A few days before Christmas me and Joey went to Petsmart for some socialization. Joey did very well there he let people pet him and I was able to make him stand and stay while I stood in front of him. I thought that we were coming along and began to imagine me and Joey competing in Obedience some time soon. Today however, we tried again and Joey was a total mess. He gave everyone at Petco a wide berth, and when anyone bent down to pet him he would slink away as far as his leash would let him. Treats could not persuade him to go forward, and if I pushed him forward he would literally collapse. The most frustrating thing about this experience is the fact that I have no idea why Joey acted like this. He has not had any bad experiences with people since his last socializing, and he seemed to be doing very well before Christmas. Joey has never really been comfortable around strangers, but he has never been this bad before. We will defiantly be haunting all the nearby pet stores until Joey's new paranoia is over.
Joey, a.k.a "Hutsok's Snow Storm CGC RA BH,BN" is a Maltese, born October 23rd 2009. Joey competes in Rally and Agility, and we are practicing in Tracking and Obedience. This blog is an account of the training, progress,and everyday adventures of Joey's life.
The SFE is extra hard for little dogs since people have to lean over them to reach.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried doing the stand on a table/stool/bench so that he is more on their level? I did this with a miniature poodle on some tree stumps and it helped him a lot! I also just had people walk by him first without petting, then slowly added the three touches like they do in Obedience.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice! We will defiantly try this.
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