5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

I'm not sure what is driving this as she has only been with us a month. She was the last of a litter of 5 to go to a good home, she lived with both of her parents and had lots of other visitors from other litters (same breed) and she played outside.

My only guesses are:

• She's not getting enough exercise/outside time since moving to our apartment (a possibility) and this is anxiety/boredom.
• She really doesn't know what to do with any non-family dogs.
• She is just being a puppy and will grow out of this.
• I need to intensively socialize her. (How? Where?)

Here's what I have been doing so far:

1. Get her comfortable and well adjusted in our home.
2. Get her well adjusted to playing with the boys or retreating to me if they are bothering her.
3. Co-sleeping. (really and truly the best option for us)
4. Outside as much as I can handle and insist on DH taking her on a walk at night. :shifty
5. Going on trips/walks where she will see/smell or encounter other dogs.
6. Take her to the restaurant when we go so that she learns how to behave there.
7. Take her to the mall so she learns how to walk around a lot of people and navigate other dogs. (I go for starbucks, she goes for a learning experience :giggle)
8. Take her to the Home Depot type store so she can walk around with me/us to check out the different things in the garden center, the pet center, and wherever I actually need something from. (She will encounter the occasional dog here)
9. Walks around our neighborhood and out in the fields. (also encounters dogs here)
10. Take her to the Kindergarten and back - she encounters dogs along the way (three different streets have occasional yard dogs or people walking dogs) and also at the kindergarten there are people who tether their dog outside (I keep her on my arm and with me because I do not know what she will do and she is not chipped yet :doh:blush)
11. Watch shows with other dogs (all breeds) and tell her what they are doing. If she gets upset at working dogs, explain "they are working - you are safe."
12. Go to the city (various ones) and walk the inner city marketplace. She will see, hear, smell and sometimes come across other dogs. Downside - this makes her anxious. I had to explain to her that the big Alsatian was not going to eat her, but was curious and working with that big Policeman beside us. She still asserted she was my dog and no one was to bother me.
13. Going to the pet store, even if we only get one small treat. She will see other dogs here and possibly meet them.
14. Training - We're working on "sit", "stay", "shake", "gimme five/ten", and "down". -- sounds like a lot, but this is mostly problem solving training since she likes to paw at us for attention or take our hand, and she tries to get in our laps to eat at the table. (Her breeder did feed her at the table :shifty :doh)
15. Work on getting potty training down to timing + "the only place to pee/poop in the house is the pee pad"
16. Lots of chew things because of teething
17. Lots of love
18. Lots of play time indoors including chase/tag and fetching
19. Introducing her to things she is scared of on walks (look, this is just a motorcycle/bicycle/fence/statue/car/bag blowing around)
20. Introducing her to things she is scared of at home (vacuum cleaner or other noisy household items)

I'm confused a little because she is a Cavalier King Charles (non-bark-y breed and non-aggressive), AND she is a puppy. She has been around dogs, so this is a "since I moved house" thing.

There really is no reason for the anxiety/bark and protect everything I own instinct to kick in because I'm all cool and relaxed, I am not usually anxious in the city centers or the mall when I go, even with her. Also, all the dogs here are super well behaved. I have no issues with 99% of the dogs I've ever encountered in the mall. If she isn't cool with being sniffed, they back off and owners are very responsible. :yes People have been nice and asked to pet rather than just launching at her -- Germany's pretty darn dog friendly.

I haven't had a dog in about a decade (mine passed away in the horrible tainted pet food scare - a bit of old age + tainted food killing her) and when we got her she was a year old. I'm just wondering what I can do to help her out and figure out that not all dogs are out to get her so that people don't look at me like I have this horribly ill behaved puppy.



I have thought hard about socialization classes but I can't find any near us (like an hour away, yes, but then we're talking 500€ for 10 sessions + gas for driving that far), and I've thought about asking people I know who have dogs if we can get together... but I don't know them well enough to really invite over or be invited over. :blush I've thought about asking to get together with the breeder and mami/papi dog, but I don't know if that will mix up my baby with thinking I will leave her there and amp up any anxiety I haven't picked up on.

I know, some of this is my anxiety talking rather than hers. :doh We're stuck with our financial situation so all my "fix it" solutions have to be low or no cost. More walks? more sitting outside in the front yard reading and just letting her sniff around and get used to the fact there are a billion other dogs in Germany? :giggle :shrug3

---------- Post added at 01:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:07 PM ----------

Oh and she goes on lots of car rides and can wait in the car in her carrier/pop-up tent transporter -- she's great with that.

Honestly, on 99% of the issues we have, I know it's puppy related and "it will pass". I'm just anxious about the running scared and needing to be picked up (or hurting herself trying to launch into my arms) if a bigger dog barks at her from behind a fence, or trying to get away (ouch! my arm sockets!) if she sees another dog come bounding in her direction.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

I think a lot of that is age related. I think most puppies go through a stage where they are scared of other dogs/loud noises/a scary leaf :giggle I know that my lab went through that stage where everything caused her to run with her tail tucked between her legs back to me. Now at about 9 months she is coming out of that stage and actually starting to go investigate first. Also some breeds I think are a little more prone to do that- not sure if yours is one :shrug3

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

We have a five-month old French Brittany, so we probably relate size-wise. Maggie (Magnolia) has an older "sister" she cohabitates with. They play together, sleep together, take walks together. But, she is very much a mama-girl when she is around other dogs other than her sister.

We went to the vet's office the other day and she needed to be in my arms or was hiding behind my legs the whole time we were there. I'd say that she really does need to be around a lot of other dogs. Is there a dog park nearby? A fenced yard of a friend or neighbor who has a dog where she can run loose? I would encourage you to take her off leash and let her run around with another 2-3 dogs. Sometimes being on-leash causes them to think they need to protect you. I have found that all of the dogs we've owned have been more bark-y, growl-y, protective when they have been on-leash compared to when they've been off-leash.

Hopefully, this will be a phase she will outgrow soon. :yes

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

Unfortunately there is no yard to run in + fencing (unless our downstairs neighbors are OK with me letting her run some in the mornings when they aren't home) that would be protected enough. Our leash laws require us to have her on leash at all times when she's out, except at dog parks, behind fences or land marked dogs allowed off leash.

I haven't found a dog park so far closer than Frankfurt am Main. The closest thing to that which I can find is our Dog Sport Club and you have to join (€!), go through training classes (€!) and then you go on certain days to do either agility or hunting dog training. I'm thinking it over but I don't know when we will have expendable income.

I'd love to get together more with the breeder. Problem: Smoker and I'm highly allergic. I had to turn down her last get together for her ladies & cavaliers meal due to having just too much to do and I was overwhelmed entirely. (Passover prep, family issues etc.) I will definitely do my best to go next time.

I will keep trying to make contact with people I come across that live near us with dogs. I would have thought that more of the moms at kindergarten would have struck up convo/asked more info and so forth, but it's like I'm still the hot potato everyone's wary of touching for whatever strange reason. :shifty :sigh I have three moms that will very infrequently chat with me just a bit. It's not that I don't try really. I'm just the outsider and most everyone grew up together or knows each other due to their kids being in the same sport groups.


Ya'll could be right about it being age. The breeder did mention she'd never been on walks with her and to start slow so we have. That could be a good bit of it.

We take her on Sunday for dinner, so that should be interesting. I've only done that once since we only have two places we can go really. Our other place is a Turkish restaurant and doggies are a major no-no. Once we start being able to loosen our belts a bit, I can try taking her on short trips on the bus, train and going to get Italian ice cream. I haven't really taken her to that side of the village yet.

---------- Post added at 08:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 PM ----------

did find this, but still not closer than the other really. There's one near the city where DH works and not far from my 2nd favorite 2nd hand store.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

I'd say it's probably age related. I think you are doing all the right things to get her through it with more confidence on the other side. One of our dogs is a lot like your puppy ... she is now three years old and much more relaxed, but still not really confident with more than one new dog at a time.

We use lots of treats when we are out and about rewarding the positive behaviour. Sometimes it's just a matter of making the puppy look away from the "scary" thing, having a treat before trying again.

I don't have any experience with C. K. C. Spaniels - all my experience is with high energy border collie/kelpie breeds.

HTH some. Love to hear how she goes.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

That definitely helps. I'm trying the distraction model when she gets riled up or scared. That helps some. I try to get down on her level or bring her up to mine (whichever is safer) and have her focus on me.

We went to the Felsenmeer in Lautertal today and the scariest thing she saw there was a big black backpack and a fire hydrant. We encountered three dogs and other than barking, I was able to get her attention away to walk up the forest past the brook and she paid more attention to where she was going and less to the other dogs. I'll start carrying a pack of treats around. That should help!! I made sure to praise her lots when she did good and redirect when she was tripping me or moving in the way.

We went for ice cream when we went home and she sat on my lap. There was one dog that went by and she got into "action mode" so I redirected. Eventually we had some Spatzen (Sparrows?) come up to us to beg for crumbs which lended towards an easy distraction. :) "Look, birds! stay with mommy."

She did great with DH and I think she did awesome for her first trip out in a nature park with us. I got a couple good shots of her while out.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

Put her tags on her collar since that stays on her all the time...the most times she will get away from you will be only when she has her collar on and not her halter.

Chip her when you take her in to get spayed. It's one less time that the dog has to go under anesthesia. Our puppy will get fixed next month and we will have her chipped then.

We have a little draw-string clip-on bag that we would wear when we were training our lab. It's really nice to have something to clip on your belt to put your rewards in. I'm sure your pet store will have something.

Why not (when the weather gets nice) invite your breeder (& puppy group) over to your place for an outdoor lunch...do you have room to do something like that? That way you'd be outdoors and her smoker's "aura" wouldn't be so suffocating.

It sounds like you are doing things right. Just be consistent and don't give up on her.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

I'll do my best on that. :yes

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

I wanted to let you all know we've been working hard these last four days or so.

Sunday we had lunch out, so she had to learn to sit under the table and not see us (we had held her the first time) and not cry. Towards the end, it had been a while so DH walked her out to the car and let her rest in her carrier. (windows down and it was very cool out so the car was no more than 15°c/59°f) DH took her on an hour long walk that evening.

Monday we had company in the late afternoon and went out to eat. She stayed under the table for half of our meal and went back out to her carrier (too overwhelming at the new restaurant with so many people). Long walk that evening.

Yesterday I started the intensive walk with her. I'd been taking her all last week for about 30 minute walks but was getting overwhelmed with how tired I was and her being just so jumpy/pulling etc. It was making my lower back injuries and wrist injury from long ago car accidents act up.

I packed a baggie with some of her dry food that she refuses to eat unless it is given to her in a Kong, and I grabbed the ball with the rattle she likes so much. I shortened her leash and we went off. I decided to go a way I know there are a few dogs, but relatively so few that it shouldn't be a huge issue. We did the start/stop (like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqURxL6v4ds) until she would stop pulling and any chance I saw for a bench, we would stop and she would rest and look around rather than be pulling and jumping at people who pass.

We tried a 30 minute walk towards the field in the morning, but there were so many dogs it was very difficult in the end. She was too panicked to pay attention. It was a great start, but not awesome.


When the boys were gone for speech therapy in the evening, I decided a walk by the river might be interesting since there is noise as it passes, some ducks in the water (sometimes), and the occasional passing cat, jogger, walker, mountain biker or leisure biker. We have to cross a busy street with a light to get there and pass the ice cream place. She did great! So since that's about a half mile from where we live, we walked the long way around to the other side of the street where there is just a cross walk and wait to cross, then walk home. I think we got a good two miles in. Lots of start/stop but by the end she was looking at me a lot, less focus on where barking was coming from if we didn't actually see the dog concerned, and more of a reserved interest in who was passing us vs launching at everyone.


I decided this morning to try again, and we took a different way and thankfully most people have their dogs indoors this time of the morning and there were less dogs barking behind fences on the way. I noticed she tries to launch at parked cars to find ours (I'm guessing since we have been coming/going so much she expects our car to be where parked cars are?) so we walked through a public parking area and around 10 cars with the start/stop until she relaxes/start again until she got the picture that our car wasn't there and we were there to walk. Got across the street well, rested at a bench and watched the lady at the restaurant unpack garden chairs and put pillows out before walking to the river. I got her to sit and pay attention to me rather than follow/bark and growl at the big dog passing us. The rattle toy helped a LOT with that. Hard to pay attention when mom keeps rattling. :roll

We got walked past that obstacle and we had a dog with an owner at the next set of benches. Dog launches at us. So, I get her down and seated, focused on me, lower the energy and walk in the grass opposite slowly, stop, sit, walk slowly and over to the bridge. I was surprised how well she handled that! Again, the rattle helped!!

We passed some farm area with chickens and that was fun for her. We were having a bad start/stop issue with her pulling so I was really patient and got her going well until I could get to another bench. I didn't realize it, but she had spotted a cat and the cat waited until she was calm enough to walk past and go towards the river to do some hunting. I praised her for doing so well and we stopped at the benches where the dog who had launched at us was before. She did great, sniffled and rested.

We walked back home, and since she has some anxiety near the kindergarten area I decided to try walking near (but not by it yet!) to see if we can lower the energy she has and I spotted one of our neighbors who has a French Bulldog off leash. So that was... interesting. I tried our trick and the Frenchie came over to scare us. I ended up with a dog leaping in my arms and an owner running across the street to retrieve his dog. That took a good 10 minutes to redirect and fix what we had good going for us. By the end I got her cooled down and calm again, and back to the start-stop-start walk again until she was totally relaxed.

She's been given some kibble and lots of treats and she's been down almost two hours to nap, waking to check on me and back down.

Once DH is home we'll go again and I'll try the fields if it is not too windy.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

Sounds to me like she's doing awesomely! Well done! All the training now will be so worth it.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

I have found great puppy socialization classes with the humane society in our area that were very affordable.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

We went boating last Monday with a friend who owns a King Charles. She held Roxie most of the time because Roxie wanted to "get" all the birds...no barking, but was ready to dive in and help retrieve or scare them away.

As for your puppy, sounds like you are working well with her. Just remember, she's still a puppy with a short attention span. She will get tired and her attention will be diverted easily. With too many outside distractions, she just won't be able to concentrate for long periods of time. It's good you take a couple of things with you that she enjoys playing with.

As for her pulling, what we have found that works well for us (on our lab when she was alive) is an over the snout-type of collar that the leash attaches under the chin. There are several different makers of these collars in the US. A popular one is called a Gentle Leader. I don't know how well these work on dogs with a shorter snout but for our lab...I wouldn't go out w/o it on our dog because I couldn't control her at all and she would drag me all over the place. Check with your pet store to see if they have something similar that you can try on your dog to see if it would work. This Leader, since the leash attaches under the chin, helps keep the dog's chin down so that they can't pull. A lot of pet store will let you try out the merchandise to see if it will work with your dog even if they have to open a sealed package. Give it a try.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

I've found if we stop right then when she pulls, she will relax, stop and look at us and we can start again. If she is going really well I can praise her for it "hey that was great! Good girl!" and if she keeps pulling and I keep stopping. I tell her before we start again "Fuß" (Heel).


I was trying the lure with a treat thing, but she really is funny about not wanting to eat it. She's all "yeah, that's food. So? :shrug3" I've heard Cavvies can be particular about that. :giggle

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

:lol about the rejecting food! One of our dogs doesn't work for food, but works well for a ball or a stick!

Thanks for keeping us updated on her progress.

Re: 5 month old puppy scared of other dogs
 

Well, we met two dogs today walking in the field. It went so much better than I thought it would. I kept her back to them as they approached but kept her low enough they could sniff her butt while I held her. I explained to the owner she was young and I had no idea how she would react to his two boys. Eventually I did let her down and one of the dogs sniffled at her and then they did the puppy play/sprint/posturing until he ran back to his owner. I hope I see them again sometime soon. :) I made sure to praise her lots. We walked 1.666 km (a bit over a mile) for Charity Miles.

Friday we will see the breeder and her parents for coffee at our place, so that should be fun! :heart