Socializing my new dog...

[ShatteringGlass]

So Ive had Sydney for almost 2 weeks now. She is a 6 year old Dalmatian, retired show dog. Since she was a show dog, I figured she'd be pretty used to going to new places and inside big buildings, but she's been retired for 2 years now, so I think she's a bit rusty, so to speak.

I work at a Petco, so Ive been taking her to work with me and just walking around the store with her. She immediatly tenses, ears go back, and tail goes in between her legs. She has been making a slow improvement over the past week, but I can tell she's defenetly not comfortable in places like that.

So Im just going to keep takng her to my work, other Petcos and Petsmarts. And there is also a dog show in my area coming up next week. Should I take her to the dog show as well? Any tips or advice to help her get over her fears?

thanks

[3ofakind]

Do you know anything else about her history? Why was she retired? Did she have some trauma that has caused her timidness? Sounds like there is more to this story to me.

[Queen Bitch]

Has she had any formal obedience classes? Even if she has, you could still enroll her. I imagine it will build her confidence ( and further your bond.). Plus if she needs anything additional, presto, there is already a trainer there.

Hey Sizzle, you have any words of wisdom?

[imported_Kat]

It sounds like the poor girl is still making a big transition. The key here is patience. She has been moved in with strangers from one home to another and needs some time to adjust. I would spend a lot of one on one time with her away from busy areas to start with, as it sounds like she isn't quite trsuting you enough yet to get reassurance. Take her to a quiet field and let her interact with you on a one on one basis, then progress to taking her to busier places and as you walk her around the city/inside the pet shop give her a treat every now and again to reassure her.

Formal behaviour/obedience classes at this stage is a little bit early. She has only been with you for 2 weeks so she needs to adjust and learn to trust you first before she is placed in an even scarier situation.

Good luck. :wink:

[imported_Cassie]

This is not abnormal for a lot of retired show dogs. I have taken in many over the years. A dog show does not socialize a dog properly; I have gone to all the shows with a few of my friends. Its basically, take dog from kennel, put in crate in van, take to show, put in crate, take out and groom, go in ring, put dog back in crate. Most show persons (not saying all :D ) do not walk their dogs around the coliseum. I don't know the back ground of your dog, but, I am assuming the dog lead the very same type of life. They are more socially backwards than most other dogs.
I found most of my retired show dogs have been very cautious and if not socialized properly can be traumatized. It is a very big adjustment.

Just a disclaimer; not all people who raise show dogs raise their dogs this way. I am only mentioning this as this is how my dogs were raised. It makes sense that the dog would be socially backward. Even some reputable breeders who take in their retired dogs as housedogs. The ones I know still do not take the housedogs out as normal pet owners do. Just an observation, not saying all breeders are like this. :wink:

I could tell you many stories of the many set backs and insecurities I witnessed with some of my retired show dogs. One of my boys had never seen a person carry a bag of dog food. The first day I carried a bag into the house he was hiding in a corner of my kitchen trying desperately to get away or hide. It was a sad sight. One of my bitches was scared to death of men or any one with a loud voice, it took me a year to get her used to men. Now, she is an out going attention hound around men and seeks out their attention.
I work at a dog grooming/boarding and vet clinic. I never took any of my fearful dogs to work with me until I had them for a few weeks. I wanted to work with them one on one and expose them to different situations slowly; too much can be over whelming. I also started them on the NIFIL training policy, you would be surprised at how quickly this can help build a fearful dogs confidence. If they are feeling insecure they have a default behavior they can turn to. I set up situations with friends and family where I could control the out come, I always carried their favorite treats even if it meant I had to cook up some chicken or liver or beef stew :D I chopped the meat into small bite size pieces and carried them in a pouch around my waste, when ever I saw a stressful situation come up I would start giving them treats and tell them how wonderful they were. Whenever they passed with out showing fear or without tensing up or cowering I would treat and praise (I might add I used a high pitched excited tone, some times the high pitched uppity excited tone helped to encourage them in stressful situations. I also lured them through the situation with treats).
I never coddled my dogs or bent down to pat them or encourage them when they were being fearful. I have seen too many people who have stopped and started talking in a baby voice to the dog to try to encourage it. This is just reinforcing the fear. Try to act confident and reward when the dog shows courage and good behavior.

I won't lie, it can take quite a time for some dogs to become accustomed to every thing. With my fearful dogs they had a very soft personality. I have adopted retired show dogs as well which had outgoing personalities from the same kennel and they took to every thing like a fish to water. It took me a year to get my bitch accustomed to the real world...much longer than my males.

Good luck, and of course every one here has given you great advice. Stick with it and don't expect miracles over night. Even if a person had been locked away in a monastery for many years and dealt with people on a church level, it would still take even a human a little while to get used to real life. We can't expect any more from our dogs :wink:

[ShatteringGlass]

Thanks for all the advice. I know she wasn't retired because of any trauma, because she finished and she is a champion.

She is absolutley great at home, she loves to play, sleep with me in the bed, and relax on the couch with people. Outside when we go for walks she is great also. She wags her tail, and she gets excited when she sees another person. I walk her along a road that has a lot of traffic, and she is not scared of all the cars, she doesn't even notice them.

Her only problem is going inside big buildings, like the pet stores. That is the only time she shows fear or nervousness. As soon as she steps outside the building, she's back to normal.

She hasn't been obedience trained, but I have signed her up for classes, they start Nov. 30th.

[mouseatthebusstop]

just because she is finished does not mean she enjoyed the show ring
I don't thing she enjoyed it not all dogs do

[Queen Bitch]

I was talking to Sizzle the other day and her Dobe, Ilsa doesn't like "dog buildings." It sounds like pretty much the same problem you have dear. I imagine she can shed some light on this.

SIZZLE!! Here girl!!

[courtnek]

My foxhound shows similar behavior. She was not shown, but field trialed
(and top of the heap in the fields). Its taken her a long time to become a "house dog" and to be socially more adept with people. She also shows timidity in Petco and such. It just takes patience and repeated experiences. I didnt take her to Petco til she had bonded completely with me. She is still timid, but gets a little better every time.

[SizzleDog]

[quote]Hey Sizzle, you have any words of wisdom?[/quote]

I'm here, I'm here!

YES, Ilsa has issues with buildings, especially performance buildings (like obedience buildings) Why? Ahhh, let me list the reasons!

~ during her fear imprint period, she was attacked by a Great Dane in a training building.
~ slipped on an A-Frame, got jolted and almost fell off
~ had a weave pole break and slap her in the face
~ has a novice owner who gets anxious in training buildings... and it travels down the leash.

Ilsa was practically raised in a Petco groom shop, so she has no problem with put supply environments - it's just those darn training buildings!

Here's what I've been doing - I've been going to open training night at a local building, and just worked on confidence building activities - tugging games, obedience, roughhousing games... anything to make her feel at ease. We leave before she gets a chance to get antsy, and have been steadily increasing the time spent in the building.

I'd say take her to the buildings that bother her and work on her confidence - but take baby steps - don't land her with everthing at once.

If you can, take her EVERYWHERE. You can probably sneak into the dog show (she is a champion, after all) but be sure to take her on an obedience collar or a show lead so as to not arouse suspicion. Unentered dogs aren't allowed on show sites, but it's easy to sneak in if you've got the right "material" to work with ;)

See if there are any fun matches being held - those are great too - even if it's just for socialization.

[ShatteringGlass]

Thanks Sizzle,
What I've been doing is taking her to work(Petco)/pet stores at least twice a week. Since I work there, I can also walk around the store before its open, when there's no customers.

I walk her around the store for about 5-10 minutes. If she decides she wants to stop all of a sudden, and start backing up, pulling on the lead, i just say "let's go" and pull her forward, and after a sceond she starts walking next to me again.

I don't baby or coddle her when she gets scared, I just keep her moving around the store. And sometimes I'll just stand with her where there are people near for a few minutes.

Ive also been taking her for rides in the car to go to different places, and through dive thru windows, etc etc.

Ive been to a few dog shows this year, and they allowed pet owners to bring their dogs. I guess it just depends on the show.

Thanks again! :D