Fear Aggression

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Understandably you are anxious in this situation which Daisy also picks up on which in her mind reinforces that she has something to be worried about - a vicious (no pun intended) circle.

I would follow applesmom's advice - it may take a very long time but if Daisy senses that you are relaxed around children she may well start to accept them. Ignore her negative behaviour and praise the positive to the heavens.

Any idea what caused this in the first place?

[cali]

treats. take on on a normal collar with LOADS if really tasty treats to grocery stores, just stand out in the parking lot and praise and reward every single time a child walks through the doors. once she is where she is not panicking on sight,the praise and reward if she so much as glances at the kids without reacting(no matter how short, so a clicker works best for this) make sure to stay outside her comfort zone, if she reacts then you are too close, so back off. you can slowly shrink her comfort zone this way.

Daisy doesnt sound near as bad as Happy was, and this method worked a miracle on Happy.

[tikeyas_mom]

Understandably you are anxious in this situation which Daisy also picks up on which in her mind reinforces that she has something to be worried about - a vicious (no pun intended) circle.

I would follow applesmom's advice - it may take a very long time but if Daisy senses that you are relaxed around children she may well start to accept them. Ignore her negative behaviour and praise the positive to the heavens.

Any idea what caused this in the first place?

I actually stay very calm when socializing, I try to stay as calm as possible, which is usually very easy. BUT in the case when there is a baby around, its kinda hard because I just dont know how she will react.. and not knowing worries me. I have taken her to a few grocery stores, and stood outside of them. Shes fine if shes told to "sit", but if a child approaches her, her head lowers drastically, and she will try to run away (if she wern't on a lead I'm sure she would either dart into traffic, or lunge toward the person).

I praise and praise and praise.. She still cowers... Its like she thinks the person is going to hurt her.I have even gotten the strangers to praise her.. I think that actually freaks her out more.
I would love to try that clicker idea, Cali, But they dont sell them around here. At least not that I have seen.

I haven't found a treat that Daisy loves, she usually just takes treats from us and then drops it. She refuses to go near enough to a stranger to take a treat. and When she is in high stress situations, where she is affraid, she will not eat anything.. But I havent tried the chicken idea, or hotdogs might work too.. I will try that today!!

I'm really not sure why Daisy acts like such a freak around people she doesn't know, and children.. When I first met her even, she growled at me, and she would not come within 5 feet of me. She barked at me contantly, looking me right in the eyes like she was wanting me to challenge her.. Took me about 3 weeks to be able to pet her, and that was all me, I would actually walk slowly toward her.. She would sketch away, and hide. Eventually one day I was sitting on the couch beside Shaun and she came onto his lap. I dont think she realised I was sitting right there, because when I touched her she flipped out barking, and ran away.

I think Shaun kinda assumed she was a lost cause, but I dont think he has ever researched dog training before, or tried to socialize her.. He figured she was always going to be like that.. He was going to even breed her!!!! I talked him out of that THANK GOD!!!
We got her spayed, and now she is good as gold with the people she shares the house with. (took a while for her to warm up to my little brothers ages 13-17).. But now she will appraoch them on her own.

I do know that she left her mother at 4 weeks old, wich could have somthing to do with her socilization skills.. She was also given birth to in an outside pen, with hardly any human contact inless they were given food. Her mother was most likely a guard dog, and I have no idea about her dad.. She was given to Shaun at 5 weeks. She is now 3 years. I just started working with Daisy a bit over a year ago.

[cali]

if you cant find a clciker, use a sound, for example my mom uses "TA" for perky rather then a click, and its not exactly a word you randomly say everyday lol

[Giselle]

In all honesty, a professional trainer is probably in order. I thought I had enough experience when dealing with fear and anxiety, but nothing I tried ever seemed to nip Ivy's fear aggression in the bud. Then, I contacted a trainer and it amazed me how simple the solution is. When you yourself are in a stressful situation, it's difficult to gauge how you *really* act. You may think you're staying calm when you're actually sending your dog mixed signals by gripping the leash tightly and holding her back to avoid the child. For example, you said Daisy doesn't let people touch her unless you physically hold her. That physical restraint is only frightening her even more. While physically restraining her may work for a quick pet, it's not doing anything to lessen her anxiety.

I've seen this analogy used over and over again, but it's the clearest explanation: Suppose you are terrified of spiders. If a person stuck a tarantula in your face and said, "It's okay. She's nice and friendly", would you feel better? Would you touch it? Probably not. You'd only go near it if the person held the spider on his open hand and allowed you to approach it whenever *you* are comfortable. The same goes with Daisy. You have to get her to approach a child on *her* own time. If you follow what I wrote in the previous post (and please, go slowly) Daisy will eventually come around. Even if it takes you a week to get her within 20 feet of the child, it's still good progress!

How did your little brother hold the treat? Was he leaning his hand out towards her and beckoning her to come near? Was he making any frightening gestures (shaking his hand? jiggling the treat?)? In order for my method to work, the child must not do anything whatsoever. He must be sitting calmly and looking away from the dog.

Also, for training treats, I never settle for less than real meat. I can almost guarantee you that Daisy will not refuse plain boiled chicken or beef or turkey, etc. Good luck!

[applesmom]

Allowing any small child within 20 feet of this fearful dog is an invitation to disaster!

Her fears have been reinforced and confirmed over and over by the reasurrances and the added pressure she's been getting when she acts this way. The only way she's ever going to accept small children and strangers is to desensatize her in a calm setting as described above.

For right now forget the food, forget the reasurrances and the pampering and concentrate on allowing her to view strange people and things from a distance with no added stress or attempts at bribery!

The situation can be overcome but it didn't come about overnight and it isn't something that can be resolved quickly.

[tikeyas_mom]

In all honesty, a professional trainer is probably in order. I thought I had enough experience when dealing with fear and anxiety, but nothing I tried ever seemed to nip Ivy's fear aggression in the bud. Then, I contacted a trainer and it amazed me how simple the solution is. When you yourself are in a stressful situation, it's difficult to gauge how you *really* act. You may think you're staying calm when you're actually sending your dog mixed signals by gripping the leash tightly and holding her back to avoid the child. For example, you said Daisy doesn't let people touch her unless you physically hold her. That physical restraint is only frightening her even more. While physically restraining her may work for a quick pet, it's not doing anything to lessen her anxiety.

I've seen this analogy used over and over again, but it's the clearest explanation: Suppose you are terrified of spiders. If a person stuck a tarantula in your face and said, "It's okay. She's nice and friendly", would you feel better? Would you touch it? Probably not. You'd only go near it if the person held the spider on his open hand and allowed you to approach it whenever *you* are comfortable. The same goes with Daisy. You have to get her to approach a child on *her* own time. If you follow what I wrote in the previous post (and please, go slowly) Daisy will eventually come around. Even if it takes you a week to get her within 20 feet of the child, it's still good progress!

How did your little brother hold the treat? Was he leaning his hand out towards her and beckoning her to come near? Was he making any frightening gestures (shaking his hand? jiggling the treat?)? In order for my method to work, the child must not do anything whatsoever. He must be sitting calmly and looking away from the dog.

Also, for training treats, I never settle for less than real meat. I can almost guarantee you that Daisy will not refuse plain boiled chicken or beef or turkey, etc. Good luck!

Thanks so much for the helpful post!! I will start trying the cooked chicken idea. Hopfully it'll pull through.. Today on our walk we walked by several new serwer caps that have just been put in around our home.. Daisy is dealthy affraid of them too? I dont know why, I made her sit on every single one to try to break her fears. Wich didnt really work. But she did sit, and she did listen when said Stay. So I will just keep at it and hopfully it works out.

[agilityk9trainer]

OK. Let me get this right. You have a scared pitbull that has lunged at children in the past and you TOOK THE HAND of a ONE YEAR OLD and made it pet your SHAKING DOG!!!! Guys!!! Where on earth is your common sense!!!!

This dog is a time bomb. Fear aggression can pop at any second, and you cannot predict it. You put that child - and the dog - in extreme danger! Everytime you take your dog around children, you are putting them and the dog at risk.

You are trying to over come fears using the "flooding" technique that rarely works. Flooding is when you force a dog to face it's fears. That's what you're doing. And, doing it mighty dangerously at that.

I can't believe the first post you got didn't tell you to seek professional help. This is a strong breed with a history of growling and lunging out of fear. You absolutely need to get an animal behaviorist or a trainer on the case. You do not need to be working this on your own or seeking advice over the internet.

Aggressions are very tricky for professional trainers. Thet must see the dog in person to help. Seeking advice over the internet is a bad idea as the way you treat one aggression feeds the other. Do not hesitate. You are not going about this in at all the right way, and you need help now. Get one-on-one professional help, and do not delay. This is very serious.

[tikeyas_mom]

I would never put a child in danger, I figured that if Daisy seen the child was no harm she would feel better about coming up to him. She has indeed lunged and growled at children, and strangers, BUT she has never bitten anyone. We dont have a good trainer in this area. So this is why I am forced to deal with her on my own.