Ask Me Help Desk - 4 Month old Rottie Afraid Of People

I have a great 4 month old female rottie that has been the best puppy I have ever had EXCEPT she is afraid of people. Mostly men but pretty much all people. I bring her to work with me every day (retail setting) to socalize her but she just hides in the back and sleeps. Any ideas?:cool:

Congrats on getting the best breed of dog. Only my opinion of course, but I just love my Rott. He is an amazing dog. Anyway, I am no expert so I can only give you my best judgement. I think that if you keep treats with you and give them to your customers to give your pup that might help. I would put her on a lead and stay right next to her and allow them to feed her. Sounds to me like she just needs a confidence boost. Maybe start slow with someone she knows and work up to the male customers. Hopefully one of the dog experts will volunteer their knowledge. There are very good ones on here. Good luck and if you can post a pic of her I would love to see.

Even pups from the same litter will have different temperments. There is a lot of info out the about getting the pick of a litter, how to tell but even experienced breeders can be fooled that's why a reputable one will take their own dogs back. Some times a simple mineral imbalance I'm thinking calcium, phosphorus and or magnesium can have startling differences in behaviour. Some times it's the thyroid or she is affected by dyes and colors in some petfoods causing a kind of hyperactive behaviour.

How old was she when you got her? Many people breeding dogs totally lack understanding of the importance of the 6-12 week period in a puppy's life. If she didn't see many people and few men before 12 weeks, that is just what to expect.

Explaining the cause is much easier than fixing it. Control your emotions around strangers. Let your customers and her know you are happy to see them. If you tense up when strangers come in, she will sense it and it will confirm they are scary. The treats mentioned above are a good idea.

If you have been feeding a puppy chow, it already contains a careful balance of minerals. If anything, in excessive amounts. For more on why you should switch to an adult chow now, see https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post251802

Socializing is super important, take her for walks on busy streets.. if she is afraid, don't cater to her fears by luring her with treats or using baby voices, excitement will also make matters worse.. don't even say anything at all. If you're making a big deal from it she will sense the excited energy causing her anxiety to escalate. Hold her close to you on the leash and bring her to others but just ignore her... be patient, this won't work over night, if she is resisting on the leash, hold it behind your back and lead her.. she will start to trust you, thus trusting others.. I hope this makes sense.

Remember there are two situations where a dog would bite--rage biting and FEAR biting. Forcing your pup to interact with customers when she is clearly anxious about just that could be trouble. If you own the store you could be in a lawsuit! And some customers are allergic or simply don't care for animals and you'd lose sales. Maybe trying an antianxiety medication/tranquilizer with the vet sometimes they can use it for a short period and never need it again. Labman is right a lot of puppies are not socialized at the time when their little minds are growing and soaking up info like a sponge. And you can't teach an old dog a new trick.:(

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildandblue

And you can't teach an old dog a new trick.:(

Of course you can!

Seriously, the dog will think it's fearful behavior will be rewarded with treats, don't do it. The beauty about dogs is they live in the now, naturally, they don't dwell on the past or the future.. don't be discouraged, try my method, don't say anything, set an example for your pup, they will follow ;) it' their instinct.

I have worked in resuce for years working with animals. The first thing you need to do is build confidence in the dog so that it is not fearful. Have people hand the dog a treat (I recommend cheese- because it special) have them hand it to the dog. You reach over give a good solid pat to the side and tell the dog OK good dog then ignore him and talk to the person ignoring the dog. It is slow going but by doing this you are building confidnence in a dog that does not have any and getting him used to strangers and also showing that meeting people is a good thing. On average it does not take that long but I recommend doing it at least twice a day once in a morning and once in evening. Although sometimes the dogs I have worked have taken as long as 3 months to overcome it but those or few and far between. But it works... and makes your animal a better animal for it... the trick is to be very consistent in working with the dog. If dog is aggressive when people approach have them drop the cheese in front of the dog when standing talking to you and while dog checking it out reach down give a quick pat and then ignore. Positive reinforcement goes along way and have worked with dogs that would never had stood a chance otherwise.