Comments on: Socializing My Dog With Kids?

By: Kara-lyn

Kara-lyn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:36:38 +0000

she sounds to be very unsure of people. i would not start socializing her with children yet. also ‘forcing her’ to interact with people may make it worse. allow her to bond with you first, then take her to the pet-smart, have people walk around her, but ignore her. if she chooses to walk up to people that is fine, but dont force her. eventually she should learn that people are ok, i really recommend getting her involved in an obedience class with a professional trainer who can steer you in the right direction on what would be the best way to introduce her to children.

By: Murphy&D

Murphy&D — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:33:02 +0000

make sure that the people are not giving her any eye contact, are bending down at the knees and not over her at their waist, also make sure that they pet her under the chin because all of these are the polite non threatening way to do things.
what kind of treats are you trying to have others feed her? make sure its a high value treat like chicken.
keep it up!

By: Deirdre B

Deirdre B — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:44:50 +0000

It sounds like you have a very smart, sweet dog who has most likely been abused by former owners, hence her apprehension around unfamiliar humans. If this is the case, it may be close to impossible to ever completely make her comfortable around people she doesn’t know. But, like children, the more she is around certain people, the more she should warm up to them. Since she is very young, she could grow out of this behavior, but with my own personal experience of abused dogs, it most likely will be a while before she is completely at ease with humans, if ever. If she has been abused, NEVER ‘force’ a human on her. Keep doing what you are doing, being very gentle and patient with her training, and she should eventually settle down. You are doing an excellent job taking care of her, and God bless you for taking on a shelter dog!

By: ginbark

ginbark — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:40:12 +0000

your dog has a genetic shy temperament which can not be changed but can be modified. Use the desensitization method for people, start with a type of person she is least scared of and have that person at her comfort level away. If she doesn’t get skittish when a person walks by a 10 feet use that far away at first. Have the person walk by and when they do you give her a very tasty treat. When she realizes people walking by=yummies you move the person 2 feet closer, when she is comfortable with 8 feet away then the person walks by at 6 feet etc. until the person walks by and gently tosses the food at her feet. Next the person pauses and hands her the treat then walks on. Next the person stops briefly and you have a short conversation while the person ignores the dog except to feed her treats. By now she should be looking forward to that treat feeding person and the person can briefly pet her under the chin then treat. When that stranger is accepted you move onto another slightly more “threatening” to her such as a man then go thru the whole process then do kids. You need to have lots of friends or helpful neighbors.You can not change her inherited temperament but with a lot of work you can modify it. Plus an obed class where she has to focus on you and not people would be good. We’ve trained several shy dogs, and one went on to get his AKC CD title and another won his obed class 8 weeks after he was adopted with a perfect score. I’ve included a couple of sites with more and slightly different methods.

By: l

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:20:05 +0000

youre doing great – keep it up and she will come around

By: DeeDawg

DeeDawg — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:16:37 +0000

don’t force her to interact with people just yet. she needs to be able to observe them from a distance and become more comfortable with them before she is actually interacting with strangers and children.
this is a gradual process, and any rushing can set you backwards.