out of Nebo when we passed it the first time. He was totally freaked. I figured it could pass as a stranger, so I put some treats leading up to it and a nice big one on his lap. Nebo took the bait....now every time we pass the scarecrow he hurries over to it and sniffs it all over looking for his goodies. :rolleyes: :D

I hope he'll be ok with strangers at his class tomorrow!