# My 7 month old puppy is scared of strangers.



## Gunnar316 (Jul 4, 2009)

Hello. This is my first time posting.
My puppy is leary of strangers and backs away from people when they come up him. He will eventually sniff the stranger's hand but it takes time for him to warm up to them. Same with strange dogs. He backs away from them and tries to run the other way.
We didn't socialize him like we should've so he has only seen strangers come in the house and he has been fine with them. 
We are now starting to take him to active shopping centers where people can walk up to him and will probably take him to the beach so he can see more people.
He has not had his rabies shot yet so we can't take him to training.
So I'm wondering what else we should do to get him out of this fear stage. Aside from socializing, is there something else we should be doing?
When he backs away from people and dogs, should we tell him it's ok and not let him run away (which is what we do)?
There is another dog in our home but he is extremely afraid of our puppy and just hides in a bedroom so they never get to play together. Gunnar (our puppy) tries to lunge at the other dog (who is 9 years old and was never trained nor was he socialized - he's my in-laws dog). Gunnar is hyper and wants to play aggressively with the other dog.

Any advice will be much appreciated!
Thanks!


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## Debbieg (Jun 7, 2009)

I think the best thing to do is give him lots of good esperence with people and dogs. Just a few each day so he is not overwhelmed. Sign him up for Obedience classes asasp where he will be around other dogs and people in a controlled environment?


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## Gunnar316 (Jul 4, 2009)

Thank you. We will bring him to public places every day now. Training classes will come eventually but not yet since he has not had his rabies shot. He has allergies but we're not sure what they are. We're trying to rule out a food allergy so until he is better, he's not getting the rabies shot. Most or maybe even all training classes require that your puppy have the rabies shot.


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## kaitrinn7 (Aug 14, 2009)

Just from what I have learned so far with our pup, and by reading what other's say here in the forums, make sure you aren't getting anxious when people or dogs come up to your pup. He can read if you're anxious and that could also be affecting him.

Also, I would personally not tell him "It's ok" because typically we use a soft sweet voice to reassure them, and it's usually like the voice we use for praise, so he might think he is being praised for backing up and keep doing it.

If it were me, I would not let anyone walk up to him. I would ask them to stay back some, and squat down and hold their hand out, then let your pup walk up to the person, not the person coming to your pup. Then he can take his time. Another thought might be to carry some treats and once in awhile give the new person a treat to offer your pup (while they are squat down to pups level waiting for pup to come to them) then maybe he will begin to associate new folks with something good. 

Hang in there, it's not too late to socialize your pup, and you will get through this stage with him as well.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

The best thing to do is to get him out with people.He needs to have lots of positive experiences outside the house.Has he met some of the people that come to your house at other times? If not you can start there and see how he reacts.He may not recognize them and it would be a good way to do the treat positive reinforcement with him.Have the "stranger" give him a treat and then he'll associate a stranger with good things.Good luck they sometimes give us a run for our money.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

To add to the above, don't overwhelm him. He needs to gain confidence above all else and this will help him cope with the new places and people. So obedience training is the first place to start. Body language on how people approach him is important, they shouldn't look him in the eye and do a sideways type approach. Don't let them come up to him, but give him space. Even if you have to put a bandana stating dog in training or something. 
There is an article in the October Whole Dog Journal, the author wants dogs to wear certain color kerchief w/ their personality type
Red~reactive 
Blue~ friendly, no on-leash greetings
Green~friendly welcomes greets
Purple~ timid or fearful keep your distance
I know it would never work, but it would be cool if people were aware not to go up or to treat a fearful dog accordingly.


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## Gunnar316 (Jul 4, 2009)

Thank you for the great advice everyone!
My husband and I try not to feel anxious because we know he can sense how we feel. Always, happy thoughts!
I will try to not to have people approach him and let him approach people because we were letting people come right up to him.
He doesn't even like us to pet him on the head. He backs away from us. I did some training last night and after a second try, he let me pet his head with no problem.

Lots of training is what he'll be getting from now on. Life was getting in the way but it will no longer. Our baby needs to become the wonderful dog we know he will be.


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## bigfoot (Jan 24, 2009)

You are describing most of what we went through, right to the letter.

+1 on the socialization and obedience classes. Our GSD (or are we "his"?) was adopted by us at five months. He showed a lot of the same traits that you are seeing. Now, at a little over a year old, he is doing GREAT. If you can't get into a regular class right now, don't miss the boat like we almost did... get a private lesson or two ASAP! Shouldn't be too much money, just see if you can go to your local trainer and sign up for a half-hour at a time. We were able to see everything we were doing right/wrong and also how to read the signs that were in front of us. Sign up for the next basic obedience class that you can.

There are some great tips in here from folks far more experienced, but we'll throw our $0.02 in, too. These things worked very well for us and were recommended either by our vet, trainer or in class, or we read them here on the forums:

* Find something your dog can't resist as far as a treat. Hot dog pieces were suggested to us, and they work great. Just cut them up into little slices.

* Don't force your dog to socialize. Don't drag them to see new people or dogs on a walk or at home. Don't make them uncomfortable.

* Give a treat (hot dog) and scratch UNDER the chin, not on top of the head. The dog should be more accepting of this. Then you can move on later to scratching on top of the head.

* Buy some "Bitter Apple" or similar spray. Take charge. When your dog barks or is getting excessively excited or aggressive around new people or dogs you are around, tell them "Quiet!" and spray a shot right into their mouth. Cured our problem real quick. In fact, the whole obedience class of 15 dogs was quiet within about a minute!

* Praise, praise, praise. Keep training positive. Keep discipline negative. Be patient.

* Walk with the dog on your left side. Learn the "heel" command. Step your left foot off while saying it, the dog will learn this quick. Moving left foot and "heel" command means get moving by your side on the walk.

* No random pulling and sniffing on the walk. You are in charge. The dog is not. Dog sniffs when you stop and allow it, not dragging you up and down the sidewalk to sniff every bush.

* Dog keeps pulling? Change directions several times while still walking. They will learn to follow YOU. Once you see them start looking up at you like, "Hey, where are we going now?" you've got it. Doesn't hurt to add a "heel" command when you change directions.

* Heavy duty chew toys. Buy 'em. Nylabone "Souper" size is great and $10. 'Nuff said.

* Prong collar. Buy it. BUY IT. (Did I say buy it yet?) This will not hurt the dog. It is for training, not for the rest of his life. Skip past the "Gentle Leader" and similar, right past the harness-style rigs, keep on going past the choke chain and shock collar, and buy a good prong collar. $20 or less, best investment right up there with cheap hot dogs. We can't tell you how much this has helped us. No more pulling on a lead/leash. No more dragging us into traffic to chase cars or bikers or joggers or dogs or cats or squirrels, etc.

These few things (and some more I missed to type I'm sure) worked wonders for us. Best of luck in your fun journey together!!


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