Completely agree on giving treats to fix fearfulness not working. My dog was fearful of cars and when i took the advice of a positive only trainer she just got worse and worse. In the end i went with my gut and just walked forward like i had somewhere to be. No treats. No praise. Just staying calm and acting like it was no big deal. Only took a few days and she stopped reacting entirely.
I just think it's way too close to rewarding negative behavior esp. For people inexperienced with dog behavior/training. Timing is everything and food should not be why your pet listens to you.
Two things were immediately apparent to me: 1.) The distance from other dogs before doing her snarl/lip flare diminishing quite quickly, as she let Prince get closer and closer before getting snippy... and 2.) The distance the corgi was willing to get from the owner's, while off leash around the other dogs, was improving quickly as well. Desensitization was perfect for that dog! I don't know how long that session was, but I am willing to bet if she had more time with the brown poodle, they both would have been chasing/playing in no time!
Joel! I've been using your desensitization methods with my 12 yr old reactive german shepherd and she's made enormous progress despite her old age. In a single afternoon she was able to meet new dogs and be around them without a leash and 0 incidents. This is a record for her, I just wish I would've found your channel earlier! You have taught me so much that me and my dog cannot thank you enough 🌠🌟
We have trainers running around teaching their customers to reward their young dogs when they bark at other dogs from a distance. When I looked at it from a distance, I couldn't resist asking the trainer in front of two customers why he rewarded the dogs for barking, although obviously the opposite behavior of the dogs is desired. He turned around and quickly left with his customers.
Something along the lines of what you've said in other videos about fearful dogs comes strongly to mind watching this: "the scary thing happened, and the dog didn't die". I feel like that was strongly in play here. Every time a dog came close and Nothing Bad Happened, this corgi learned that proximity to another dog would not automatically cause her any physical harm at all. This applies to anxious humans as well--heck, I've used it to combat my own anxiety, now that I've learned from Joel's videos how to frame it in my head. "I went to the grocery store, and I didn't die." "I went to Walmart, and I didn't die." "I went to a restaurant, and I didn't die." "I talked to a stranger, and I didn't die." I feel like I'm bludgeoning my anxiety into submission with a pillow and I LOVE IT.
Awesome job, if you keep working like that you're going to overcome your irrational fears!! I have anxiety as well and am also working on showing my brain the fears are not warranted. It's not easy but it is definitely possible 🙏❤️
My dog has environmental fears and separation anxiety. A piece of paper falls off the counter induces an immediate flight response. A new bag on the floor - that type of stuff.
The sniffing of dogs is so important. My rescue dog reacted to dogs with a 100 ft or so of seeing a dog. I got a lot closer to dogs over the time, using Beckman's methods, but could never get to within 15 ft of a dog, without reaction. But once he got his first sniff because of a helpful dog walker, he got better. He has now sniffed three dogs in two months, and since then I can now pass other dogs face on, on the same path, without having to make a wider birth or stop him and make him sit still while the dog passes. A wall came down in his head, I can not only see the difference, but also sense it, in my dogs whole demeanor. His whole body language and mood is different. He's now a lot more chilled than being hyper-alert at everything, when on walks.
As a comparison I've had a serious anxiety disorder for about 20 years and not been able to go outside my 200.000 resident city for 14 years now because of my fear disorder. I know for sure that I one of the factors in how I reached this point of being unable to deal with certain aspects of my fear is because I tried going really slow for a long time, which reinforced the idea in my brain that I can´t go outside of my comfort zone. Going outside of the comfort zone to prove to your brain that the fear is irrational is how every expert in scientific anxiety research deals with anxiety in people. I agree completely to your methods here.
You definitely get a lot of bang for your buck w trainers like Joel! Putting the dog in a controlled facility w well mannered dogs then watch the dog’s behavior and get desensitized! Worth every penny I believe!!!
Finding good dogs is the key and the biggest problem for me. My dog is now 9 and has one best friend he meets regularly but only occasionally meets stranger dogs because I have largely lost my trust in other owners. I will only let the dogs meet if I like both of their body language and behavior - which isn't often, but when it happens, it almost always goes well. (Neurological issues will always make my dog somewhat unreliable.) My dog was rehomed to me at ~2 years old for behavioral problems and has gone from attacking everything from behind me to vocally telling me he's anxious about something and asking me to tell him what to do. The progress really only started after I cut my dog's contact with other dogs to minimum so that I could maximize the benefits.
The fact that you said Nebraska through me off guard, I’m from Nebraska and I say all the time how I would love to come there lol. You’ve helped me wonders with my dog though thankfully. Best dog I’ve ever had. Trained all through your videos.
I'm not an emotional person, but I am tearing up just watching your videos. They have given me hope for my dogs. This training is my last hope for my dogs. My wife has gotten to a point that if we're not able to correct their aggression, we will have to rehome at least one of them. I cannot let that happen, and your videos are giving me the inspiration I need to make sure that I do everything I can to help my dogs. Thank you.
Thank you for this comment, I came here to say the same thing with my new dog. Don’t give up there is hope and a little training every day will make a big difference. You got this!
My dog will be getting to meet dogs in about a week. The last time she met ones to play with was when she was 6 months old (she's 2) we've had a ton of dog and human training. Dog and cat training and I think now she is ready to head to a dog park and be respectful and playful with other dogs! She is delightfully playful and I hope other dogs think so too!
I so enjoy your videos ! Your knowledge that you freely give to help people shows how much you love animals and want them to be happy and healthy. You could give us bits and pieces and demand a session or for people to purchase online sessions. You give all you can then if people can’t do it themselves they can come see ya. So helpful
I think people forget that knowing what the natural state of a dog is and what a dog is and allowing them to be in a pack and be in their natural elements. Its our job to ensure that dogs can be their happiest self and we care for them.
You were so right on about fear. So many owners think their dogs are fearful, when they’re just being difficult to get the desired action from their handler. True fear is just made worse by babying and keeping them in a bubble. They have to see things aren’t really that bad in practice.
I have 1.5 month new dog which was abused, neglected, fighting for food and living on urine and poop. My dog is having issues with people. I watch these videos and they help me to do progress.❤ First day he peed from being at going into stairs. Now my dog due to these videos and my work is able to bear people sitting close to him. I am taking him into unpleasant situations but showing him, that me is leader and he can relax.❤
Corgi are very sensitive to bad situations and can be easily encouraged to fear other dogs if not properly socialized. I had a Corgi in his old age that leash lunged at other dogs because he was paranoid. That paranoia wasn’t helped by the loss of his buddy at the age of 10 (he lived to almost 15). He became clingy and unsure. Learning from this I am doing my best to ensure my current dogs (both Corgi) are as socialized to other dogs, situations, and people as I can. It may not prevent the same situation when one of them passes unexpectedly, but one can only hope.
Thank you so much! My dog had a very bad experience as a puppy with a large dog and is now incredibly fearful of big dogs. I had no idea how to address this and this has been exactly what I have needed.
For anyone reading this: I know that dog training can be difficult sometimes, but you're doing great. Keep up the good work, and your dog (and your own sanity) will thank you for it! ❤️💕
My dog was exactly like this for the first year of her life. We tried to go to dog parks, but as owners it's hard to see your dog scared. The temptation is to just remove them from the situation immediately. And sometimes that's what you have to do because the dog park is crap shoot, and you just don't know what you're dealing with. The best thing that happened to her is we left her with a dog sitter a few times when we went on vacation, and she got to be around other well-socialized dogs. Now she loves other dogs. She now happily greets other dogs, and even if they bark in her face she just is like "ok, whatever" and moves on without signs of fear.
It may be important to check the dog for health issues. I met a dog that was scared of dogs like that and he had a stone in the bladder for years which caused chronic pain. After the removal the dog got way more relaxed! Great video!
This is a great video. I have a shih-tzu that's extremely scared of all dogs no matter the size, doesn't like them and doesn't want anything to do with them.
My dog loves meeting new dogs and even playing with dogs, but doesn't know how to initiate, and is always fearful of dogs whenever they try to initiate, unless she is very very very very familiar with the dog. Even really nice respectful dogs, she has to warm to if they try to play. There are a couple exceptions: she does feel instant comfort with and initiates play with dogs her small size that she has a crush on, ie male chihuahuas or chihuahua mixes (she's also a chihuahua mix) 😅
my dog is 14, doesn't give a shit about any dog and especially hates puppy's. Until it's a Teckel (like she is mostly) than even a puppy can be a friend. Dogs are interesting beasts.
I’ve been training my now 7 month old pup from binge watching all these videos along with 2 other trainers. I am so proud of how far my Shiloh has come… he’s almost the perfect dog. When we eat he automatically goes to his “place” (cot) When someone knocks on the door he goes to his “place”. He has 100% recall. He will sit at the open door and will not go out until given his command. He won’t jump on the couch unless invited. He plays well with other dogs. Doesn’t chase small animals. Doesn’t ever bark. (Which may be a bad thing if there’s ever an intruder) Only thing he’s behind on is walking on a leash- and meeting people. He gets unbelievably excited when seeing people and all the commands he normally does so well with- go out the window, forgets everything. But in Michigan with the long winter, it was difficult to do much leash walking.
Hi Joel, great video as usual! I just want to say thank you so much!!! I have two dogs and your videos helped me A LOT! One dog is well rounded and perfect on leash walking now after implementing your methods including a halter/gentle leader. My other dog is a semi-rescue shiba inu. He was not socialized at all or abused by the previous owner. I got him when he was 7-8 month old and he is now just over 1 year old. He was extremely fearful (literally petrified) of everything especially humans. At this point, after tons of desensitization and socializing, he made paramount progress (completely okay with meeting new dogs). However, he is still very fearful of strangers especially kids, he would have panic attack. He is not food driven which makes it harder to counter condition him. I wish I can board and train him with you, but I’m in Canada 😢. Hope to see more videos on your training fearful dogs and shibas. Thank you again ❤
There was a time when facing our fears was common sense. After years of "softer" approaches that coddle/enable bad behaviour, and simply make things worse, we now have come full circle and even science backs the old idiom "The best way to overcome your fears is to face them". Similarly, I like the "go-get" method, and the un-ambiguous "I'm the boss" attitude and comportment Joel demonstrates when training dogs. It meshes well with my past experiences training previous dogs. Some of the applied concepts are similar to raising human children: be firm, and set boundaries, do what you gotta do (within reasonable limits, of course). Demonstrate and insist on good behavior. Be persistent. Joel's approach is more natural to me, which is great!
I've been working with my German shepherd for 3 years on her reactivity, when I got her she was perfectly fine with all dogs, after 3 years she now has 1 dog friend that I've been taking walks with her and her owner. I dont know what cause her reactivity anymore because I used to think its anxiety but now I'm not sure since shes good with dogs once she's been introduced properly and they are the right temperament. She definitely is dominant because shes shown that when she goes after a dog, she doesn't do it to injury she pins it to the ground and holds it by the neck.
I think there's something in the breed. My labrador is utterly baffled by border collies and Kelpies - their breeding means they have personalities with little in common with a gun dig. As a puppy he tried in vain to get ball obsessed working breeds to play by taunting and teasing them sometimes by mimicking their stalking from behind - very funny. In a similar vein I've noticed GSDs find it hard to fit into a pack of non GSDs. They have been bred for loyalty and assertiveness. They are tall and intimidating looking and quite censorious of other dogs. We had a GSD that was a hilarious tattle tail. She would come into the living room whining and looking alarmed having just discovered the cat in the kitchen, on the counter (verboten!) eating ham off a plate. The audacity! She was a police dog through and through.
Joel, how would you make two dogs get along? Do You think there is a way to do it in this case?: - one dog is ours, well socialized, sometimes toooo friendly (that's another topic 😅) but cautious as well & vocal in general (hungarian mudi), neutralized 1,5 yo male, gets excercise & has multiple dog friends. - the other one is a 5 yo unneutralized GSD male, not a bad dog, but not socialized at all, gets a 100 feet walk sometimes by their elderly owners :/ barking at everything at the fence (ours too, tho 😅) Making them get along would be crucial since he is the nearest dog to us, 3 house away, and the only way to get anywhere from us is passing by that dog. Now, it is awful intense when we walk there... big dog barks-snarls-lunges, ours too (not at other fences with dogs!) + whines WHILE still keep wanting to get close so I don't know if he wants to make friend or hates him 😅 (never been in a dog fight before) and NO method had worked (I tried gentle leader with mine but realized *he* doesn't need it..) Is there a way? Can we let them bark it out at the fence or that only works when one of the dogs is chill like Prince? Sorry it was long; vids are great, enjoying to learn a lot from them 👌
I wish more trainers had videos for NON REACTIVE fear. To me it feels like such a different thing to train. My dog has a problem with crowds and traffic, and sometimes when he gets overwhelmed, will do what I've been calling "panic poops", though it's been getting better in the sense he can hold it until he's off the bus at the very least. My dog tends to go find a corner instead of hiding by me, but same concept. Been trying to go for walks more often, but can be hard sometimes with my issues. Im going to keep trying with him though.
My little Lily is a dog from a shelter. She was scared of everything in the beginning, and she still has sporadic fear of everyday objects. She has got a lot better with her big sister's help, but taking them for a walk together is a dream because we can't put the lead or harness on Lily. I'm trying to desensitize her, but being near it and putting it on are massive steps. Honestly, I don't see how I can take her out of my yard because everything will scare her. When we tried to put her back in the car we brought her in so that we could take her to the vet, she urinated, and when I didn't relent, she defecated on me. So, the vet has to visit, and it terrifies her every time. She is comfortable with me after 3 months, and she truly loves her adoptive big sister who is fantastic, and my wife, but everything else is a potential fear and she finds it so hard to adapt.
My lab was attacked by a corgi when I was a small boy. Always given them a wide birth as a consequence. The breed has a lot of inbred behavioural traits, they are terrier like in their harrying instinct. I live in Australia, the Australia cattle dog clearly has a good dose of Corgi in the mix. They are not overly inhibited when it comes to pushing large livestock around. We call them heelers because of their propensity to nip at the heel of cattle to get them moving. Trouble is, the TV repair man received the same treatment once when crouched down screwing a socket into the wall. It was extraordinary, the dog gave no warning, was silent, and gave a stealthy silent little nip to that plumber's crack and just stood her ground waiting to see if he needed a second one.
I so wish I could come see you. My dog likes to play with other dogs but he is such a bully. He has never been properly disciplined by another dog and doesn't know how to act. It's seemingly impossible to find good dogs to socialize him with. He's a bold but insecure intact male GSD. He is strong and goes into prey drive easily so I don't like him to socialize with dogs smaller than him. He has a couple friends he plays nicely with, a husky and a Rhodesian, but his behavior with them does NOT generalize. Because his interactions with other dogs are so limited, he gets over excited around them and all thinking goes right out the window. He could learn a thing or two from Prince.
This is so great! Makes me want to help dogs!!! I like it when you put the slo-mo with more extensive body language in ur vids too. 😁 Reco u to everyone🐾❤️🙏🏽
I don’t know if I agree with the gentle leader part (personally I would be scared to create a flooding) but otherwise this was really nice. Maybe a bit more positive reinforcement from the owner, but everyone has their own method I guess.
My 2 year old lakeland terrier mix pound dog tries to bite me when I need to move him out of the place he already knows I’m going to sit or lay on. First I’ll tell him and point to where I want him to “place” command and he knows what it means but then we go through the same routine. First he won’t move, he anchors himself down in the spot, then I either grab his collar or chest to move him, then he snarls, growls, screams, and puts his teeth on my hands. He doesn’t bite down but sometimes it scraps and I worry about him doing this to someone else. At that point, I put him on the floor because I don’t think he should get to stay on my seat or bed if he just acted like that. Then he sits politely without me asking. Waits for me to tell him he can come up and then he goes to the spot I originally told him to “place” in. I understand I shouldn’t let him in my bed or chairs in the first place; however, my 15 yo has been sleeping up here for over a decade without issue and I probably won’t change what the older dog is use to. I only let Finn, the 2 yo terrier, up because I already let Lui and I don’t know how to realistically keep Finn out without adversity to Lui because Finn already is jealous of Lui and sometimes treats him badly out of competition. I realize I’m in a weird routine with Finn, it’s the same almost every night. I guess I should just bribe him with treats. Any advice for any dog people? Thank you from reading
How do I deal with a dog that is generally anxious, but only truly fearful when I am not around. I have a dog walker come by to walk my dog and I've watched on the camera when he comes by. It's like she is a totally different dog, no tail wagging, head down- it's really sad. I asked him if she appears to enjoy walking with him and he said "not really". He's been walking her for 2 years now. It's the same with my roommate, she won't even let him pet her when I leave the house, she just cringes away. When I take her to work, she will love on everyone there, until I leave then she will lay by the door and ignore everyone, sometimes whining. She doesn't whine when I leave her alone at home, but she just lays down and sulks and is not truly happy or relaxed. When she is with me she's amazing, happy to be with anyone and everyone, loves all other dogs, tail up, head up, relaxed and fairly confident. She has dog-friends she loves to roughhouse with, though she is quite picky about who she plays with. She accepts all other dogs, but will only play with about 10-20% of the ones we meet. She's a very strange dog, I adopted her when she was 2 1/2 years so maybe something in her puppyhood? IDK, but I've gone to private trainers, worked with scary situations, done a ton of training, we walk a lot, etc. She's gotten better in terms of confidence with me, but nothing seems to make her accept people when I am not there.
I'd like my dog to not need a leash anymore. I think it's more fear for his safety on my part, but any videos on how to train a small dog to not need a leash?
My mini labradoodle (rip) was "fearful" of other dogs. But just because he wasn't desensitized at a young age to other dogs. Took him to doggie daycare and he would just sit in the corner and want to get pets from the workers there lol.
Our micro mini Goldendoodle was afraid of everything. Mailboxes. Leaves falling. Garbage cans, even doors. Hence, she wouldn’t walk through a door to go outside to potty. She’s getting better. Your lessons teaching me how to teach her are so helpful. The trainers around here want me to spank her. No!
do you have any contacts in the UK who would be able to help with this sort of desensitization. I am 75 and have a boxer who I am sure would benefit from this but I really need the support of a trainer. Love your videos by the way.
Our late GSD/husky mix was fearful of people. I would give new people a lecture before they would meet him. "He's going to run towards you and bark. Then he's going to sniff. Ignore him. If you try to reach out to him, he's going to pee. After hes had an opportunity to sniff, he's going to demand that you pet him."
im sorry but prince is just so impressive, no disrespect to the other dogs but its amazing how prince realized not to give this dog any trouble whats so ever even though he often has to fight for dominance from trouble makers, you somehow gave prince a better mentality than most cops xD
I wish I could bring my dog to you! So glad I found your channel. My dog recently got attacked by another pitbull type dog. It was terrible. So now all the training I did with her went right out the window. I used to use a 2.25mm herm sprenger prong collar, she got over sensitive to it and spirals like an alligator when I try to correct her reactivity due to her fear of other dogs. She tried to dominate my neighbors mastiff out of fear. But goes on walks with him no problem. Once he turns around and wants to engage with her, she growls and nips. Now I need to try something different! Any advice anyone out there?! Forgot to mention, my neighbors mastiff is the perfect dog to use for my dogs fear, he’s 8yrs old very relaxed, well trained I just don’t know how to approach this or what to do on walks when we see other reactive dogs or just dogs that are very friendly and want friends but my dog takes it the wrong way.
Actually when you put the dog in a situation that results in a "OMG I didn't die" reaction what you're doing is more akin to flooding than systematic desensitization. Actual flooding therapy would hold the dog in the fear inducing situation until the fear reaction completely exhausts itself. Flooding isn't fun for the patient but it usually works really fast. The danger in uncontrolled flooding therapy is that escaping the fear is incredibly rewarding & can reinforce the behavior that let it escape the fear inducing situation. Like if a dog snarls & lunges at every dog that approaches & the approaching dogs decide to leave the dog alone, then the next time a dog approaches it's likely to snarl & lunge. What made your method work was that any escape from the fear was short lived because Prince kept coming back. And so did the other dogs. I suspect what happens is inducing the fear over & over eventually exhausted the fear response and eventually the dog was calm enough to figure out the other dogs weren't there to hurt him.
I have a 10 month old sheepadoodle who is not fearful at all of other dogs but terrified of people and life in general. I’ve tried taking him places and having people give him treats but he’s so scared he won’t ever eat them. The only way he comes to people is if they lower themselves to the ground and turn away from him and ignore him. He’s better with kids and women and I take him to the groomer every 8 weeks which they say he’s ok with them. He barks at everyone that comes in my house though and gets so scared he poops and pees himself from shaking so hard. At this point I don’t know what else to do because I have been working with him for months and nothing seems to work. I have watched all the videos and feel that maybe I’m missing something I can do for him.
My Aunt and uncle got a new dog. A Rescue dog from what I hear. Had or has it for awhile. And scratched my cousin. The dog seen her a bunch of times. And did this
@@User7688.--_ Lol I was messaging you when the notification came through for your comment here😊 Glad everything is good. I’m going down to my sisters for the weekend but I’ll message you next week so we can have a phone call.
This was really interesting. Our rescue has the same fear - has no doggie friends, and is fearful of dogs & people. The other issue, our dog has bouts of severe aggressiveness. The other day I was trying to hook his leash to his collar and missed. He was sitting like a statue then turned into the most vicious sense of self. He lunged at me and tried biting me several times, but was able to skirt him until he snapped out of it. This has been happening with increased frequency, that we're actually considering putting him down. If we can't touch him without illicting this type of response, I'm not sure what else can be done to correct these outbursts. He's a 17 mo old lab mix.
Hello Joel, I live in Germany and I always observe the same behaviour here. In dog encounters, dog owners stand still with their intimidated dogs and wait until the others pass by with their dog. Then they give them a treat as a reward. It usually takes a few weeks until these intimidated dogs show reactive behaviour and bark and are subsequently labelled as fearful or even aggressive. I also made this mistake in the beginning and always waited until the other dogs passed us and then rewarded him. My dog showed the same fearful behaviour and it got worse and worse. Only when it was really bad did I change my method. I consistently walked past the other dogs, regardless of whether my dog wanted to go with us or not. First with a lot of distance and then less and less. I've been doing this for a year now and my dog now walks past other dogs without a leash. I only put him on a leash when I see that the other dogs stop with their dog, because then their dog usually shows reactive behaviour. Have you also made such observations? I think it can help a lot of people if you tell them not to stop when they meet other dogs. It's the same as when dog owners on the dog park reward their leashed dogs for every dog encounter. It simply does not help the dog to get its behaviour under control.
Yep. My favourite place for dog walking is the beach, because the dogs pass each other without having to confront. I go the same time every day, that way they get to know the same dogs - it's great for relationship building. Dogs can be so obsessed with status, once a pecking order has been established, and they've sorted out 'friends' it's so much more relaxing and enjoyable. The important thing is to let them sort it out and not to step in unless things are definitely dangerous or unacceptable. Never shout at or go towards your dog if it is being belligerent, walk away, run away, and let them know you are leaving (call them in a happy playful tone as you go). Tell them you aren't going to help them in their confrontation. I've never owned such a self assured, polite and mature dog in my life. Feel bad when he meets a dog acting like a bully (muzzle punching, being hounded) and will stand between them to allow him to retreat and signal to the other dog's owner I find their dog's behaviour anti social.
Can you use a gentle leader on a French bulldog? I have a 1.5 year old Frenchie that is so scared of other dogs on walks and is resource guarding from what I’ve learned. So he’s reactive and resource guarding? It’s so not fun and frustrating to walk him. I just found your videos today and trying understand how to use a gentle leader with a harness? Thanks so much!
You know the dog came over to smell the dog and the dog snapped at him bindi does the same thing when timber comes over to sniff her rear she snaps at him
I have had dogs that are fearful to very fearful of people and are very good with other dogs: in dogsitting I have come across 3 like this. Then I have the dog that is fine with people and fearful of strange dogs: it seems it is small dogs that can be this way. The weird one was the undersocialized husky/poodle who's people went off to work a little too much when she was a puppy. Being smart, I think she figured out that is other people that take your people away from you, not dogs. So once she staked out her fav human, she would growl at other humans she thought might be responsible for making her fav human go away, even if they weren't responsible and I had just gone to feed/love on a cat for a few hours and came back and she growled at my mom. (So yeah, poor cat later got chased, too.)
Hey listen I'm trying to buy a germen shepherd puppy in Canada so what do I need to do before I buy the puppy. which breeder should I buy the puppy from???
Joel my white Swiss shepherds are extremely fearful of people and anything new ….bikes , scooters noise pollution. I take them walking around it every morning They are so great with other dogs when i force them to say hello . I use your method on the lead and they are great to walk around but if someone is walking behind or towards us they pull away in fear. Nothing bad has happened to them it’s a gene thing from 9months to 14months but my male won’t grow out of it and makes the other bitch worse Any suggestions? I’m in Australia I’d be happy to pay for a zoom session with you. 🇦🇺✌️🐾🐾🐾
There is a distance at which the person walking behind you won’t elicit a fear response in the dog, I’d find that distance and stay there while walking very confidently and saying “you see that guy, he’s our friend” and possibly give treats. Close the distance as the dog improves. Feel free to do a zoom call if you still need help.
@@BDTraining thanks Joel I’ll try that ,they are not treat oriented even fresh roast chicken , I’ll take some footage send it to you and we ll organise a zoom meeting soon 🐾🐾🐾🇦🇺
Hey Joel, my dad got two boxer puppies, they are 4 months old and already very dependent on each other I know that this is not the best option, but now im movimg in with him and I want to know, bebida training them appart from each other, different crates etc. Should I do anything else with them?
My Golden Retriever bolts at times in fear. Today out walking her, she was healing great. A dog inside his house jumped into the big picture window barking and it scared her. It happened so fast, she cut my legs out from under me and I flipped over her, landing hard. She's 6 month old, about 50 pounds. Im 55 and in some pain tonight. How do I break her of this?
what makes me sad is people pay dog trainers to get rid of these behaviors they could have avoided in the first place by just socializing their dogs......at a dog park. Theres always one off situations ofcourse but I have seen so many dog owners get mad when their dogs are simply chased at a park so they pick them up and leave. Why even go to a dog park? why not just find an empty field.
My puppy is afraid of everything even at an empty dog park he just cowers and trembles tail tucked. I can’t get him to respond or move for anything I have to pick him up in order to leave.
Completely agree on giving treats to fix fearfulness not working. My dog was fearful of cars and when i took the advice of a positive only trainer she just got worse and worse. In the end i went with my gut and just walked forward like i had somewhere to be. No treats. No praise. Just staying calm and acting like it was no big deal. Only took a few days and she stopped reacting entirely.
I just think it's way too close to rewarding negative behavior esp. For people inexperienced with dog behavior/training. Timing is everything and food should not be why your pet listens to you.
I've this same problem. Any more info you can share? I'm thinking to just walk a lot of time near cars
Two things were immediately apparent to me: 1.) The distance from other dogs before doing her snarl/lip flare diminishing quite quickly, as she let Prince get closer and closer before getting snippy... and 2.) The distance the corgi was willing to get from the owner's, while off leash around the other dogs, was improving quickly as well. Desensitization was perfect for that dog! I don't know how long that session was, but I am willing to bet if she had more time with the brown poodle, they both would have been chasing/playing in no time!
Absolutely!
Joel! I've been using your desensitization methods with my 12 yr old reactive german shepherd and she's made enormous progress despite her old age. In a single afternoon she was able to meet new dogs and be around them without a leash and 0 incidents. This is a record for her, I just wish I would've found your channel earlier! You have taught me so much that me and my dog cannot thank you enough 🌠🌟
Hey, an old dog CAN learn new tricks! That is wonderful.
We have trainers running around teaching their customers to reward their young dogs when they bark at other dogs from a distance. When I looked at it from a distance, I couldn't resist asking the trainer in front of two customers why he rewarded the dogs for barking, although obviously the opposite behavior of the dogs is desired. He turned around and quickly left with his customers.
Something along the lines of what you've said in other videos about fearful dogs comes strongly to mind watching this: "the scary thing happened, and the dog didn't die". I feel like that was strongly in play here. Every time a dog came close and Nothing Bad Happened, this corgi learned that proximity to another dog would not automatically cause her any physical harm at all. This applies to anxious humans as well--heck, I've used it to combat my own anxiety, now that I've learned from Joel's videos how to frame it in my head. "I went to the grocery store, and I didn't die." "I went to Walmart, and I didn't die." "I went to a restaurant, and I didn't die." "I talked to a stranger, and I didn't die." I feel like I'm bludgeoning my anxiety into submission with a pillow and I LOVE IT.
Clap🌟👏👏👏👏
Awesome job, if you keep working like that you're going to overcome your irrational fears!! I have anxiety as well and am also working on showing my brain the fears are not warranted. It's not easy but it is definitely possible 🙏❤️
@@zealy1369 It doesn't feel like a "just" when you're fighting serious anxiety issues. :)
My dog has environmental fears and separation anxiety. A piece of paper falls off the counter induces an immediate flight response. A new bag on the floor - that type of stuff.
@@redwitch12 Because it's not a "just". Working against icky emotional stuff is hardcore.
The sniffing of dogs is so important. My rescue dog reacted to dogs with a 100 ft or so of seeing a dog. I got a lot closer to dogs over the time, using Beckman's methods, but could never get to within 15 ft of a dog, without reaction. But once he got his first sniff because of a helpful dog walker, he got better. He has now sniffed three dogs in two months, and since then I can now pass other dogs face on, on the same path, without having to make a wider birth or stop him and make him sit still while the dog passes. A wall came down in his head, I can not only see the difference, but also sense it, in my dogs whole demeanor. His whole body language and mood is different. He's now a lot more chilled than being hyper-alert at everything, when on walks.
I could watch these videos for hours
Prince knows exactly what every dog needs....... Does he also read the paperwork before they get there?!
What a better life this dog will now have. gg Joel & owners.
As a comparison I've had a serious anxiety disorder for about 20 years and not been able to go outside my 200.000 resident city for 14 years now because of my fear disorder. I know for sure that I one of the factors in how I reached this point of being unable to deal with certain aspects of my fear is because I tried going really slow for a long time, which reinforced the idea in my brain that I can´t go outside of my comfort zone. Going outside of the comfort zone to prove to your brain that the fear is irrational is how every expert in scientific anxiety research deals with anxiety in people. I agree completely to your methods here.
You definitely get a lot of bang for your buck w trainers like Joel! Putting the dog in a controlled facility w well mannered dogs then watch the dog’s behavior and get desensitized! Worth every penny I believe!!!
There are jerks and there is fear. With dogs and people.
Finding good dogs is the key and the biggest problem for me. My dog is now 9 and has one best friend he meets regularly but only occasionally meets stranger dogs because I have largely lost my trust in other owners. I will only let the dogs meet if I like both of their body language and behavior - which isn't often, but when it happens, it almost always goes well. (Neurological issues will always make my dog somewhat unreliable.)
My dog was rehomed to me at ~2 years old for behavioral problems and has gone from attacking everything from behind me to vocally telling me he's anxious about something and asking me to tell him what to do. The progress really only started after I cut my dog's contact with other dogs to minimum so that I could maximize the benefits.
Prince is so, so handsome. Also, great work as always
Joel is Brilliant! basically get's inside the skin of this Dog. 👍👍💪💪💯💯
The fact that you said Nebraska through me off guard, I’m from Nebraska and I say all the time how I would love to come there lol. You’ve helped me wonders with my dog though thankfully. Best dog I’ve ever had. Trained all through your videos.
Yay!! Way to go! You did the hard work and it paid off😊
Holdrege here. Definitely threw me off too, I was just like yo he just gave us a random shout out.
I'm not an emotional person, but I am tearing up just watching your videos. They have given me hope for my dogs. This training is my last hope for my dogs. My wife has gotten to a point that if we're not able to correct their aggression, we will have to rehome at least one of them. I cannot let that happen, and your videos are giving me the inspiration I need to make sure that I do everything I can to help my dogs. Thank you.
Thank you for this comment, I came here to say the same thing with my new dog. Don’t give up there is hope and a little training every day will make a big difference. You got this!
My dog will be getting to meet dogs in about a week. The last time she met ones to play with was when she was 6 months old (she's 2) we've had a ton of dog and human training. Dog and cat training and I think now she is ready to head to a dog park and be respectful and playful with other dogs! She is delightfully playful and I hope other dogs think so too!
Such a logical, natural, common sense approach. Yet many people overthink things on their own and miss it. Another great video!
I so enjoy your videos ! Your knowledge that you freely give to help people shows how much you love animals and want them to be happy and healthy. You could give us bits and pieces and demand a session or for people to purchase online sessions. You give all you can then if people can’t do it themselves they can come see ya. So helpful
Thank you!
I think people forget that knowing what the natural state of a dog is and what a dog is and allowing them to be in a pack and be in their natural elements. Its our job to ensure that dogs can be their happiest self and we care for them.
Same with horses (and their rider). It's a sad to watch - learnt behavoir -yet so easy to change when everbody stops 'clenching' 😊
Lol Princey boy, hear the dog yelp, guess was little too hard or scared the other dog. Such a good boy
4:07 Prince looks at him and tells him: "Come on, dare! I won't hurt you."
You were so right on about fear. So many owners think their dogs are fearful, when they’re just being difficult to get the desired action from their handler. True fear is just made worse by babying and keeping them in a bubble. They have to see things aren’t really that bad in practice.
Great video
I can’t believe you don’t have more subscribers! By the great comments on this video...on all your videos, you help so many people for free.
If there is a man to want to be in this world, it would be Joel. Plus he does a great job with dogs. A genuine good person.
I have 1.5 month new dog which was abused, neglected, fighting for food and living on urine and poop. My dog is having issues with people. I watch these videos and they help me to do progress.❤ First day he peed from being at going into stairs. Now my dog due to these videos and my work is able to bear people sitting close to him. I am taking him into unpleasant situations but showing him, that me is leader and he can relax.❤
Corgi are very sensitive to bad situations and can be easily encouraged to fear other dogs if not properly socialized. I had a Corgi in his old age that leash lunged at other dogs because he was paranoid. That paranoia wasn’t helped by the loss of his buddy at the age of 10 (he lived to almost 15). He became clingy and unsure.
Learning from this I am doing my best to ensure my current dogs (both Corgi) are as socialized to other dogs, situations, and people as I can. It may not prevent the same situation when one of them passes unexpectedly, but one can only hope.
Thank you so much! My dog had a very bad experience as a puppy with a large dog and is now incredibly fearful of big dogs. I had no idea how to address this and this has been exactly what I have needed.
AMAZING! Thank you Beckman’s!! We are going to watch this SEVERAL TIMES.. and apply it!! I cannot wait.
Great video. I wish people in my neighborhood watched your videos.
For anyone reading this: I know that dog training can be difficult sometimes, but you're doing great. Keep up the good work, and your dog (and your own sanity) will thank you for it! ❤️💕
Thanks to your videos my dog has made a doggie friend, an 8 year old, golden retriever. Small beginnings. 🎉🎉🎉
Yep, that’s how it starts
Totes agree… put pressure on the dog…. Take the pressure away from the dog.
Great vid 👍😁
My dog was exactly like this for the first year of her life. We tried to go to dog parks, but as owners it's hard to see your dog scared. The temptation is to just remove them from the situation immediately. And sometimes that's what you have to do because the dog park is crap shoot, and you just don't know what you're dealing with. The best thing that happened to her is we left her with a dog sitter a few times when we went on vacation, and she got to be around other well-socialized dogs. Now she loves other dogs. She now happily greets other dogs, and even if they bark in her face she just is like "ok, whatever" and moves on without signs of fear.
It may be important to check the dog for health issues. I met a dog that was scared of dogs like that and he had a stone in the bladder for years which caused chronic pain. After the removal the dog got way more relaxed!
Great video!
This is a great video. I have a shih-tzu that's extremely scared of all dogs no matter the size, doesn't like them and doesn't want anything to do with them.
You’re the best. So glad I found your channel!
My dog loves meeting new dogs and even playing with dogs, but doesn't know how to initiate, and is always fearful of dogs whenever they try to initiate, unless she is very very very very familiar with the dog. Even really nice respectful dogs, she has to warm to if they try to play.
There are a couple exceptions: she does feel instant comfort with and initiates play with dogs her small size that she has a crush on, ie male chihuahuas or chihuahua mixes (she's also a chihuahua mix) 😅
my dog is 14, doesn't give a shit about any dog and especially hates puppy's. Until it's a Teckel (like she is mostly) than even a puppy can be a friend. Dogs are interesting beasts.
This is the way 🙏
Hey Beckman family 💌🐾,
Great video, I know that owner is so relieved ✨👏✨
Thank you!
Sweet lesson. Thanks.🎉
I’ve been training my now 7 month old pup from binge watching all these videos along with 2 other trainers. I am so proud of how far my Shiloh has come… he’s almost the perfect dog. When we eat he automatically goes to his “place” (cot) When someone knocks on the door he goes to his “place”. He has 100% recall. He will sit at the open door and will not go out until given his command. He won’t jump on the couch unless invited. He plays well with other dogs. Doesn’t chase small animals. Doesn’t ever bark. (Which may be a bad thing if there’s ever an intruder)
Only thing he’s behind on is walking on a leash- and meeting people. He gets unbelievably excited when seeing people and all the commands he normally does so well with- go out the window, forgets everything. But in Michigan with the long winter, it was difficult to do much leash walking.
Way to go! 🌟
So totally right where we are right now with 5 month old bernedoodle:) Thank you!
Hi Joel, great video as usual! I just want to say thank you so much!!!
I have two dogs and your videos helped me A LOT! One dog is well rounded and perfect on leash walking now after implementing your methods including a halter/gentle leader.
My other dog is a semi-rescue shiba inu. He was not socialized at all or abused by the previous owner. I got him when he was 7-8 month old and he is now just over 1 year old. He was extremely fearful (literally petrified) of everything especially humans. At this point, after tons of desensitization and socializing, he made paramount progress (completely okay with meeting new dogs). However, he is still very fearful of strangers especially kids, he would have panic attack. He is not food driven which makes it harder to counter condition him. I wish I can board and train him with you, but I’m in Canada 😢. Hope to see more videos on your training fearful dogs and shibas.
Thank you again ❤
It works the same as with humans. The best way to overcome your fears is to face them.
There was a time when facing our fears was common sense. After years of "softer" approaches that coddle/enable bad behaviour, and simply make things worse, we now have come full circle and even science backs the old idiom "The best way to overcome your fears is to face them". Similarly, I like the "go-get" method, and the un-ambiguous "I'm the boss" attitude and comportment Joel demonstrates when training dogs. It meshes well with my past experiences training previous dogs. Some of the applied concepts are similar to raising human children: be firm, and set boundaries, do what you gotta do (within reasonable limits, of course). Demonstrate and insist on good behavior. Be persistent. Joel's approach is more natural to me, which is great!
Would love to see more videos of this guy! Great to see the progress he is making!
Thank you for sharing another excellent training session, Joel!
…… proof that your approach and methods work is ‘in the pudding’ 🎉
I've been working with my German shepherd for 3 years on her reactivity, when I got her she was perfectly fine with all dogs, after 3 years she now has 1 dog friend that I've been taking walks with her and her owner. I dont know what cause her reactivity anymore because I used to think its anxiety but now I'm not sure since shes good with dogs once she's been introduced properly and they are the right temperament. She definitely is dominant because shes shown that when she goes after a dog, she doesn't do it to injury she pins it to the ground and holds it by the neck.
I think there's something in the breed.
My labrador is utterly baffled by border collies and Kelpies - their breeding means they have personalities with little in common with a gun dig.
As a puppy he tried in vain to get ball obsessed working breeds to play by taunting and teasing them sometimes by mimicking their stalking from behind - very funny.
In a similar vein I've noticed GSDs find it hard to fit into a pack of non GSDs.
They have been bred for loyalty and assertiveness. They are tall and intimidating looking and quite censorious of other dogs.
We had a GSD that was a hilarious tattle tail. She would come into the living room whining and looking alarmed having just discovered the cat in the kitchen, on the counter (verboten!) eating ham off a plate. The audacity!
She was a police dog through and through.
Thank you for the video
Commenting from Nebraska, I'd make the drive to get my dog and myself some training.
Joel, how would you make two dogs get along? Do You think there is a way to do it in this case?:
- one dog is ours, well socialized, sometimes toooo friendly (that's another topic 😅) but cautious as well & vocal in general (hungarian mudi), neutralized 1,5 yo male, gets excercise & has multiple dog friends.
- the other one is a 5 yo unneutralized GSD male, not a bad dog, but not socialized at all, gets a 100 feet walk sometimes by their elderly owners :/ barking at everything at the fence (ours too, tho 😅)
Making them get along would be crucial since he is the nearest dog to us, 3 house away, and the only way to get anywhere from us is passing by that dog. Now, it is awful intense when we walk there... big dog barks-snarls-lunges, ours too (not at other fences with dogs!) + whines WHILE still keep wanting to get close so I don't know if he wants to make friend or hates him 😅 (never been in a dog fight before) and NO method had worked (I tried gentle leader with mine but realized *he* doesn't need it..)
Is there a way? Can we let them bark it out at the fence or that only works when one of the dogs is chill like Prince?
Sorry it was long; vids are great, enjoying to learn a lot from them 👌
Heeeey! Nebraska's in there with Australia and Germany! Heck yeah!! Much love from the middle of America! Always learn so much from your videos! ❤️❤️
I wish more trainers had videos for NON REACTIVE fear. To me it feels like such a different thing to train. My dog has a problem with crowds and traffic, and sometimes when he gets overwhelmed, will do what I've been calling "panic poops", though it's been getting better in the sense he can hold it until he's off the bus at the very least.
My dog tends to go find a corner instead of hiding by me, but same concept. Been trying to go for walks more often, but can be hard sometimes with my issues. Im going to keep trying with him though.
My little Lily is a dog from a shelter. She was scared of everything in the beginning, and she still has sporadic fear of everyday objects. She has got a lot better with her big sister's help, but taking them for a walk together is a dream because we can't put the lead or harness on Lily. I'm trying to desensitize her, but being near it and putting it on are massive steps. Honestly, I don't see how I can take her out of my yard because everything will scare her. When we tried to put her back in the car we brought her in so that we could take her to the vet, she urinated, and when I didn't relent, she defecated on me. So, the vet has to visit, and it terrifies her every time.
She is comfortable with me after 3 months, and she truly loves her adoptive big sister who is fantastic, and my wife, but everything else is a potential fear and she finds it so hard to adapt.
Basically like exposure therapy used in treating personality disorders like OCD and agoraphobia
My lab was attacked by a corgi when I was a small boy. Always given them a wide birth as a consequence.
The breed has a lot of inbred behavioural traits, they are terrier like in their harrying instinct.
I live in Australia, the Australia cattle dog clearly has a good dose of Corgi in the mix.
They are not overly inhibited when it comes to pushing large livestock around.
We call them heelers because of their propensity to nip at the heel of cattle to get them moving.
Trouble is, the TV repair man received the same treatment once when crouched down screwing a socket into the wall.
It was extraordinary, the dog gave no warning, was silent, and gave a stealthy silent little nip to that plumber's crack and just stood her ground waiting to see if he needed a second one.
5:05 Prince is great at this.
I so wish I could come see you. My dog likes to play with other dogs but he is such a bully. He has never been properly disciplined by another dog and doesn't know how to act. It's seemingly impossible to find good dogs to socialize him with. He's a bold but insecure intact male GSD. He is strong and goes into prey drive easily so I don't like him to socialize with dogs smaller than him. He has a couple friends he plays nicely with, a husky and a Rhodesian, but his behavior with them does NOT generalize. Because his interactions with other dogs are so limited, he gets over excited around them and all thinking goes right out the window.
He could learn a thing or two from Prince.
This is so great! Makes me want to help dogs!!! I like it when you put the slo-mo with more extensive body language in ur vids too. 😁 Reco u to everyone🐾❤️🙏🏽
I don’t know if I agree with the gentle leader part (personally I would be scared to create a flooding) but otherwise this was really nice. Maybe a bit more positive reinforcement from the owner, but everyone has their own method I guess.
My 2 year old lakeland terrier mix pound dog tries to bite me when I need to move him out of the place he already knows I’m going to sit or lay on. First I’ll tell him and point to where I want him to “place” command and he knows what it means but then we go through the same routine. First he won’t move, he anchors himself down in the spot, then I either grab his collar or chest to move him, then he snarls, growls, screams, and puts his teeth on my hands. He doesn’t bite down but sometimes it scraps and I worry about him doing this to someone else. At that point, I put him on the floor because I don’t think he should get to stay on my seat or bed if he just acted like that. Then he sits politely without me asking. Waits for me to tell him he can come up and then he goes to the spot I originally told him to “place” in. I understand I shouldn’t let him in my bed or chairs in the first place; however, my 15 yo has been sleeping up here for over a decade without issue and I probably won’t change what the older dog is use to. I only let Finn, the 2 yo terrier, up because I already let Lui and I don’t know how to realistically keep Finn out without adversity to Lui because Finn already is jealous of Lui and sometimes treats him badly out of competition. I realize I’m in a weird routine with Finn, it’s the same almost every night. I guess I should just bribe him with treats. Any advice for any dog people? Thank you from reading
Yay finally a corgi!
How do I deal with a dog that is generally anxious, but only truly fearful when I am not around. I have a dog walker come by to walk my dog and I've watched on the camera when he comes by. It's like she is a totally different dog, no tail wagging, head down- it's really sad. I asked him if she appears to enjoy walking with him and he said "not really". He's been walking her for 2 years now. It's the same with my roommate, she won't even let him pet her when I leave the house, she just cringes away. When I take her to work, she will love on everyone there, until I leave then she will lay by the door and ignore everyone, sometimes whining. She doesn't whine when I leave her alone at home, but she just lays down and sulks and is not truly happy or relaxed. When she is with me she's amazing, happy to be with anyone and everyone, loves all other dogs, tail up, head up, relaxed and fairly confident. She has dog-friends she loves to roughhouse with, though she is quite picky about who she plays with. She accepts all other dogs, but will only play with about 10-20% of the ones we meet. She's a very strange dog, I adopted her when she was 2 1/2 years so maybe something in her puppyhood? IDK, but I've gone to private trainers, worked with scary situations, done a ton of training, we walk a lot, etc. She's gotten better in terms of confidence with me, but nothing seems to make her accept people when I am not there.
I'd like my dog to not need a leash anymore. I think it's more fear for his safety on my part, but any videos on how to train a small dog to not need a leash?
Literally all of his videos on leash training
Great video.. thank you..
Brilliant!
My mini labradoodle (rip) was "fearful" of other dogs. But just because he wasn't desensitized at a young age to other dogs. Took him to doggie daycare and he would just sit in the corner and want to get pets from the workers there lol.
7:31 Prince just zooms by the camera LOL
Our micro mini Goldendoodle was afraid of everything. Mailboxes. Leaves falling. Garbage cans, even doors. Hence, she wouldn’t walk through a door to go outside to potty. She’s getting better. Your lessons teaching me how to teach her are so helpful. The trainers around here want me to spank her. No!
really nice work
This is very similar to what you'd do for yourself if u have fears.
Not only are the dogs "good" but the humans are controlling the situation, so the fearful dog can just be a dog for a minute. Nice!
do you have any contacts in the UK who would be able to help with this sort of desensitization. I am 75 and have a boxer who I am sure would benefit from this but I really need the support of a trainer. Love your videos by the way.
No jerks. 😂
This is so much like my rescue. So much fear peeing! Though mine is afraid of people not dogs.
Our late GSD/husky mix was fearful of people. I would give new people a lecture before they would meet him.
"He's going to run towards you and bark. Then he's going to sniff. Ignore him. If you try to reach out to him, he's going to pee. After hes had an opportunity to sniff, he's going to demand that you pet him."
im sorry but prince is just so impressive, no disrespect to the other dogs but its amazing how prince realized not to give this dog any trouble whats so ever even though he often has to fight for dominance from trouble makers, you somehow gave prince a better mentality than most cops xD
I wish I could bring my dog to you! So glad I found your channel. My dog recently got attacked by another pitbull type dog. It was terrible. So now all the training I did with her went right out the window. I used to use a 2.25mm herm sprenger prong collar, she got over sensitive to it and spirals like an alligator when I try to correct her reactivity due to her fear of other dogs. She tried to dominate my neighbors mastiff out of fear. But goes on walks with him no problem. Once he turns around and wants to engage with her, she growls and nips. Now I need to try something different! Any advice anyone out there?!
Forgot to mention, my neighbors mastiff is the perfect dog to use for my dogs fear, he’s 8yrs old very relaxed, well trained I just don’t know how to approach this or what to do on walks when we see other reactive dogs or just dogs that are very friendly and want friends but my dog takes it the wrong way.
Actually when you put the dog in a situation that results in a "OMG I didn't die" reaction what you're doing is more akin to flooding than systematic desensitization. Actual flooding therapy would hold the dog in the fear inducing situation until the fear reaction completely exhausts itself. Flooding isn't fun for the patient but it usually works really fast. The danger in uncontrolled flooding therapy is that escaping the fear is incredibly rewarding & can reinforce the behavior that let it escape the fear inducing situation. Like if a dog snarls & lunges at every dog that approaches & the approaching dogs decide to leave the dog alone, then the next time a dog approaches it's likely to snarl & lunge. What made your method work was that any escape from the fear was short lived because Prince kept coming back. And so did the other dogs. I suspect what happens is inducing the fear over & over eventually exhausted the fear response and eventually the dog was calm enough to figure out the other dogs weren't there to hurt him.
my dog is really scared of everything i hope this video will help
I have a 10 month old sheepadoodle who is not fearful at all of other dogs but terrified of people and life in general. I’ve tried taking him places and having people give him treats but he’s so scared he won’t ever eat them. The only way he comes to people is if they lower themselves to the ground and turn away from him and ignore him. He’s better with kids and women and I take him to the groomer every 8 weeks which they say he’s ok with them. He barks at everyone that comes in my house though and gets so scared he poops and pees himself from shaking so hard. At this point I don’t know what else to do because I have been working with him for months and nothing seems to work. I have watched all the videos and feel that maybe I’m missing something I can do for him.
My Aunt and uncle got a new dog. A Rescue dog from what I hear.
Had or has it for awhile. And scratched my cousin. The dog seen her a bunch of times. And did this
Hey dog peeps!
Hey KingsMom! We need to talk. It's all good.
@@User7688.--_ Lol I was messaging you when the notification came through for your comment here😊
Glad everything is good.
I’m going down to my sisters for the weekend but I’ll message you next week so we can have a phone call.
This was really interesting. Our rescue has the same fear - has no doggie friends, and is fearful of dogs & people. The other issue, our dog has bouts of severe aggressiveness. The other day I was trying to hook his leash to his collar and missed. He was sitting like a statue then turned into the most vicious sense of self. He lunged at me and tried biting me several times, but was able to skirt him until he snapped out of it. This has been happening with increased frequency, that we're actually considering putting him down. If we can't touch him without illicting this type of response, I'm not sure what else can be done to correct these outbursts. He's a 17 mo old lab mix.
That sounds like a mental illness and in that case it would be the most responsible choice to put him down.
Hello Joel,
I live in Germany and I always observe the same behaviour here. In dog encounters, dog owners stand still with their intimidated dogs and wait until the others pass by with their dog. Then they give them a treat as a reward. It usually takes a few weeks until these intimidated dogs show reactive behaviour and bark and are subsequently labelled as fearful or even aggressive. I also made this mistake in the beginning and always waited until the other dogs passed us and then rewarded him. My dog showed the same fearful behaviour and it got worse and worse. Only when it was really bad did I change my method. I consistently walked past the other dogs, regardless of whether my dog wanted to go with us or not. First with a lot of distance and then less and less. I've been doing this for a year now and my dog now walks past other dogs without a leash. I only put him on a leash when I see that the other dogs stop with their dog, because then their dog usually shows reactive behaviour.
Have you also made such observations? I think it can help a lot of people if you tell them not to stop when they meet other dogs. It's the same as when dog owners on the dog park reward their leashed dogs for every dog encounter. It simply does not help the dog to get its behaviour under control.
Yep.
My favourite place for dog walking is the beach, because the dogs pass each other without having to confront.
I go the same time every day, that way they get to know the same dogs - it's great for relationship building.
Dogs can be so obsessed with status, once a pecking order has been established, and they've sorted out 'friends' it's so much more relaxing and enjoyable.
The important thing is to let them sort it out and not to step in unless things are definitely dangerous or unacceptable.
Never shout at or go towards your dog if it is being belligerent, walk away, run away, and let them know you are leaving (call them in a happy playful tone as you go). Tell them you aren't going to help them in their confrontation.
I've never owned such a self assured, polite and mature dog in my life. Feel bad when he meets a dog acting like a bully (muzzle punching, being hounded) and will stand between them to allow him to retreat and signal to the other dog's owner I find their dog's behaviour anti social.
Can you use a gentle leader on a French bulldog? I have a 1.5 year old Frenchie that is so scared of other dogs on walks and is resource guarding from what I’ve learned. So he’s reactive and resource guarding? It’s so not fun and frustrating to walk him. I just found your videos today and trying understand how to use a gentle leader with a harness? Thanks so much!
What about a rescue puppy that won't let itself be touched, go on lead etc
You know the dog came over to smell the dog and the dog snapped at him bindi does the same thing when timber comes over to sniff her rear she snaps at him
Is that an aussie Golden doodle in there?
I'm in need of desperate/urgent help! How do I reach out?
I have had dogs that are fearful to very fearful of people and are very good with other dogs: in dogsitting I have come across 3 like this. Then I have the dog that is fine with people and fearful of strange dogs: it seems it is small dogs that can be this way. The weird one was the undersocialized husky/poodle who's people went off to work a little too much when she was a puppy. Being smart, I think she figured out that is other people that take your people away from you, not dogs. So once she staked out her fav human, she would growl at other humans she thought might be responsible for making her fav human go away, even if they weren't responsible and I had just gone to feed/love on a cat for a few hours and came back and she growled at my mom. (So yeah, poor cat later got chased, too.)
Hey listen I'm trying to buy a germen shepherd puppy in Canada so what do I need to do before I buy the puppy. which breeder should I buy the puppy from???
Joel my white Swiss shepherds are extremely fearful of people and anything new ….bikes , scooters noise pollution. I take them walking around it every morning They are so great with other dogs when i force them to say hello . I use your method on the lead and they are great to walk around but if someone is walking behind or towards us they pull away in fear. Nothing bad has happened to them it’s a gene thing from 9months to 14months but my male won’t grow out of it and makes the other bitch worse Any suggestions? I’m in Australia I’d be happy to pay for a zoom session with you. 🇦🇺✌️🐾🐾🐾
There is a distance at which the person walking behind you won’t elicit a fear response in the dog, I’d find that distance and stay there while walking very confidently and saying “you see that guy, he’s our friend” and possibly give treats. Close the distance as the dog improves. Feel free to do a zoom call if you still need help.
@@BDTraining thanks Joel I’ll try that ,they are not treat oriented even fresh roast chicken , I’ll take some footage send it to you and we ll organise a zoom meeting soon 🐾🐾🐾🇦🇺
@@parisdevine8553, I have no idea if that is your real name or an assumed name, but I like it a lot. 🌟
Germany, Australia, Nebraska...lol
Hey Joel, my dad got two boxer puppies, they are 4 months old and already very dependent on each other
I know that this is not the best option, but now im movimg in with him and I want to know, bebida training them appart from each other, different crates etc. Should I do anything else with them?
I am also walking with them togheter and separatly
My Golden Retriever bolts at times in fear. Today out walking her, she was healing great. A dog inside his house jumped into the big picture window barking and it scared her. It happened so fast, she cut my legs out from under me and I flipped over her, landing hard. She's 6 month old, about 50 pounds. Im 55 and in some pain tonight. How do I break her of this?
what makes me sad is people pay dog trainers to get rid of these behaviors they could have avoided in the first place by just socializing their dogs......at a dog park. Theres always one off situations ofcourse but I have seen so many dog owners get mad when their dogs are simply chased at a park so they pick them up and leave. Why even go to a dog park? why not just find an empty field.
My puppy is afraid of everything even at an empty dog park he just cowers and trembles tail tucked. I can’t get him to respond or move for anything I have to pick him up in order to leave.