.com Forum · Real Show Dogs

Hello!

I have a puppy (well, he's almost two years old now) that we adopted almost a year ago. He was rescued off the streets and obviously abused and neglected. After having him for a while, he's been able to adapt and adjust to living with us fair enough.

To boost his confidence and to socialize him, I've been putting him in a basic obedience class during the weekday morning. He definitely enjoys it since he runs to my car door when I let him out and he sees my keys, and he has a good aptitude for it (attentive, loves to learn, makes good eye contact). So, I'd like to put him into agility and rally eventually .

However, when I took him to a smaller, quiet town, he was over stimulated. He wouldn't go close to the 'main' road (which, in fairness, did have cars and trucks going through it all the time), and didn't listen, look at me, or take his treats (hotdogs). I don't want to keep on repeating this experience, and making going 'out' a bad thing, but how can I get him used to all of commotion of a small town? Let alone a dog show?


Thanks for any help,
Windy

Does he have any 'buddies' that you can meet up with somewhere like that? Someone maybe from your obedience class or a neighbor pup that he will find confidence in?
It can be hard, you want to expose them to new people, places, experiences, etc, but don't want them to be a negative experience.
If there isn't another dog buddy that can show him that everything is ok, I would suggest taking him somewhere new without distractions and work on your obedience skills - perhaps a park in the middle of the morning when there's no one there. He will see new sights, scents, etc but not have any immediate or threatening (to him) distractions. Slowly increase the distractions, someone walking by, someone on a bike, someone walking a dog, but I wouldn't necessarily want to expose him to everything all at once.

I know with our show dogs, they travel and see and hear everything at shows before they're ever entered. They have the security of their crate but can get used to the sights and sounds from their "safe" place before we ever ask them to come out and perform/show for us, giving us all of their attention.

I know some stores will allow pets inside, those would be good places to go when the time is right.

If he is just uncomfortable and not scared, I'd be tempted to tell him to tough it out and learn that nothing is going to get him. Hard to tell exactly how slow you will need to take things without seeing his body language and reactions.

You know him best, trust your guts if you think he can handle it or not. good luck!

He has his 'brother' our other dog, who is rather easy going and good with being outside the house and in that same town. I usually go by myself, though, and can't manage two dogs alone. Otherwise, I'd take him with me.

The reason why I thought it was stress over discomfort, is because he was both super-panting, almost to the point of hyper ventilating, and also went from normal stool to soft stool while walking around. That screamed stress to me.

I think I'll do that, what you said. I don't want him to be afraid for life, and I do intend to bring him to shows before I actually do anything with him. I've been using a mat with him (basic crate mat with a blanket over it). However, he's not fond of crates though. I don't know how to quite make him okay with it. We have a large one, too.

I have found that feeding a dog in his crate usually works.

Definitely sounds like stress to me. The only thing I've heard of helping is taking it slow and building up the stimulation they can handle. Once they are in the over-stimulated state there is nothing you can do except move away and wait for the adrenaline to clear their system.

What I found quite useful was to go to the edge of what they can handle : they start tensing up and have trouble holding eye contact/sitting still; then just sitting down on their leash and reading a book and letting them do whatever they feel like they need to do until they relax : sit/lie down not tense of their own accord. Pet/praise them quietly then either move to a new spot or go back home.

grif,

Thank you all for your support and ideas! I'll definitely try doing some of these things and see if he gets any better.

As for feeding in his crate, he's always been a bird-like eater (in fact, when we first got him, he would only eat in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep and no one was looking at him), and his food is on raisers due to his leg-height. (edit add To me, I don't think it's a practical idea at the moment to feed in his crate. How else do you guys crate train?


Thanks again,
Windy

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Last edited by Windsong Hills on 6/22/2014 10:28:18 AM

I know with my pup he HATED his crate until we started using it on car rides which he is a huge fan of. After about a month of that he would go into his crate no problem wherever we were because he finally started seeing it as someplace enjoyable instead of the prison like place he use too.

Hope this helps

Delias Kennel

To crate train I start by just throwing toys/treats into the crate until they are voluntarily putting their head and front paws into the crate. Then I will put a treat at the back of the crate and sit right behind them so their only choice is to go into the crate - don't actually force them it just throw more and more treats into the crate until they choose to go in by themselves (at this point they can exit the crate as soon as they are in it). Repeat until they show no signs of stress going into the crate.

Then start lightly blocking the crate exit with your hands/legs while continuously giving them treats in the crate, let them out if they start pushing hard or when you run out of treats. Gradually reduce the frequency of giving treats while they voluntarily stay in the crate with the door open (add a release word when you run out of treats). Then start closing but not locking the door and treating through the bars. Then start locking the door. Then start getting up and moving around while the crate is locked, randomly reward for being quiet & relaxed. Gradually build up time & distance until you can be out of sight for 5minutes between treats. Then you can start leaving them in the crate over night or while you go out, we usually get special large 'healthy' dog biscuits which we give them when even we leave them in the crate for a long time.

Aside: if your dog is noise sensitive and the locking mechanism is noisy start with them just hanging out near the crate while you lock/unlock the crate and treat once they relax after each noise

Aside 2: if your dog voluntarily goes into the crate during the day outside of training sessions give them a small treat reward.

grif,