Ask Crystal: Snappy Pup

Welcome to “Ask Crystal,” where you can ask your pet behavior questions! You can submit your question for Crystal at the bottom of the page!

Dear Crystal, 

I have a seven month old puppy that I have had since she was a tiny baby. We noticed that she has started barking at new people, so we are trying to take her out places to socialize her. Sometimes she bites at the air when people approach her. I am not sure what that means. Are we doing the right thing by trying to take her out places? What is the best way to introduce her to new people so we can socialize her? 

Sincerely, 

Concerned Dog Dad 

 

Dear Concerned,

I can definitely understand why you feel concerned about this behavior from your puppy. That doesn’t seem like normal, friendly dog behavior. I am glad you contacted me now at the beginning stages of this behavior before the dog has had a long time to practice this behavior. The biting at the air is called a snap and it is a clear warning from the dog that she wants space. If someone doesn’t understand the message it could end up turning into a bite, so it is pretty important to work on this now.

It is important to plan the places you are taking your dog to socialize. The point of socialization is not just exposure, but it has to be a positive experience, or you risk making the behavior worse. If the place that you take your dog is crowded, noisy or has a lot of people that are overwhelming the dog then it likely is not going to be positive for them. I always try to consider the day of the week and the time when deciding if the venue is appropriate. I like to go visit the location at the day and time ahead of time to see what the human traffic is like before bringing my dog. Hardware stores that allow dogs can be a great place on a weekday. I find that they aren’t that crowded usually and the majority of people I have found to mind their own business there. There are a couple wineries in Hendersonville that can be pretty empty during weekdays as well and they usually are large enough to get away from people if you need to. Events like farmer’s markets or fairs tend to be much too busy for fearful dogs and likely will not be a good option depending on her fear level. I would also highly suggest contacting a certified dog trainer. You may be able to work on this in a training class where you have an instructor watching you and keeping everyone safe. A trainer can offer you one on one coaching as well which is often needed when working on fearful behavior.

Next, you need to have a plan for how to introduce her to new people. It may be that she isn’t ready quite yet and you need to do some work from a distance. If she starts to bark at people when they approach her, what distance can the person be before she starts barking or reacting? That distance is her threshold. We need to stay under the dog’s threshold to be able to work with her. Once she crosses over that threshold and begins reacting, she won’t be able to learn. We will need to back it up and try to get her focus back.  When we are working on behavior issues such as fear, anxiety or aggression, we are going to use classical conditioning to try to change the dog’s emotional response to the fear inducing trigger. This is not a matter of simply training the dog to perform another behavior but to change the feelings that are causing her to act this way. Figure out what her threshold is and when you see her notice the person, say “yes” and feed her a really amazing treat like chicken. If she won’t eat the treat, she is likely too stressed and you need to move her back some distance. If you have a busy neighborhood, maybe you should start on your porch or in your driveway. It tends to be easier to work with dog at home where they feel most comfortable. Once you have practiced for a few weeks or more at home and the dog is responding well, maybe you can move on to practicing in a parking lot somewhere. I would suggest maybe starting out by just sitting in the parking lot and treating her for watching people just walk around. Starting from too far away is better than starting too close. Once you have been practicing for a while, you will notice that she starts to look back at you after she looks at the stranger. That is your clue that she is starting to get the association that looking at people predicts treats. The hardest part is getting people to cooperate. Well-intentioned people will ignore all requests not to invade your dog’s space and manhandle them.

My suggestion is to try to set up some training scenarios with friends or coworkers that she hasn’t met first so you can give them instructions. It is threatening to some dogs to be approached quickly and directly, instruct them to not rush the dog. Have them stand sideways to the dog as standing or squatting frontally can be intimidating. A well socialized dog’s personal space is approximately 6 feet depending on the situation. Have the person stand outside of that distance standing sideways, not making direct eye contact and not speaking. There are dogs that even speaking to them scares them so I would forgo that until you know how she feels about it. When the person approaches say to your dog, “friend” so we can create a cue to the dog, so they know when they are going to have to interact with a person. Ask your friend to toss some treats towards your dog and allow her to close the gap between them. It should be the dog’s choice to interact. Don’t have them hold treats in their hands and force the dog to come get them. When we do that, we are forcing the dog to come closer than they feel comfortable because they really want the treat. It is better to toss the treat to the dog and slowly work on decreasing the distance. If the dog doesn’t want to close the gap but is not reacting negatively, just continue the tossing of the treats. That maybe where you need to stop for this session. Practice this until the dog wants to approach the friend. When the dog is licking their hand, she may be ready for a pet. Show your friend how your dog likes to be petted. Many dogs are threatened by a hand coming towards their face so we should avoid that type of petting. I usually suggest the chest or the back as more comfortable places to pet a dog you don’t know. I would suggest that you should also be feeding the dog a treat, while you are petting them to help create a more positive association with that.

It is going to take a lot of repetitions to get your dog to a place where they feel better about people approaching. You must be her advocate and be aware of her fearful body language and stop inappropriate interactions. Your dog should be able to trust you to keep her safe.  She may never be the type of dog you can take to a fair, but you may be able to get her to feel comfortable going to stores and restaurants if you really work on it a lot now. Or she may just be the kind of dog that needs to stay home. A big part of having animals in our family is coming to accept who they are as an individual and what their limitations are.

Until next time,

Crystal