Scared Scout

Aloha,

I am a long time reader first time poster. My husband and I adopted an English Pointer
Mix from the local shelter a year ago. Scout was 6 months old and very friendly. He had
spent 2 months at the shelter and before that was a stray. We immediately enrolled him in
an obedience class. I don't remember him being extremely shy or fearful at the class. He
did have serious separation anxiety which we remedied with in a month with Rescue
Remedy (which he no longer needs).

My husband and I take full responsibility for not going the extra mile to sensitize him to
many different situations and people. We took him to the park and beach with us but did
not make a point to bring him to many different locations. What we have now is a big
puppy who is scared of a whole host of things. He is scared of so many things I'll just list
what he isn't scared of: kids, my husband and I, water, and our closest friends.

Parking lots and pavement in general send his tail right between his legs. During these
times I put him in the heel position and try to walk very confidently hoping it will transfer
to him. I'm not sure we are making a lot of progress. He is still so skiddish when we walk
in parking lots or on pavement. Any ideas? Am I doing the right thing and just not giving
it enough time? We only get to practice once or twice a week. (We live in a rural area and
he plays with us at home on 2 acres).

People approaching us at the beach make his hair stand up and growl in a very
submissive head down way. When this happens we tell him no and put him in down
position and ignore until he calms and then praise. He complies with this but it doesn't
seem to be decreasing his over all reaction to people approaching us. Better ideas?

When we are walking together and someone approaches him he immediately shys away
with tail between his legs. When this happens we put him in sit. Sometimes I let the
people pet him which he allows but doesn't enjoy. Any ideas here?

I'm not sure if we are doing the right things or not. We are making small progress. He
is accepting of new friends who come over with in a few minutes. He goes to sniff them
but shys away if they approach him. Sometimes it's like he forgets who he is playing with
goes to play with the new friends and when they reciprocate he is surprised and shys away
like 'hey, you're not my mommy!' It's pretty funny. He has increased the number of our
friends that he is 100% comfortable with. He wags his tail when he sees them. He has
never been fearful of kids and loves to play with them at the beach and other dogs. At
the beach he complies quicker when we say down and seems comfortable with doing that.
But it still seems we are having to do it so often. The fear of pavement seems to be
getting worse.

He is such a great dog we love him. He is really cute so everyone wants to pet him and
we want them to be able to. It's hard when he plays so well with kids and then their
parents approach him and he acts so wrong. Am I asking him to change too quickly or
doing the wrong things? Any advice would be appreciated.
Mahalo!
Lauren, Lance & Scout

Awww, poor Scout! Time and repetition, it sounds like you are doing the right things to help him (down when strangers approach with whom he's uncomfortable is a god example). The more you can take him to safe paved places the more comfortable he'll be. Is his vet's office in a paved lot? Maybe he's associating pavement with being poked and prodded ...

He is, at 1 1/2 years, still a puppy in many ways. Don't give up or feel guilty, just keep on training. He may never be a happy-to-meet-everyone sort of dog, but at least he's good with children! That's more than I can say for some humans I know.

As with any "used" dog, you don't know what horrors he may have experinced in those first few months of his life. That may have a lot to do with his fear of people approaching, for example. But at least now he's got you to love him and try to help him, and an ever-exanding circle of "okay-by-him" people.

" As with any "used" dog," Hey there Madam Mayor, I have
a very sweet, intellegent, beautiful pup of 1 yr of age (adopted
at 4 mos) and I don't think I like the term "used". How about
"very little experience".

Does he resond to treats well ?
When Cheyanne was younger i socalized her in diffent places
with treats She's a very shy and timid dog anyway so i wanted to get her used to diffent places as best as i could.

I would try going to parking lots and doing some commands with her on the pavement maybe she will not think so much about the pavement and relize it's nothing to be afaid of.

I brought Cheyanne in the pet stores like 1 or 2x a week so she could get use to all diffent people and smells and ect. that seemed to work pretty good. It took only about a month before she did'nt care about what people walked by and just went for the good doggy isles.:) :) Now she just walks by people unless they come to pat her then there's doggy kisses coming there way:D

Good luck i hope this helps :)

I would also try having people that he's not use to giving him treats and see if that helps

You've got some great advice! Enrolling him into another obedience class may help as well.

I LOVE English Pointers, I almost got one but couldn't find a really reputable breeder near me.
Can we see some pics please???

I think you should definately look for another class..maybe do a 1 on 1 behavioral consultation with a trainer, or look for a class that has a basis on socialization. If money is an issue, give your county's animal services a call...where I am, the county offers $4 obedience classes. Shelters also sometimes have cheaper classes, and more of a variety of them also.

Is there anywhere you can go and just play ball on pavement? You could also do desensitizing...which it sounds like you are already doing this. Does other footing do this? Try putting a tarp down and see if he'll walk over that. What temperature is the pavement? Is it too hot for him? Or does he have any cuts or sores on his paws that the pavement is aggrivating? It dosen't seem he has anything physically wrong with him, but rule out the physical first. :) And what about a friendly, playful, confident buddy to go out and walk with? Have a friend bring along their dog...yours might relax when in the prescence of another canine.

Thank you everyone for all your suggestions! Wouldn't you know, after posting we wound up having our best day out yet! I decided I was going to shower him with treats which I hadn't been doing as much as I think I should have. I gave him a smaller breakfast so he would be motivated and not get too chubby.
At the grocery store my husband went in and I waiting with Scout on a small patch of grass in the shade. I had my treats ready and I had him do all his tricks so I was able to give him a lot of praise and treats. It really seemed to boost his confidence and make him forget about where he was. There was a lot of tail wagging or at least just regular tail rather than inbetween the legs. I liked being able to give him a lot of praise at the parking lot for doing the tricks rather than dealing with him being scared.
At the beach I was extra vigilant to watch when people started walking by. Before he even noticed them I told him a command to do and praised the heck out of him. That way when he noticed (if he did) the people it would be coupled with lots of praise.
On the way home from the beach we stopped at the Shelter for tennis balls and the ladies came to pet him. I told him to sit and they approached real slow and he actually warmed up really quickly to them. Still a little on edge, but not tail between the legs at all. Lots of sniffing, which usually he doesn't do at all.
Yay!

I wish I could add a picture, but I don't know how :(

Ok, so I've decided that every small step is going to be a huge celebration that way there is
less pressure on the final destination.

Today I was at the park with Scout playing our usual ball game. Another dog came
running up and Scout and him started playing. While they were playing the owner came
up to me and we started talking. Scout didn't even notice! He came close to me and
checked in and it was like he didn't even see the stranger. I had told the owner that he
was shy so she ignored him. Usually Scout's tail goes between his legs and his head goes
down when any stranger was around. This was a really unusual great event! I gave him
lots of praise and treats. I don't know what was going on with him today, but I don't care
it felt great.

Tomorrow we are going to the beach. I will be armed with hot dogs so hopefully he will be
motivated to be his ole regular wagging tail self!

So good to hear things are already looking better. Time and patience, and Scout'll be much more comfortable evrywhere you go! :) :) :)

Sorry about you not liking the "used" dog term, Lizbud. I come from a family of car-people, who have always been bemused by car dealers who say "we have this great pre-owned car..." and we say "Don't they mean used car" but no one likes THAT term ... We mean nothing derogitory by the "used dog" term, just that they have a history we'll never know!

yay for scout!!!