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
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