# Fear Aggression towards strangers in 1 year old



## kelseyca (May 4, 2011)

I got my pup at 8 weeks, and since then I have made socialization and training my full time job. She will be 1 year old tomorrow. She plays off the leash with other dogs every day, we have taken obedience classes, we go on walks in public, and we visit petsmart for socialization as well. However, ever since she was 6 months she has been very reactive with both dogs and people. Her leash reactivity with dogs is pretty much gone, she will have an outburst once in a while but she is doing great. However, her issues with people are only getting worse. She is extremely scared of strangers, and although we can pass most people if they are ignoring her, if anyone approaches us or even speaks to us ("beautiful dog!"), she goes crazy barking aggressively with her hackles up and lunging. She will rarely allow anyone to touch her (only people she knows and sometimes strangers with treats, but only after a few minutes of intense barking). She hasn't bitten anyone yet, but I am getting so concerned. Could this be a fear period? She was never abused and never had any negative experiences with people. Do you think this could go away on its own? 

How should I proceed with training? Should I ask strangers to ignore and toss treats at her?


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

No, it's not going to go away on its own. You have a genetically shy dog. I have one too, and so do several other people on this forum. Unfortunately is a problem that plagues the breed and it can't be totally overcome by socialization. 

As an aside, dogs like yours and mine are a great lesson to people who say "it's all in how you raise them." It's just not. A lot of it is genetics. 

You'll probably always have to manage her fear aggression. Please don't let strangers touch her when she's having a fearful episode; as you've discovered the best thing they can do is ignore her. Whatever you do, don't force her to submit to petting when she's in "fear mode" as it can trigger a bite. In her mind, being petted by strangers is a violation, like if a stranger came up and started fondling you. Many dogs don't feel this way but yours does and mine does. She needs to learn that she can trust you to keep the scary people from violating her space. 

From dogs like ours, really the best we can do is get them to be neutral towards neutral strangers. 

The good thing about dogs like ours is they make awesome alarm barkers. Nobody comes on the property or in the house without them letting you know about it.


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## x0emiroxy0x (Nov 29, 2010)

BEST BOOK EVER: 

Help for Your Fearful Dog: A Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Your Dog Conquer His Fears
Wilde, Nicole

You NEED to get this ASAP. It is available in bookstores AND on E-readers

It discusses desensitizing from distances before trying to approach people. With Rocky, it took a month of sitting 10 feet away from paths, sitting 20 feet away from people at the river and being rewarded for ignoring them.

READ IT!


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Emoore is right....you can stabilize some of the behavoirs depending on severity, but it will always be present. This issue plagues the breed and definitely is as much found in reputable breeders as BYB.


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## kam214 (Mar 3, 2012)

Thanks for this thread! My 9 month old girl and I are in a very similar situation...with the exception that she has never lunged at anyone that comes up to her to pet her. She is totally fine at pet stores, dog training, Starbucks, outdoor restaurants, etc. I just took her to Home Depot today and she was an angel. Totally ignored everything going on, people brushing up near her, very much nonchalant about all activities and places i take her to. BUT if they approached closely, outstretched a hand to try and pet her or spoke to her and made eye contact with her, she would put her hackles up and growl. She never has any crazy barking or lunging. Her thing is occasionally a woof, growl and hackles up for the most part.

Then there is my 7 year old neighbor child...came HAULING up on a Big Wheels to Sasha and I while I was brushing her in our front yard. This girl is NOT good with dogs and refuses to listen to anything I tell her as far as being gentle and quiet with them. She is just a person dogs do not like...it's her energy or vibe or something, but even my two little dogs that love everyone, do not like her!

Neighbor girl:Can I pet your dog? (Sasha has her hackles up and is growling AND barking)
Me: No, I don't think it's a good idea.
Neighbor: Why?
Me: Because my dog does not want to be petted right now, see how she is growling at you?
Neighbor: Why?
Me: She does not know you and she is telling you she does not want to be petted
Neighbor: But YOU are petting her (she comes closer, Sasha starts barking)
Me: Seriously, please she does not want to be petted, you need to respect that.
Neighbor: Why? I want to pet her so you need to let me.

I gave up and went inside...:crazy:

Weird though she decides who she does and does not like. I took her out to the barn where I board my horse one Saturday and there was about 12 teenage girls there and Sasha just loved them all to pieces! No growling whatsoever and totally just eating up the attention. Then she decided to just bark at the assistant trainer as though she had fully decided she did not like something about her.


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

x0emiroxy0x said:


> BEST BOOK EVER:
> 
> Help for Your Fearful Dog: A Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Your Dog Conquer His Fears
> Wilde, Nicole
> ...


I have done the same, but eventually I got probably 200 strangers to help me with it, giving her treats, and finally having people have her sit/down/shake for treats.. Until she now doesn't presume people are a threat unless they act like they are.

I also found an outdoor setting training class that rotated around different outdoor locations so I would have a controlled setting with people and dogs and got all those people to help as well, and slowly worked closer and close into the group and built up confidence and tolerance.

I used shopping centers and then pet stores as I worked my way to getting her better..

I also used kids playgrounds and soccer games with lots of running jumping yelling people and slowly worked closer over weeks just sitting and hanging out.

I had to get Kaya where she wouldn't just bite any stranger that approached and put their hand out or especially kids, as she is only 45lbs and very cute and everyone just tried to walk up and pet her.. In her case it was seemingly based in fear and mistrust.. Bite first before and don't give them a chance to bite me kind of thing. Now she is still wary, but nowhere near the point of a bite unless the person is acting threatening.

In the end she went from alost biting a kid to being ok being swarmed by them at a playground, from total refusal to even think about taking a treat from a stranger, and growling at anyone that came close, to being pretty good judge of folks and safe to walk into any store or any place and be approached and petted. She still is wary, she wants to sniff a stranger up one side and down the other but she won't bite first and ask questions later any more.


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