Problem:
Fear
of strangers
Hi
Shannon
My
name is Michelle; we own a six month old Bullmastiff.
He has always been a very outgoing and adventurous puppy,
but cautious towards strangers. Since he is getting
older the problem with meeting strangers is getting
worse. We have just had him neutered in the hope that
it will settle him a bit, and it has definitely helped
with the frustration he had. We stay on a huge property
on the beach front, so there is no noise from cars,
dogs barking etc and I have since realized that it is
not a good thing for a young dog. They need to be desensitised
almost from all those strange things when they young.
I know it is late but I have just started taking him
to socialising classes hoping that it will help. He
has been to two and it is going well. There was such
an improvement the second day, he was a lot more relaxed
with all the strange noises and other dogs.
The
problem I have with him is if anyone approaches him
he actually backs away totally, he wants to have nothing
to do with other people, yet if he sees anyone from
our family or someone that he knows, then he pulls and
leaps to greet the person. Being at training the handlers
obviously encourage him to greet strangers and it has
come to the point where he growls at people, even sometimes
showing his teeth if they persist with trying to touch
him. He will not let the handlers touch him or even
take the lead from me. The one handler tried to push
on his quarters while encouraging him to sit, and he
snapped at him. I know its early days, with his training,
but I don't want to sit back and just hope that he grows
out of it, I need to know that I am doing all that I
can to help him grow into a well adjusted dog. He really
is an awesome animal and adores his family, he is fine
with us taking food from him, he shows us the family
no dominance what so ever, I think it is purely fear
or strangers.
Help? What do I do? Do I reprimand him when he shows
aggression towards strangers, or do I ignore it, when
they persistently try to touch him? Do I just keep him
away from those situations? Or do I carry on encouraging
him to get some confidence in strangers? I have never
had this problem with Bullmastiffs before, and he is
our third. Saying all that, it is always when he is
on a lead. If the people don't look at him or lean over
to touch or greet him, then he is quite happy to stand
next to them and just ignore them, it is only if someone
makes a fuss of him.
Any
advice would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Stranger Ranger
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Hi
Stranger
Ranger,
To
answer your questions:
Your
dog has a fear of strangers and people pushing themselves
onto him is only going to reinforce this fear. The reason
he only behaves like this on lead is because he can't
escape the situation. Strangers should not invade his
space at this stage at all. Furthermore any aggressive
behaviour that results in people backing off will only
teach him to be aggressive to solve his problem.
While
the person who pushed his backside down was well intentioned,
this was a really unwise move - this experience on its
own has confirmed to your dog that strangers are bad
news. Furthermore, any form of compulsive training has
a number of risky side effects and your dog would benefit
most from a positive reinforcement training approach.
Right
now he needs to be in an environment with strangers
with them minding their own business - training classes
are ideal, provided he is not pressurised. Once he has
been doing this for a while you can ask him to stand
closer and closer to strangers. Let him approach people
with you - do not have them approach you. Choose your
"strangers" wisely. They should remain calm
and initially they should ignore him. After a while
they can stand close to him, but alongside him - not
face to face. They can hold a treat in their hand and
let him eat this treat while they continue a conversation
with you or another stranger. Try and get a couple of
different people to do this. After a while you will
find that your dog will willingly approach these people.
Then you can ask him to tolerate touching and petting.
It
is imperative to go slowly. If he backslides then go
back to the previous level of success and build him
up again. Do not put him into situations where he feels
that he has to behave aggressively to protect himself.
His fear is real to him and needs to be addressed slowly
and systematically. Can you imagine how you would feel
if you were forced to confront your worst fear and you
had no way of escaping? This pressure reduces the trust
that he has in you and will make him even more liable
to be aggressive as he feels that he has to take charge
of the situation.
Be
careful not to reinforce fear by saying "It's OK,
it's all right etc". This only serves to confirm
to the dog that something is very wrong. Just continue
chatting and pretend that all is normal. Breathe slowly,
relax yourself and keep a loose lead. If you are tense
he will pick this up. If need be, close your eyes and
imagine him standing calmly next to you.
Your
dog is probably already in his pre-puberty/major fear
stage. This normally occurs at seven to eight months,
but in this case it seems to have started early. This
stage often throws up some surprises for the owners
as dogs "spook" at stimuli that may have not
presented any problems before.
Most
importantly remember that he is your dog and you are
within your rights to insist that people refrain from
pushing his limits. If he bites it's because he has
been pushed too far. Go slowly and let his reactions
guide you.
Best
of luck
Shannon