Dog fears older man

[whoregisteredme]

About 10 days ago we add 2 husky males of 2.5 and 3 years to our family. We used to have 6 Alaskan huskys until all died of old age exept one who's now 12.

This time we took Siberian huskys but the older male is verry affraid of me.

I've never done any harm to no any dog ever and the previous owner could tell us that no traumatic experience has happened to this dog. (wich I don't believe though.)

She said it all just started when he was 6 months old, however his half brother who is younger is totally normal in behaving and behaves rather the opposite.

I've been observing saarlooswolfhounds a lot when I was younger and many of these dogs share the same reserved behaving towards strange ppl als thisone only shows towards me.

He doesn't behave affraid to no any other member of the family and not even my friend who looks the same as me with lots of facial hair and a deep voice he regards as no threat.

now after 1.5 weeks or so , I decided to keep him on a meter long leash and wherever I go in the house or outside, well... that's also were he goes from now on. Confrontation therapy as I call it.

Is there anyone who knows more about what I try to explain about the peticular behavorial feature I am trying to explain here?

It is importend for me to teach him to come to me on command as soon as possible, but as long as he only fears the living daylight because of my personality I don't have any right condition to teach him anything.

Is there anyone who could advise me on how to go about finding the correct methode to let him overcome his fear?

Nature man from Scandinavia.

[KERNOWHUSKIES]

Im so sorry, no great advice but.... get to his level everytime u see him and just be gentle (Im sure u already r)

U have to remember not all dogs r the same, so dont blame urself. Do u ever wear hats? That can be a big problem sometimes. Hang in there! x

[Sarah]

It could be because he's only been with you for a short space of time. Keep your voice at a normal level and use treats when you call him, patience is a virtue sometimes i'm sure that given time he will be bouncing all over you

Oh and welcome to the pack!!

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

i agree with sarah give him sum treats when u fuss him and stuff he will then associate u with treats which is a good thing then soon enuf u wont even need them good luck

[Damrod]

Maybe some ideas in these articles??!!

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1391&S=1&SourceID=47

http://www.labadoption.org/linkpages/DogBehave/Articles/AfraidMen.pdf

[Damrod]

Behavior Modification For Dogs Afraid Of People Or Pets

Landsberg G, Hunthausen W, Ackerman L 2003 Handbook of Behavior Problems of the Dog and Cat. Saunders, Edinburgh

# 2003, Elsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved.

There are many different stimuli that can frighten your dog or lead to an aggressive response. Although fear

can lead to avoidance and escape attempts, the dog that is defensive or aggressive when it is frightened

can pose a serious danger. This handout is designed to develop a program for improving or resolving fear of

animate stimuli, such as people and other animals. Fear can be generalized to all people or animals of a

certain type (e.g., children, strange dogs) but can also be quite specific so that fear may only be exhibited

with specific people (e.g., delivery men with beards) or in specific situations.

Treatment of fear

In simple terms, the pet must be repeatedly exposed to the fearful stimulus until it sees that there is nothing

to fear and settles down. If the association with the stimulus can be turned into one that is positive, the pet

may actually develop a positive attitude when exposed to the stimulus.

Desensitization is used in combination with counterconditioning to change a pet’s attitude or ‘feeling’ about

the stimulus from one that is negative to one that is positive. Desensitization involves controlled exposure to

situations or stimuli that are weaker or milder than will cause fear. Counterconditioning is then used to

change the dog’s response to the stimulus (person, other animal) by associating the dog’s favored rewards

with the stimulus. The dog is then gradually introduced to similar but progressively more intense stimuli

paired together with the presentation of the favored reward. If an inappropriate response (fear, aggression,

attempts at retreat) is exhibited, then an attempt should be made to interrupt the situation and calm the dog,

at which point a reward can be given for success.

Response substitution is used to train the dog to perform or display a new acceptable response (e.g., sit)

each time it is exposed to the stimulus. Again, rather than attempting to overcome an intense response, the

training should be set up to expose the dog with stimuli of reduced intensity to ensure a successful outcome.

A head halter and leash can be used to ensure success and both the release (negative reinforcement) and

positive reinforcement can be used to mark and reinforce an acceptable relaxed response.

Owner responses such as a raised voice, anxiety, fear, or punishment will only serve to heighten the pet’s

fear or anxiety. Similarly, a fearful, anxious, or threatening stimulus to the dog will further aggravate anxiety.

Be certain to retrain only with calm, controlled stimuli. The goal of training is to reinforce appropriate,

desirable responses. Therefore, it is critical that rewards are not given and that the stimulus and the dog are

not removed from the situation until the dog is calm and settled.

Steps for treating a pet that is afraid of animate stimuli (people, other

animals)

1. Identify all stimuli and situations that cause the pet to be fearful (e.g., tall men, loud women, young

children playing).

2. Prevent the dog from experiencing the stimuli except during retraining sessions.

3. If there is aggression associated with the fear, then your dog should be trained to wear a head

halter or basket muzzle so that safety during exposure exercises can be ensured.

4. Train the dog to relax or settle on command in the absence of any fear-evoking stimuli (see our

handout on Settle training). Train only in locations where the dog is calm, focused, and has minimal

distractions. The initial training should be done by family members with whom the pet is calmest,

most controlled, and responsive. The head halter can be used to ensure immediate success.

5. Once the dog will reliably settle, focus on the family member, and accept rewards in a variety of

environments, then training can progress to stimulus exposure, desensitization, and

counterconditioning and response substitution.

6. Often, a familiar dog or a familiar person can be used as the initial training stimulus to ensure that

the dog will show a relaxed and positive response in the problem environment (e.g., greeting other

dogs on the street, greeting strangers at the door).

7. Reinforcer selection: for both counterconditioning and response substitution, the dog’s favored

rewards should be used. You should make a list of all the rewards your dog may enjoy and save

the top few for training. In fact, to increase the motivational value of the rewards, you should

deprive the dog of these favored rewards except for these training sessions.

8. You will need to develop a gradient for introduction to the fearful stimulus so that initial exposures

are mild. Setting up sessions with good stimulus control can be difficult and take a great degree of

forethought but is essential for successful counterconditioning and response substitution training.

(a) First, make a list of all the stimuli that might incite fear or anxiety. Stimuli may be visual,

auditory, tactile, olfactory, and on rare occasions associated with taste. There may be multiple

stimuli to which you will have to desensitize and countercondition. For example, a dog that

shows a fear response to children on bicycles riding past the front of the home may show

anxiety related to the bicycles, the children, the actions, the sounds, the location, and the

owner’s response.

( Once each stimulus is identified, a means of controlling the stimuli along a gradient of

increasingly stronger stimuli must be developed. A gradient can be designed using distance

(from far enough away to cause minimal response and gradually closer), similarity (e.g., from

least similar age or size to most similar), activity level (from no movement to high activity), or

location (from most calm and controllable location to most difficult or distracted), and with

different handlers (from trainer to family member with least control)

© To ensure minimal fear with the initial exposure, be certain to begin at a time and location

where the pet is calmest and train with the family member or trainer who can best calm the

dog.

(d) Advance along the gradients very slowly. If you happen to proceed through a step too quickly

and the pet responds fearfully, relax, and settle down the pet. By using a leash and head

halter, it is often possible to calm and distract the dog with a pull upward to get eye contact

with the owner and a gradual release. Once the fear response has ceased for five seconds or

more, move the person or animal back about five feet. Then, have the person or animal

advance one foot, give the pet a reinforcer, and stop the session for one to 24 hours

depending on the magnitude of the fear response.

(e) The favored reward is paired with success and calmness at each new step along the gradient.

Always end each session on a positive note and start at that level or below with subsequent

sessions.

Fear/anxiety toward people

For aggression toward people, stimuli to consider that might lead to anxiety include visual cues such as

physical characteristics (e.g., sex, age, race, dress, infirmities), attitude and actions, olfactory cues (odor),

and auditory cues. As people begin to interact with your dog, tactile cues may also be a factor to consider so

progress slowly with each new stimulus.

Fear/anxiety toward other animals

For aggression toward other animals, stimuli to consider that might lead to anxiety include visual cues such

as physical characteristics (e.g., species, breed/color, size, age), postures, facial expressions and actions,

olfactory cues (odors, pheromones), and auditory cues (e.g., growl). As the other animal begins to interact

with your dog, tactile cues may also be a factor to consider, so progress slowly with each new stimulus.

Handler/location cues: as mentioned, the cues and responses of the owner as well as the location or

situation in which the exposure takes place might also have an impact on whether the pet is more or less

likely to be anxious. Use a person who is confident, calm, and in good control to begin training sessions and

use a location where success is most likely.

Example

A dog might be most fearful and show aggression toward young boys at a distance of 15 m or less while

playing in front of the house. Four gradients could be used for the boys: distance between the dog and the

stimulus, appearance of the stimulus, location of the stimulus, and actions of the stimulus. Along the

distance gradient, the exposure sessions would start at 15 m (i.e., beyond that which would evoke the fear

response) and progress toward the dog. The appearance gradient might progress from adults to teenagers

to familiar boys to unfamiliar boys. The activity gradient might begin with the stimulus standing quietly and

progress gradually toward more intense play, and a location gradient might begin with desensitization and

counterconditioning away from home before moving to your own property.

In this example, if the fear was toward boys on bicycles or roller blades, then desensitization and

counterconditioning with the bicycle or roller blades will also be necessary. One method might be to use a

family member for training the dog to have a positive association with the bicycle and then riding the bicycle,

before combining the two stimuli (unfamiliar children and bicycle riding).

[whoregisteredme]

Thanks a lot for al your tips, links and responses, and thanks for beeing welcomed to the club. P'haps some sympatie for the situation was all I needed

He's not the first "difficult" dog that ever arrived at my place, and ive been doing things like training hawks and horses too some wile ago. (yuh, everyone gets what they deserve eh... )

Always using awfull lots of patience,gentilness and rewards were indeed my strategy.

Yesterday evening after having been on the short leash for the entire day with me, for the first time he finally accepted some pieces of sausage.

Now I finally hold the key to exercise

Got a lill overwhelmed by all support, did not realy expect to get such exuberant reply for a first time visitor.

Must be some compassionate gang you're all part of in here

tnx a lot once more.

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

im glad ur making progress keep us updated on how u get on

theres sum good ppl on here hey

[whoregisteredme]

I hope I'm one of them too Bign Blaze and since you requested me to do some

updating on this project I'd be glad to become test rabbit so ppl might be

able to learn. (either way )

Allthough I must warn you;

English

is not my first language and allthough I am fairly sane, I later on like to

share my hobby with you, wich is ' to say the least, "not to everyone"

Well, confrontation therapy did not seem to be the

solution.

We made some progress untill a certain level, but then progress

stopped and became more like a "stand still" and so too did we encounter

some occasional "fall backs "into his old habits.

So no treats were

beeing token anymore and to put the animal on a diet (like I use to do with hawks

and previous dogs I once trained) seemed a bit to risky considering our young children at

home.

During younger years I came to good results that way with

difficult dogs though, since it created a basis to train as the dog earned

his daily ratio by working/training for it.

But 2 siberian huskys and one

giant cross between a barzoi and a malamute I would not like to see argueing about

a scraple of food with our children inbetween at the confined space of our kitchen or

living room, I think everyone can understand that.

So I called to the

leading person of the saarloos wolfhound group with who I have a long time

standing relation ship, knowing she would certainly be familliar with the

problem.

(saarloos wolfhounds are rather notorious for beeing reserved

towards strange ppl and circumstances.)

She advised me to completely ignore

the dog at home and during the daily walks, and instead exclusively look up at the sky while

pretending to watch birds.

So ever since I happen to see

these imaginary birds singing where ever I go, and even think to see an

occasional bat flying in the living room and ceiling... progress has finally

started.

But the key is obvious to never EVER look at the

dog, his eyes or even in his direction.

The only thing I sometimes do at times

when he shows me his tongue is to answer this gesture by sticking out my own

tongue while focusing my eyes somewhere else as at him, thus hoping to ease him down by

telling him this way that no harm towards him was intended.

It´s a

gesture I anyways always pick up fromout the corners of my eyes cuzz even now when I

don't look straight in his direction anymore , believe me I can tell all of his body language

from a life time experience of having observed sled dogs doing their thing.

Also when I put

on his collar and leash for the daily walks I will look totally somewhere

else as at him and just kinda blindly and by feel slide the collar over his

head.

This my newly adapted behavioural ways towards the frightened dog

seems to realy calm him down and he seems to feel more at ease with me

now as he has ever done before.

Yesterday he even attempted to participate in the ball game his brother and I were playing !!!

Well, I think I keep on doing this now for a prolonged period of

time, and as soon as any new break throughs will appear I´d be glad to bring you

some new updates again.

I AM a social person but do not hang out much on

the Husky owners forum.

I prefere hanging out in the forest at any time of day

or night with or without the dogs.

It's the attraction of a stress free environment

at a place I feel we mostly belong...

Longing for spring again...

Provided that plenty of forest or wastelands are around, I think everyone in good health and spirit should try this "at home"

in order to restore a piece of unison with oneself and nature...

Well here it goes...

I go in the forest with the dogs and take off my shoes and socks... Hang them in

a randomly choosen tree and say HOME! to the dogs, (place where socs and shoes are hanging = "home"

and ment to be the place to return too.

Then I say ...... (name of leading

dog).... LEAD!

And then from this moment on some good exercise has begun...

The leader will lead me through the forest and I will run after it the Indian way.

(= way of walking one only learns by walking in moccasins: your moccasin kinda hangs on your foot as

opposed to regular shoes who confine and strap your feet in, thus making you rely on your senses as opposed to relying on ones shoes)

My arms are mostly up in the air while on the run and simultaniously move up and down with my body like someone does when practising

dance while on the move.

It's ment to balance my way through the forest and to

avoid getting hurt by sharp objects.

It is verry good comparable If you

ever saw Gibbons walking over narrow branches or walkways.

.

(or better still, participate a Native American Pow Wow and get a feel for the drum and join the parade)

This way your

boddy will get in some kinda trance that enables you to resonate with

everyting comming your way in nature. (branches, sticks, stones,puddles, ditches,any

hurdle one can think of that can be out there realy.)

Running like this will make you anticipate any kind of trouble comming your way,

since extending your arms towards the sky while on the move will prevent you from dropping or step and hurt yourselves on sharp objects.

Your arms will counterbalance your feet i.o.w.

The Dogs will bring me

everywhere I need to be...

We see all kinda wildlife and on occasion are even

running parralel with moose and deer.

I like to see them this way... dog, moose

and the elements but without any intend to harm, just beeing part of it all

for a fraction of time.

The intend is just to catch up with the dogs, wich is

fairly easy since they gimme plenty of time to rest when they are smelling out

their points of interest.

I can do this up untill minus 5 degrees celsius, but

then my tones become numb and thus will I have to wait for next spring

again.

No worries about the prey animals though, they are faster

and smarter as us and will get away anyhow, I just try not loosing track

of the dogs but if I lose them I call off the "hunt" by saying

HOME and return to the checkpoint.

Meanwhile I'll be smoking my pipe

while putting on my shoes and wait at the tree for the dogs to

return.

Seeing wildlife is merely occasional though, more often the

leading dog will just run a circle and return at checkpoint "home" whenever I

gave the instruction and start walking in its direction myself.

LOVE

the animals ppl, LOVE nature, and whenever possible, BE part of it !

And f**k

I hate hunters!

Porc beef and chicken should be enough now

wouldn't it ?

well, everyone his thing but I hate to be aimed at with a

riffle see?

Well, nevermind the bloody motta fockes with their weaponry

cuzz especially during moose and bird hunting season I found the remedy to that as well...

It even suits my style and usually my mood too

cuzz then I use to repetedly sing native american/siberian/scandinavian Joika's at the top of my longs wile on the run.

And to be honest with you, I don't give a flying f**k about what they are thinking of me.

I only wished they could know what I am thinking of thèm