Hi Shannon

I have recently imported a dog that has just turned a year old.

The problem I have with him is that he is shies away from the judge whilst being judged on the table and barks terribly at dogs around him when we walk on a leash. He arrived when he was 5 months old and was fine. It has only been in the last 4 months that this has developed. I have tried baiting him while the judge is going over him on the table, but that does not work. He is okayish with female judges, but more insecure when it comes to male judges. I think I messed it up, as I should have taken him to puppy socializing.

I am not attending any more shows this year, so I have from now until next year to get the problem sorted out, as he is a wonderful dog, but needs to get to grips with his behaviour. There is a lady in my area that does socialising, if you recommend it, otherwise I am all ears. I look forward to hearing from you and I will take any advise you have.

Thanks again

Fear Factor

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Hi Fear Factor,

This is a very distressing situation to be in, especially when one considers the time, effort and expense that you have gone through.

Getting a puppy at the age of five months means that you “inherit” potential problems, which may not always be obvious at the time. Adequate socialisation to various species, a variety of humans and various situations before the age of four months are crucial. Having said that, some dogs can still develop problems .

Socialisation

People seem to be under the misconception that if a puppy is “socialised” or taken to puppy school before the age of four months then he should never have any socialisation issues for the rest of his life. The truth is far from it.

A puppy is not programmed to interact socially with another species. Thousands of years of domestication, however, has shown that this is possible. The dog's particular nature - a puppy has to learn to identify its own species - can serve to foster socialisation with other species (called domestication when it involves interaction with humans).

Socialisation/domestication during the sensitive phase of three to sixteen weeks is:

•  Easily acquired but requires permanent reinforcement to avoid de-socialisation

•  Not generalised to all individuals of the species concerned, but remains relatively limited to the individual's characteristics

•  Dependant on the capacity to generalize, which varies from one breed to another (gundogs are far more able to generalise in this respect than guard dogs)

The threshold of socialisation (number of interactions) is variable and depends on factors that are internal (breed, individual) or external (mother's fearful behaviour, quality of the surroundings, etc.).

So let's assume that all progresses wonderfully and the puppy is well socialised. However when we approach the “pre-puberty” phase things can often go pear-shaped.

Pre-Puberty Sensitisation & Inherited Temperament

In clinical practice Dehasse has observed cases where phobic behaviour (both towards the dog's immediate surroundings and towards humans with which the dog has little contact) and anxiety can develop in pre-puberty. This occasionally leads to an anxiety syndrome, which Dehasse calls "anticipated defence behaviour" (Dehasse, 1990a).

Cases have been reported of littermates raised in differing surroundings (in fact also different countries) displaying the same anxious behaviour at a similar age. This has led Dehasse to propose two hypotheses:

•  Inherited temperament
•  Phase of pre-puberty sensitisation

There is obviously a hormonal influence on this behaviour, which would explain why it seems to “come out of the blue”. This period often starts around the eight to nine month mark.

De-Socialisation

It is possible to “loose” socialisation. Woolpy (1968, in Fox, 1975) accustomed adult wild wolves to contact with humans in six months time. He then isolated them somewhat from humans and in this case they retained their socialisation experience. He also accustomed wolf cubs to humans and then isolated them. In this case there was de-socialisation. Young animals need continuous reinforcement.

The same holds for dogs. When a normally socialised puppy is isolated from humans and placed in a kennel from three to four months of age to six to eight months he becomes fearful in the presence of humans, even the trainer. Woolpy's interpretation (for wolves) is that socialisation is limited by fear of the unknown. Thus before socialisation can be acquired, the cognitive element of fear must first mature.

A dog has to go through the three variations of fear of the unknown:

in order for true socialisation to be achieved.

During the period of cognitive sensitisation at pre-puberty or puberty, minor trauma can occasionally entrench wariness or fear.

Solution

There is no quick fix to this problem. Your dog needs a gradual programme of desensitisation to other dogs, people etc. Start him at a level he can tolerate and then gradually increase. If he backslides then revert to the previous level of success. Classes will certainly help, provided he is NOT pressurised . Any pressure and he will feel that his anxiety is justified and you'll slide ten paces backwards.

You can also try to open his mind to the possibility of alternate behaviour by changing the cues that he gets from you. In other words, try stack from a different position, work with a different lead, use different rewards, move with a toy, stack and feel legs, play a game, stack and show teeth etc. By changing the factors that lead up to the “normal” outcome you increase the possibility of an alternate behaviour occurring. This will also help you relax a little and avoid the accidental cues that could be part of making him anxious.

Please also read the article: Fear of Strangers, which also covers this topic.

Best of luck!

Shannon

References:

•  Dehasse J. (1998). Stratégies thérapeutiques (Therapeutic strategies). Proceedings of the 5 th ESVCE Annual Conference, XIXth SAVAB National Meeting, 29-32.

•  Dehasse J. (2001). Sensory, Emotional and Social Development of the Young Dog

•  Fox, M. W. (1975). The wild canids: Their systematics, behavioural, ecololgy, and evolution.

•  Maienschein, J. (2005) The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, "Epigenesis and Preformationism"

•  O'Leary, C & Gray, K. (2000) Stages Of Canine Development.

•  Woolpy, J. (1967) American Zoologist