Did she get over her shyness? How do you know? Is/was she shy with people, with other dogs, or both?
Lee, I think Ember will always have shy tendencies, but at least now we have ways to deal with them.
Ember has always been good inside the house. Being outside was another story. It was as if someone flipped a switch. We got her when she was 4-1/2 months old, and I think she was under-socialized as a puppy. In fact, on the day we went to get her, we almost left with her brother when I saw that she was acting shy. The last thing I wanted was a shy whippet... but during our visit, she gradually got friendlier, so I figured she was just slow to warm up to people. Plus, she was so darn cute.... Her breeder lives in a big house (with a huge yard) in a quiet suburb, and when Ember came to live with us, she was scared to death of traffic noise, the sound of the elevated trains, etc. Plus, it was the dead of winter.
While Ember does get to run around at least once a week in my mom's yard, her daily exercise is walking on leash on city streets. From the get-go, she was frightened of dogs she did not know. The first trainer we had suggested that I let Ember lead the way. For example, if another dog was approaching and Ember wanted to turn around and walk in the opposite direction, I should let her. We did this for a time -- all the time treating her when she acted bravely -- but progress was very s-l-o-w and Ember never got to the point where she would confront anything that scared her. Even stepping off of the sidewalk into the grass while the dog passed wouldn't give her the space she needed; she wanted to flee. The second trainer was in favor of "flooding" Ember with the things she feared. He told me that once she was a year old, it would be too late for her. He suggested taking her to the dog park at a quiet time when well-behaved, calmer dogs were there. On our first visit, I asked him if Ember could fit through the wrought-iron bars in the fence. He assured me she couldn't, but we were only there a couple of minutes when Ember (off leash) somehow managed to get her body halfway through the bars (nearly giving me a heart attack because I feared she'd slip all the way through and get hit by a car). Fortunately, the trainer reached her before she squeezed all the way through the bars. We put her back on leash, but she clearly did not want to be there. We had a second session with that trainer at the dog park, but Ember clearly wasn't enjoying it, and I decided that I didn't care if she ever went to a dog park.
This past spring, Ember was getting increasingly skittish while out on walks. Any dog coming towards her would freak her out, and she would make every attempt to flee. She also was acting scared when people walked by, but once they passed, she would turn around and attempt to jump up on them from behind. Her outside behavior was starting to stress me out, and I knew I had to do something. For a time, I thought about sending her away to "doggy boot camp" for a couple of weeks, but I'm glad I didn't because I don't think those programs work well with soft dogs like Ember.
I finally Googled "Shy dogs Chicago" and found her current trainer. The goals were simple: I just wanted Ember to be able to walk past people and other dogs while on leash without freaking out. On the trainer's first visit with Ember, she told me, "Just watch. In five minutes, I am going to be your dog's new best friend." She was right. In five minutes, Ember was literally eating out of her hand and sitting next to her on the sofa. Once Ember got comfortable with the trainer, we took the training outside. Long story short, while outside, I gave Ember a treat (freeze-dried liver) whenever she looked at me. Then, whenever a dog was within view, I would say, "Where's the puppy?" in a happy voice, and once Ember looked at me, she got a treat. For bikes, buggies, people, loud noises from trucks, I would say, "What's that?" in a happy voice and give her a treat when she looked at me. We practiced practiced, and practiced, and now we're at the point where Ember will look at me automatically -- most of the time -- when a dog or a person is approaching. She has come to associate "scary" things with getting a treat, so she no longer flips into panic mode like before when she would be so upset that she couldn't take a treat.
The Shy Dogs class was good because it got Ember around other dogs in a controlled setting. Since Ember had worked privately with the trainer, she was calm in class and the teacher would often use Ember to demonstrate concepts. She really was the teacher's pet.
My neighbors who own dogs are amazed by the change in Ember. I have to admit that they have been very helpful with her late socialization and very good about keeping their dogs under control while Ember was still getting to know them and very good about giving Ember treats when she was brave enough to approach them. So, so far, so good.
Topic: Animals In Our Lives (Read 1137660 times)