Anxiety around Strangers

[btr323]

First off, thanks to everyone who helped me with my last issue with my dog. (In particular, Sanna, JudyN, Erica, and Nettle--y'all were wonderful!) Gypsy is doing much better, and it's been great watching her improve.

Gypsy is starting to show some anxiety problems around people she hasn't met. It's hardly a universal response, probably only one person out of three or two people out of five. But when she meets someone that does set her off, she'll cower behind me, tuck her tail and run away from them, freeze (if we're a distance away from them), etc. She will start warming up pretty quickly, and generally will sniff an outstretched hand within ten or fifteen seconds. Sometimes she'll have already decided the stranger is a friend, but usually she still seems uncomfortable at that point.

I know this doesn't really measure up to the fear responses from other reactive dogs I've read about on here, but I'd still like to nip this in the bud before her fear can have a chance to turn into aggression. This is my current plan:

1: Treat Gypsy when we're out and see a stranger approaching.
2: Give the scary strangers treats to give Gypsy, so that she can learn that strangers are good.
3: Withdraw from the situation relatively quickly, unless Gypsy seems really comfortable with things, and treat her when we're walking away.

What do y'all think of this course of action? Should I just skip over the treat-giving by the stranger and withdraw & treat immediately once she freezes? Is there anything else I should add to this routine?

Some background on the pup: Gypsy is a 6-month-old lab mix. I've had her since she was roughly ten weeks old, and she's always had timid tendencies. I socialized her very thoroughly from day one--in her first few weeks with me, she met adults and children of all shapes, sizes, and colors, in all kinds of different environments. (She also got a ton of time with other dogs, and generally does really well with them.) When she was younger, Gypsy would run up to and get really excited about strangers. She'd either sit and wait for them to pet her, or would lay down on the ground, kind of crawl up to them, and then roll over onto her back and ask for a tummy rub. (In retrospect I think this might have been a precursor to the fear response, since that's such a submissive gesture. But her tongue was usually hanging out of her mouth and she seemed to have a playful demeanor, which leads me to think it was more of an "asking-for-pets" kind of thing.) I take Gypsy on three or four fifteen-minute walks a day; I take her to the dog park something like four or five times a week to run around off-leash for ~30-45 minutes. We probably see one or more strangers on most of these walks/romps, but I haven't really been keeping track.

Thanks!

[JudyN]

What do y'all think of this course of action? Should I just skip over the treat-giving by the stranger and withdraw & treat immediately once she freezes?

Yes, I'd skip this. For the other person to give her treats, the other person has to come close. The treat might be enough for her to overcome her fear, but once she has had the treat, the person is still scary. So I would ask the person to stay back, and you treat her. Let her decide if she wants to approach the person or not, and make sure she knows you will protect her and let her move away if she wants to.

Apart from anything else, I am constantly badgered by dogs who can smell the treats I have, and part of the problem is that people will treat others' dogs, often without asking first. I can live with this, but it would be a lot better if dogs didn't think that everyone they saw was worth mugging for treats.

[Sanna]

I'm with Judy. Treats from you immediately the moment she spots the stranger
(And if you're ever in a situation where you think it's appropriate for the person to treat her, have them to toss the treat behind her; so she doesn't have to get closer than she's comfortable with).
You want her to feel safe, and think stranger= great stuff from my person

I could be wrong but I also think a lot of it is down to her entering the angsty teenage stage- combine that with an already timid nature and the best thing you can do is just guide her gently thru this phase allowing her the time and space she needs, with lots of positive reinforcement.

[btr323]

I would ask the person to stay back, and you treat her. Let her decide if she wants to approach the person or not, and make sure she knows you will protect her and let her move away if she wants to.

Got it! Thanks for the pointer.

I could be wrong but I also think a lot of it is down to her entering the angsty teenage stage

In my unqualified opinion, you're absolutely right. Her demeanor has changed with people and dogs both (although to a lesser extent with dogs) and she looks like an adolescent dog now--the puppy goofiness and excitability is still there, but she doesn't have the puppy appearance any more.

[btr323]

Ok, so today I had an opportunity to try out "strangers = treats", and I couldn't get Gypsy to take the treats (and I was carrying hot dogs & cheese, which she goes absolutely wild for). Here's what happened:

I was taking her on one of our four(ish) daily walks around the apartment complex and saw a handyman unloading his truck across the way. Gypsy froze, so I got some treats out of my pocket, crouched down to her level, and held them out for her in my cupped hand. She showed no interest in them, so I figured we were likely too close. I turned around and walked her away, but as we were walking off the handyman slammed a ladder onto his roof rack and put Gypsy in a bit of a panic. She broke into a run, so I ran with her around a corner and up to the stairs to my apartment. Once we got up there, she was still very stressed (doing that hypervigilant thing where she can't look at anything for more than half a second, tail tucked, licking her lips), but I figured I could try to treat her again. But she turned up her nose again, even though these were the highest value treats she gets. I took her up a flight of stairs and she still wouldn't take them. One more flight and she would take them off the ground, but not out of my hand; only at the very top of the stairwell would she take them from me.

My conclusion is that Gypsy hits her threshold for strangers at a much farther distance than I had initially thought. If we spot a stranger from afar, this shouldn't be too hard to work with--just treat her while the stranger is still very distant. But my concern is with strangers who "pop up" within this threshold range (e.g., strangers coming out of a door, strangers who are there when we round a corner, etc.). My first thought is that we should withdraw to a safe range when she sees them, then treat once she's comfortable. But then I'm concerned that I'm conditioning a response to run away from strangers. Do y'all have any suggestions for how to handle this behavior?

[JudyN]

It may well be a case that she didn't just need extra distance to relax enough to eat the treat, but also extra time. Handyman + van + ladder + loud noise is probably much scarier to her than the average encounter. Keep working on ensuring enough distance that she doesn't panic (I know it won't work all the time but you can only do your best), and allow her to walk away - not run, and not back home.

I'm not sure there's much to be gained by treating her once you have moved away from the trigger, as you want her to associate the trigger with the treat, not the action of moving away - hence the importance of spotting people when far enough away. Again, it's a lot easier said than done - I don't know if you would be able to drive her somewhere different where you're more likely to get more warning of people approaching?

[btr323]

Ok, got it.

Keep working on ensuring enough distance that she doesn't panic (I know it won't work all the time but you can only do your best), and allow her to walk away - not run, and not back home.

Once we started moving away (but before the noise) she was in something of a "scurry"--not quite a run, but much more hurried than just walking away. I tried to keep up to avoid any pulling on the leash, so that she doesn't start associating strangers with tugs on her collar. In that sort of situation, should I slow down and let her run out of slack on the line? Or should I try to keep up to avoid a tug when she runs out of leash?

I don't know if you would be able to drive her somewhere different where you're more likely to get more warning of people approaching?

I'll have to give this a try. When we're somewhere like the arboretum and she can see the person from a distance, her response is more enthusiastic than anything else--I can't treat her because she's too busy rolling around on the ground trying to play with the stranger. Of course, those strangers often have dogs with them, which might put her more at ease.

[JudyN]

In that sort of situation, should I slow down and let her run out of slack on the line? Or should I try to keep up to avoid a tug when she runs out of leash?

I'm not sure what the ideal would be - when I'm in that situation I'll walk as fast as I can, but not break into a run. I run so rarely anyway, it might make my dog think the world has ended He's pretty good at not pulling hard though, and he doesn't go into a complete panic - he knows I'm going to let him move away fairly rapidly. Hopefully she'll soon realise that she doesn't need to panic as she'll be able to get away at a fair rate.

Remember that this won't be forever. She's going through a rough phase now because of her age and because of the scare she had when she ran out of her collar. The more you can make life feel safe for her now, the sooner she'll become more confident. She might always be perturbed by some things, though - my dog and I usually choose to walk the other way if we see a dustbin lorry ahead

[btr323]

Ok, gotcha. Hopefully Gypsy will learn that too, shortly enough. I hope you're right about this just being a phase--Gypsy has been so wonderful (and still is so wonderful 95+% of the time), and I hate to see her get so distressed about day-to-day occurrences.

She might always be perturbed by some things, though - my dog and I usually choose to walk the other way if we see a dustbin lorry ahead

That will probably be dumpsters for us, haha. (Although "dustbin lorry" had me scrambling off to Google! There's plenty of truth to Oscar Wilde's quip that "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.")

[JudyN]

I did wonder if a dumpster was a dustbin lorry You've got me googling now... ahh, I think our dustbin lorry is your garbage truck or dustcart.

[Erica]

I wonder if a harness be a good investment? They're a bit trickier to slip out of than flat collars (for most dogs, when properly fitted) and if/when she does get spooked it wouldn't give her an extra jolt of unpleasantness if she does hit the end of the leash; running into the end of a harness will still be a jolt but more of a sudden-car-stop-seatbelt situation vs being clotheslined. Alternatively, a martingale or a limited slip collar might be another way to prevent a collar escape.

If you do go for a harness, I strongly advise against EasyWalks: they tend to shift out of place a lot, rub sores into a dog's belly, and I've seen more than one dog easily slip out of them, even when they're fitted fairly well. Freedom harnesses are better than EasyWalks in all those aspects, but tend to be a bit more expensive - my preference is just a standard roman dog harness. Fitted snugly, they're secure (for most dogs - some are just houdinis who get out of many things!) and won't injure or hurt a dog if they pull or are pulled on the leash a bit, and are more easily found + a bit cheaper than Freedoms. If you choose to get a harness, I'd recommend following Kikopup's tutorial on introducing a dog to a harness.

Judy's given you great advice; I can't think of anything on-topic to add I don't know what brits call dumpsters, but yep a dustbin lorry would be a garbage truck for us.

[btr323]

I wonder if a harness be a good investment?

Amazon should be delivering it tomorrow! I forget the name, but it's a highly adjustable back-snapping (or back-clasping or whatever the term is) model that I saw emmabeth recommend on a thread about harnesses. It's not an Easy Walk. (Edit: I just had to look it up--it's a PetSafe Sure Fit. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0027 ... UTF8&psc=1)

Thanks for the kikopup link! Her videos are such a great resource, I'm glad to see she's got something on harness introductions.

[Erica]

Ooh, lovely That's a good harness, yep!

Kikopup is great - there are not many sites that I recommend without hesitation, but her stuff is one of them.

[JudyN]

[off topic alert]

I'm not sure what we'd call a 'dumpster' in the UK... I'd probably call it a 'big bin'