# Gracie is suddenly afraid of other dogs! (and apparently some people)



## theyogachick (Aug 2, 2009)

Gracie has always been excited to see other dogs and playful when she interacted. Today in class, however, something totally new happend...she freaked out. There were three dogs playing in the training ring and she wanted to join in, so I let her...and when they tried to play wih her, her tail went between her legs, she jumped up on the chairs and tried to get away. She was cowering.

Now, I don't let her greet dogs on walks because she is always so excited, and I have always been told that she shouldn't be allowed to greet dogs when she is that excited. She is highly dog reactive...as in she sees a dog and fixates to teh point there is no getting her attention again for like 10 minutes.

This week on our walk, she cowered away from a woman who wanted to pet her. She has never done that, either...she loves everyone.

The trainer said (and I quote) "unusual dog/owner relationships lead to unusual dog/dog interaction because the other dogs don't know how to react to her, so she becomes afraid." 

Unusual dog/owner relationship? WTH does that mean?

So, it seems what he is saying is that I have screwed her up somehow. That's reassuring...since I am the only one who works with her.

Nothing has changed here. She has not had a bed experience with a dog, person, etc. She has not stayed with anyone, played with a strange dog unsupervised, etc.

And in case anyone wants to know, here is my relationshop with Gracie:

She is my dog. I love her. She doesn't sleep in the bed, she doesn't get on furniture. When she barks in her crate, I leave her there until she stops. We do NILIF. I am working on clicker training...I do not reassure, pet or coddle when she is nervous, afraid, etc...

Any ideas?


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

theyogachick said:


> Gracie has always been excited to see other dogs and playful when she interacted. Today in class, however, something totally new happend...she freaked out. There were three dogs playing in the training ring and she wanted to join in, so I let her...and when they tried to play wih her, her tail went between her legs, she jumped up on the chairs and tried to get away. She was cowering.
> 
> Now, I don't let her greet dogs on walks because she is always so excited, and I have always been told that she shouldn't be allowed to greet dogs when she is that excited. She is highly dog reactive...as in she sees a dog and fixates to teh point there is no getting her attention again for like 10 minutes.
> 
> ...


How old is she?


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## qingcong (Oct 26, 2009)

theyogachick said:


> The trainer said (and I quote) "unusual dog/owner relationships lead to unusual dog/dog interaction because the other dogs don't know how to react to her, so she becomes afraid."
> 
> Unusual dog/owner relationship? WTH does that mean?


I don't think it's unusual for some trainers to be off the mark with their assessments. People make assumptions and judgments based on small snippets of evidence that may or may not be right. 

That said, I make it a point to always ask what *I* can do better, instead of always questioning "why, why, why did the dog do this?" For example, if my dog got fearful of the person bending over, then I'll take a note and interrupt the person next time I see my dog shying away. 

And yeah, how old is your dog?


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## theyogachick (Aug 2, 2009)

Gracie will be 8 months old next week.

I do believe he is making assumptions. We have had some issues with SA in the past with Gracie when it comes to me (we are still working on it...it is not nearly as bead as it used to be.) I have talked to him about this on the phone, etc. So has my husband. That is why I am wondering if he thinks because she is attached we have an "unusual" relationship.

He has offered to let us bring her to his house to see how she is with his dogs so we can work on it...


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## qingcong (Oct 26, 2009)

Well that's your answer, 8 months is around the time they develop fear issues. It's a natural survival instinct that kicks in. In the wild, if they were careless puppies forever, they wouldn't live too long. We just have to train and socialize through it.


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## theyogachick (Aug 2, 2009)

That makes a lot of sense...many of the other dogs in her class are only 5-6 months old.

How do I socialize through fear? I have one very fearful dog now (Gizmo) and I want to make sure I don't have another one. Any tips would be appreciated.


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## qingcong (Oct 26, 2009)

I think Patricia McConnell has a booklet out called "The Cautious Canine". I haven't read it before because my dog's an overly fearful one, but her stuff is excellent. If you're interested in learning more, try picking that up.

The basic idea with training through fear is to not overwhelm her, anything more than what she can handle may exacerbate her fear.


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## wvasko (Dec 15, 2007)

Sometimes when in doubt do nothing, take all pressure off the dog. Let the world take a couple spins and possibly the dog may grow out of this herself. This of course depends on the expertise of your trainer and how much you trust him. All I'm saying is that sometimes in our zeal to fix a problem we jump in and it grows. Sometimes trainers also will let their egos rule to prove that they have all the answers. This isn't gonna help much but if you did nothing and kept your dog away from other dogs for a while if it did not help it's not gonna hurt.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

qingcong said:


> I don't think it's unusual for some trainers to be off the mark with their assessments. People make assumptions and judgments based on small snippets of evidence that may or may not be right.
> *
> That said, I make it a point to always ask what I can do better, instead of always questioning "why, why, why did the dog do this?" For example, if my dog got fearful of the person bending over, then I'll take a note and interrupt the person next time I see my dog shying away. *
> 
> And yeah, how old is your dog?


Yes. And realizing that behavior (dogs AND humans) isn't always 100% congruent...we all have "off" or weird days, and spending forever wondering why or how can make one go mad 



theyogachick said:


> That makes a lot of sense...many of the other dogs in her class are only 5-6 months old.
> 
> How do I socialize through fear? I have one very fearful dog now (Gizmo) and I want to make sure I don't have another one. Any tips would be appreciated.


What everyone else said, and don't make a big deal out of it. If she acts afraid, pretend she's not. I know you don't coddle her or "soothe" her when she's acting this way, but I know how tempting it is. Tag got snarked at one night at agility by a dog he knows, she and him have always gotten along, don't know why (that same thing where behavior isn't always on the mark, 100% exactly the same). He looked, bluntly, bewildered, and looked to me like "did you see that?" I smiled at him and kept walking him (we were walking past the dog and she did a halfassed lunge his way). 
The Cautious Canine is really great for fearfulness, but hopefully in another few weeks she'll be past this. I would (personally) let her be with the puppies at socialized play time, bearing in mind that none of the other puppies decide to bully her. If they investigate and she retreats, let her be as long as the other puppies take the hint and leave her alone.



wvasko said:


> Sometimes when in doubt do nothing, take all pressure off the dog. Let the world take a couple spins and possibly the dog may grow out of this herself. This of course depends on the expertise of your trainer and how much you trust him. *All I'm saying is that sometimes in our zeal to fix a problem we jump in and it grows*. Sometimes trainers also will let their egos rule to prove that they have all the answers. This isn't gonna help much but if you did nothing and kept your dog away from other dogs for a while if it did not help it's not gonna hurt.


Needs repeated, 10-fold!


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