shy 13 week german shepherd help!?
Question by nicki <3: shy 13 week german shepherd help!?
Yesterday we took my puppy to his first training class. It was so hard to get him into the car he didn’t want to go anywhere near it! My mum had to carry him and put him in it. Then the journey was about 20 minutes and he threw up. He wasn’t fed beforehand so that must have been his food he had 5 hours before. He also threw up on the way back! Anyway when we got to the puppy class he was glad to get out – his mouth was all drooly so we cleaned him up and he sniffed around. Then this tiny black terrier thing came in and oh my gosh he started barking. His bark was like a high pitched squeak so my puppy got so freaked out he ran into the room and dived under the chairs. For the whole lesson he just hid under there and the lady said to leave him
But there was a big 14 week old GSD in advanced puppy classes who was fine and his owner was like is he the runt? I was so annoyed at him!!
His pup was a long haired and was really big but the vet said my puppy was the right size.
So what can I do to help with car sickness and him hiding under chairs between today and the next puppy lesson?
Thanks so much, emmy
Best answer:
Answer by Maya
This one is easy. You may have to ask for additional help with the car sickness problem, or have something the dog can be sick on. With the dog being scared, the problem may be the puppy is not used to being around other dogs, so you will have to get the dog to be around strange dogs and people so they wont be so scared of them. Also, if your puppy is scared of strange noises, then start making strange noises so he wont jump at every sound. It might seem to be a silly thing to do, but it works. And when your puppy is scared of something and tries to hide, be sure to pet him, to reassure that everything is okay.
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u probably should take him for more car rides and get another dog if possible so he isnt so shy and try to get him out of the house like to the park or something. thank you!
my border collie was the same. i dropped all classes till he was more secure with his family and himself
The best thing you can do it just get him out and about . It is natural for them to be scared of the big wide world . Some puppies are more nevres that others. Don’t baby him when he gets frightened as that will only make it worse. Do you know any other people with friendly dogs as if yes you can go out for walks with then or arrange to meet them out on walks like you would starnge with dogs. Don’t make the puppy go over to them just walk a distant and then keep going back pass each other getting closer everytime and give you puppy a treat everytime he passes nicely. Carry on at the puppy class he will soon come out of his shell.
Totally ignore [Maya] – ESPECIALLY her advice to “reassure the pup when it is scared” – that just convinces it that there is something to be scared of, and REWARDS it for being scared!.
You seem to be doing everything possible WRONG!
#1: You should not have accepted a shy pup – you should have left it with the breeder.
#2: You should not BE in a class yet.
#3: Instead of taking short, relaxed trips as preparation, you pushed Pup into a vehicle he was NOT happy with, and rushed straight to a situation no timid pup should be put into.
#4: Instead of having your pup on-leash, you had him loose so that he could escape when the Terrier-whatever yapped.
#5: And although you know that he is a GSD you typed only 2 of the words GSD stands for, and gave neither a capital letter!
What SHOULD have happened:
1• Choose a calm, interested-in-everything pup, and bring it home at 7-9 weeks old.
2• Stay with it 24/7 for a week: (a) To convince it that the world is a fun, safe place and that you are the source of everything good in the universe, and (b) so you can learn its timing & signals for “Wanna go toilet” and “Wanna BITE something!” and so take instant appropriate action.
3• Book in to a weekly training-club class (forget that pet-shop play-group) that will start when Pup is 18-22 weeks old.
4• 14-16 days after its first vaccinations, calmly take it to a place where dogs do NOT run loose, do NOT piddle-poo-vomit, and there encourage him to try to “explore in all directions at once” at the end of a 2m/6ft leash – except when you must haul him away from a scared person or something dangerous/disgusting. Familiarise him (starting from a distance HE considers safe) to every movement, reflection, scent, sight, sound & texture in your environment. When Pup wants to stop and think about a possibly-scary-new-thing, LET him. If he wants to go behind you, LET him. Stand still & silent until he decides to either ignore the new thing or to investigate it. THEN you enthusiastically praise him for being brave – if he is still close enough, add a pat or a rub.
You can NOT train him while he is terrified (well, not except by being a bully, so that he is more scared of you than of the environment, that is). You MUST get his confidence, his trust, before you take him close to strange dogs & strange people.
Now that you have terrified him of the car, you’ve got to start small.
Put him in one side of the car, go to the other side, get him out.
When he is no longer bothered by that, put him in, get in too, sit for a couple of minutes (listen to the radio? pat him?), get him out.
When he’s relaxed, put him in the car, back the car down the drive. Get him out.
Each time you get in, he gets a fuss. Each time you get him out, he gets a fuss.
Take him for a 2 minute drive and walk him on-leash in a quiet place before getting back in and coming home.
Until you are SURE he is happy about being in the car, EVERY TRIP he takes must be brief, MUST be to somewhere interesting to HIM, somewhere with lots of ground scents.
And he is to ALWAYS be on-leash before you open the front door. Don’t worry about Heelwork until he is trusting enough for you to be in a REAL training class – he is small enough that you are stronger than he is.
• Add http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/The_GSD_Source to your browser’s Bookmarks or Favorites so that you can easily look up such as feeding, vaccinations, worming, clubs, weights, teething, neutering, disorders, genetics.
• To ask about GSDs, join some of the 400+ YahooGroups dedicated to various aspects of living with them. Each group’s Home page tells you which aspects they like to discuss, and how active they are. Unlike YA, they are set up so that you can have an ongoing discussion with follow-up questions for clarification. Most allow you to include photos in your messages.
Les P, owner of GSD_Friendly: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/GSD_Friendly
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