How To Increase My Dog's Confidence?

[Adele]

I've been holding off writing this as I was hoping it was just a stage that Sooty was going through but now I'm not so sure Sorry for its length!

To give you a bit of background - We first got Sooty when she was 12 weeks and I followed the puppy development calendar noting when she was going through her fear periods and I have been doing obedience classes with her for about a year which she is doing well in. She is now 15 months old and is our only dog.

She loves other dogs and is not aggressive in any way towards other dogs or people but she gets incredibly timid when taken to new situations or there is something new in our house. She is not comfortable being away from home and if we are staying at another house (we take her away with us) just the scraping of a chair being pushed back will make her shoot across the room. She gets nervous about new things - such as a sofa and will slink around it and turns into jelly and paces if my husband or I leave her around other people (not strangers, my family!). She's really happy to meet people on the street but when someone comes into our house she becomes a bit stand-offish and very clingy.

If there is a noise or something new I make sure I don't react to it and just go about business as normal. She is such a happy, friendly dog normally I hate to see her when she is all freaked out.

Are there any exercises/lessons I can do to help her gain confidence? Or anyone who had a similar problem that overcame it?

Edited March 21, 2009 by Adele

[Tonymc]

Adele, do you know where the rest of the litter are?If so I would be checking to see how they are nerve wise. Tony

[Erny]

I agree with Tony .... having some idea as to whether this is something akin to genetics can provide some extra insight. However, regardless of that, there is still the problem to deal with.

I'd do a 'check' on your leadership (as your dog perceives it). Up it in what ever areas you can.

Also, something like agility can be helpful in building the dog's self-confidence.

And/or :

Have fun with your dog when there is a noise/something that bothers her. I use the drive training I built up in my boy a fair amount for this. To give you one example : thunder/lightening. He scooted across the decking and inside the very first time he ever heard it. I sang out the magic words that he knew meant we were going to train in drive and he shot back out to me, into the rear yard and we spent time playing tug and training whilst the thunder rolled and the rain fell.

Don't know if your dog is into tug or if you do any drive work with her but if you're going to do it, begin to build this up now and use whatever you've been able to build to represent "fun times are comin' when you hear that noise. If you have someone to help you, be out playing with her and get the other person to make the noise that bothers her, but on a lower intensity that she's likely to be able to cope with.

I love drive training and have used it quite a bit in situations that would otherwise have ended 'scarey' if not for the fun distraction.

[Adele]

Thanks for the responses, unfortunately at this stage I'm not able to find out how the rest of the litter are so can't rule out anything genetic.

Thank you for the suggestions Erny, she does know the word 'tug' so I'll continue to work on that to make it solid. The noises she reacts to are usually when we are away from home, she's fine with thunder/lightening and fireworks so I'm going to have to be prepared for when we are away!

What happens though if the situation is like that for a few days? Thunder will eventually go away so you could do work with your dog during that time but what if the 'scary' thing is there for longer than that? This isn't a noise but for example when my partner brings his golf bag into the house the whole time they are in there she is wary of them and will rush past them.

Just a question regarding leadership as well - whenever something scary does happen she looks at me for reassurance (I think) and will come and try and squash herself right by me. Is she thinking I'm the one who is going to save her from the scary thing or something else? I don't praise her for doing this, I try to ignore this behaviour.

Thanks for your input as this is my first dog I'm new to all this!

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Just a question regarding leadership as well - whenever something scary does happen she looks at me for reassurance (I think) and will come and try and squash herself right by me. Is she thinking I'm the one who is going to save her from the scary thing or something else? I don't praise her for doing this, I try to ignore this behaviour.

Dogs that lack confidence are not easy, so give yourself permission for it to take some time. If it's genetic, she will probably never been a totally confident dog - that's OK, you can work with her to make life less scary.

There are different schools of thought on avoiding comforting a dog that is scared. I think the important thing about leadership is to demonstrate that you are not scared or stressed. If you are a drama llama or an anxious or a-typey person, this means reigning yourself in so that you always present as calm and in control to your dog. The household also needs to be calm. Also, visitors need to be drilled in how to deal with the dog (no looming, no eyeballing, no screeching etc etc).

We had a lot of success with environmental work - just taking the dog for a walk in the neighborhood and praising like mad when he didn't react. Regular walking in public made a huge difference to his disposition. Don't overdo it, if it means starting with a walk to the end of the street that's fine.

With the golf clubs, I would use standard desensitization very similar to that which is suggested for getting dogs used to bicycles. ie, put them out in a yard, lying down so they can't fall (because that will make it ten times worse) scatter treats around, once she's comfortable taking treats 10 yards away, decrease the distance. Once she's happy with walking around them lying down, stand them up, etc.

Obedience class if she can cope with it, would also be a good idea.

[Monah]

Wonderful that you are investigating increasing your dog's confidence

I have a wonderful beautiful dog, who is fearful and lacks confidence so much that whe would not even walk on lead without dancing backwards to see what was behind her, or freaking out if someone else was walking, dogs, cars, bikes etc. Also far too many other things to go into on here.

I persevered for 3 years and now have a gorgeous, amazing wonderful dog with lots of confidence. Although she'll never be super confident like many others, she is still only a fraction off of perfect.

I'm not a trainer, but have had many different breeds of dogs, shown and done basic stuff, for 40 years.

With my dog, I ignored her behaviour and just carried on walking, chatting in a happy voice. Taught her to 'ignore' stuff, ie. dogs at fences etc. and praised her. By far the best thing for her confidence was agility and flyball. THe equipment was daunting to her, but I just gently persevered and she is great!!! Took a couple of years though, no quick fix. I knew that if we were going to have her for hopefully 16 years, any work done now would pay off for us all.

Flyball and the proximity to other dogs, the bang of the box, etc. really cemented her confidence and she is the best flyball dog here! The trick is to get them to focus on you and not their surroundings. With my dog I used food treats, others used tuggies or a game. It is a difficult path when they are nervous, esp. when you are jugglling whether what you are doing is too much, overstimulating etc. and making it worse.

If you know your dog well, you can use your own judgement. A routine, very set, also helped immensely. She always knew what was coming next, no nasty surprises. Once they are more confident, you can introduce other things into the routine. But if they never know or understand what is coming up next, it can make them even more nervous. Hopefully if you can instill some confidence in her in other things, the noises etc. wont be so much of a problem. Fingers Crossed. Scrape the chair a dozen times a day and act as if there is no noise, it's a normal part of the routine etc. I did this with the doorbell and now it is just another part of their day.

I also used a fantastic behaviourist as I'd never had a dog with these issues before. I've learnt so much through this dog, and she is really amazing. Good luck. She is very lucky to have such a caring family

[Erny]

What happens though if the situation is like that for a few days? Thunder will eventually go away so you could do work with your dog during that time but what if the 'scary' thing is there for longer than that? This isn't a noise but for example when my partner brings his golf bag into the house the whole time they are in there she is wary of them and will rush past them.

In the case of the golf clubs - desensitise. Have the golf bags in sight when you do things such as feed, play tug etc. But use distance as your friend. Put the golf bags in another room when you're not 'working' with your dog on this exercise so that she does not continue to 'practice' her fear behaviour towards them.

Just a question regarding leadership as well - whenever something scary does happen she looks at me for reassurance (I think) and will come and try and squash herself right by me. Is she thinking I'm the one who is going to save her from the scary thing or something else? I don't praise her for doing this, I try to ignore this behaviour.

My preference is for YOU to take the action, not leave the action up to the dog. But this is only one thing you can do - under certain circumstances. There are other strategies that can be applied in other circumstances. What you do and when depends on the dog and the situation you are in which is why it is difficult to instruct you via the internet. But it is about YOU dealing with the 'scarey' things in life (ie taking control) and not having the dog believe that the decision to act is up to her.

Edited March 22, 2009 by Erny

[Stitch]

Cesar Millan has had quite a few tv shows featuring dogs that had lack of confidence issues.

Have you read any of his books? They should give you a good idea of 'leadership'.

[Adele]

Thank you to everyone's replies, it has renewed my enthusiasm in trying to help her.

There are somethings I've put in the 'too hard basket' for now - such as going through the dog door but I'm definitely going to have a go with the golf clubs and hopefully put that into practice in other situations. This could be interesting!

I'm also thinking of doing some basic agility work with her but will just have to wait until I get two more stamps to be in the required Level 3 class.

[Sarah L]

Thank you to everyone's replies, it has renewed my enthusiasm in trying to help her.

There are somethings I've put in the 'too hard basket' for now - such as going through the dog door but I'm definitely going to have a go with the golf clubs and hopefully put that into practice in other situations. This could be interesting!

I'm also thinking of doing some basic agility work with her but will just have to wait until I get two more stamps to be in the required Level 3 class.

Hi Adele there was a game I used to play called the smell it game for dogs that lacked confidence. You start with everyday household objects eg.... chairs, pots, garden hoses, lawn mowers, vacume cleaners etc.

Basically anything that could make a noise. Before these obstacles move then get the dog to smell them while they are still and not moving. You do this by just walking up to one and asking the dog to come to the obstacle while you are pointing to it. When the dog smells the item you reward with a toy or a really yummy food treat.

When you can see the dog is comfortable with this you then go on to moving them slightly and asking the dog to come smell. Even moving an item an inch and asking the dog to come smell. When the dog is comfortable with this you move on a step at a time until the dog can confidently come and smell the item without fear.

If the dog backs a way at any stage just walk away and do not pay attention to them then go back after a minute or two and try again. The dogs sense of smell is a great training aid and gives them information about their world if the dog can smell things and not be frightened of it then you can be well on your way to getting the dog more confident in it's life. Once your dog is not frightened of things moving and this apply's to everywhere you go then you can put in commands like sit, stay or come. As we all know all we don't want the dog to smell a moving lawn mower or vacume cleaner. But the smell it game is a great start to getting it to approach things it would normally run from in the first place.

[Erny]

Oh .... Adele - I meant to add to my previous post that it is good if you let your dog see YOU pat/pay attention to the gulf buggy. Just ignore your dog while you're doing this and don't push the issue.

[Adele]

Lots of great suggestions! Erny - will be giving the golf buggy an extra big hug tonight, she may just get jealous

[Erny]

Yeah, well you only need to worry if the golf buggy hugs you back!