hmm, Odd..what Now?

[babymomma]

Okie dokie.. yall know by now keely has her issues with people..

I brought her camping with me this weekend. We had neighbors on both sides of us (Something we are NOT used to) .. She didnt bark at them. Not once. She barked a scattered time when somebody would walk by but that was ok, she seemed to be acting like a NORMAL doggie... I brought her to the play ground where there were alot of kids/parents. She was ok at first. She was a little nervous when somebody would run, but other then that, ok. A little boy came over, and his aunt asked if he could pet/play with her. I agreed, because she is fine if approached in a nice manner. So, after a few minutes, she became comfortable enough to lay down, and totally ignore everything around her. I thought, GREAT. Which, i believe it was. When we were leaving, the little boy she was fine with started leaving to. He ran ahead and she started to bark/lunge. But settled down rather fast, compared to ussual.

now to the beach. When there was nobody on the beach, we let her off (no leash laws).. If i saw somebody enter the beach, i called her back and she would come and i would hook her on.. No problem.. We met a woman, her husband and her little boy , along with there dachsundxyorkie.. I had keely off leash, and she spotted them before me. She ran to them before i got a chance to call her, and she was FINE with them. Absolutely PERFECT. She was running with the boy, Playing with the dog, and greeting the people. Ok. Odd. But i'll take it.

While on the beach, if there were, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 10 people. She would bark, growl and LUnge and people.. She wouldnt stop. Some guy approached us, and even when she greeted him she would go after his sneakers. (not biting, but kinda like a wierd warning thing.)

I brought her to the airport. We parked next to a man that had his windo down. He had a little terrier x with him. We started chatting, he gtold me he could tell i was a dog lover, and i told him i could tell he was also a dog lover. She didnt make a peep at that man.. I walked from the truck, into the airport, passing a few people on the way that were standing up, just waitring for something. She was FINE. In the airport, i didnbt hold her, she walked on the floor,i had the leash short and she was by my side at all times, walking like a purrfect lady. there were alot of people. She made a quick little bark at 2 chicldren that were running and took her by surprise. After that we encountered MANY children running around, and she was, yet again. FINE. She was fine with everybody. She seemed relaxed, she walked with her ears back. She sniffed people if they let her. She was, I repeat FINE.

When we are walking. And 1 or a few people are walking towards us. THAT is were the problem arises. i dont get it. Im at a loss. And we are at a stand still in training because i just do not understand. I cant control her if somebody is walking towards us. We can be in a crowded room, and people walk towards us and she is perfect. But out on a street, or walking the boardwalk around a local pond. She is almost demon possesed or something. She wont take treats. She cant be redirected. I make her sit if i see somebody coming, and try to get her to calm down. but she ignors me totally. I stand in front of her to get her attention and she just looks out around me. I taught her the `focus`command but she will NOT focus on me if there is a person... Im just confused. I feel hopless. i just want my dog to be a happy, healthy, stable dog. i dont want her to live in fear. I want to be able to hire a behavourist... I just dont understand her... I think she is trying to protect me. I dont see it as fear anymore. I think its a protective thing, mixed in with fear or something. Im so confused. I just dont know anymore.

I just had to post hojw wierd this is. I would think she would be more afriad of a crowd of people.. Its wierd...

Im training with limited rescources. I have, very little knowlegde or money to work with. Its just me, and my dog.

[babymomma]

Oh, i should add that one of our camping neihbors consisted of like, 30 loud, disruptive, drinking teenagers. (Lotsa Good lookin' guys for me to look at.. haha)...

On a side note, Camping was great for both of us. We shared a camp site with Harley (The extremely overweight, very gentle, very beautiful yellow lab), My aunts new dog. A nine week old yellow lab. And i was always taking three of the dogs to the Grey, sandy beach, and to the fresh water for a swim (Salt water wass still too cold, even had ice bergs not to far off shore.. haha) .. We speant hours running around on the beach. My little cousin would watch the dogs and i would run up a very steep hill of sand and hide from keely. When my cuz told her to find me she would track me like a beagle! haha. It was awesome. We met lots of new people, and dogs. And we met to yorkies! They were 2 lbs each. They were sisters and VERY well behaved. I never heard a peep out of them! They had full length tails, and were SOOO beautiful. Funny thing is, keely wasnt fond of them! She tolerated them, but she wasnt fond.. both keely and the sisters were a year old in april! Keely was april 24th and theres was april 26th! how cool is that! lol.. I loved them. And there owner was awesome! Very nice lady!

[Doberluv]

It sounds like she finds a lot of things; certain combinations of people, different contexts etc abnormal. These things stand out to her. This is an indication to me of a lack of socialization as a very young puppy...during the critical socialization period. It's nearly impossible to re-coupe that because that period of time, birth to 12-16 weeks is past. But some improvement might be made with more and more practice, setting up planned and systematic situations where you very gradually increase the degree of difficulty. Reinforce her for tiny, baby steps, associate people with her favorite things. Get help from other people who can feed your dog high value treats before she reacts. I highly recommed getting the book, Click to Calm by Emma Parsons. Just keep working on it but set her up for success by proactively setting up the scenarios where she will be. Try not to place her in over whelming situations where she gets all worked up.