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Hi Poodle friends- I rarely post as I can find most of my questions by doing lots of searches and reading old threads. I'm not having luck with my current issue. Sorry- this may end up a long post.
The problem: 24 month neutered (at 15 mo.) male, Spoo. Brought him home at 10 weeks from a great breeder who did lots of early socialization work. (Volhard score of 4 -I wanted lower drive as I have a shy cat). I did my best to continue- lots of reading, 2 puppy classes, obedience class, agility class, etc. He's been a great dog- happy, eager to please, friendly. While he has always tended toward apprehensive he always seemed unflappable until the last month or so. Suddenly we're experiencing what I can only describe as some fear aggression.
Background- Ziibi is crate trained and loves his crate. Husband and I both work full time and would trade off coming home at lunch to give him a potty break and short walk (luckily we live close enough to work to do this). In March, due to Covid, like many folks, we started working from home. Clearly, Ziibi has enjoyed this. We have an enclosed front porch and he has enjoyed spending time laying out on the porch where he has a good view of the driveway and street. He has gradually developed a habit of explosive barking at anyone approaching the house or walking on the sidewalk. While I know this is not out of the ordinary for dogs in general, in the past he would settle down quickly and was generally tail wagging excited for someone to come visit. Since Covid- we haven't had visitors in our house except our two young adult children. We have had people come stand outside or drop something off (both strangers and familiar people) and he has started rushing up and barking in an aggressive way. The first time this happened it was with someone he hadn't met (but known to us) who was also wearing a mask. It completely caught me off guard and shocked me. It took a bit before we could convince him this person was invited and friendly- but of course by that time the poor woman (who loves dogs) was apprehensive of him. The next time it was my sister dropping something off at the house- he knows her well and has been to her house and she to ours. She approached the house while he was on the porch and started barking. I went to the door and shushed him and opened the door for him to greet her the way I normally would. He ran out and barked at her and lightly nipped at her hand. We were both shocked and again it took a bit to convince him she was safe.
It has now continued with others- now that I'm on to him I'm working to correct the issue and clearly don't let him out the door without my permission and on leash and making him greet appropriately etc. Yesterday, the garbage man came while we were out doing our morning potty (on lead). He saw us and returned the can up to the house. Ziibi showed interest as soon as he got out of the truck and I made him sit. His tail was wagging away and when the man approached talking to him I let him (dog) approach. I told him we were working on meeting strangers. As he got close to the man he started to bark and did the same nipping as with my sister- I did a fast correction and pulled Ziibi back, made him sit. The man was incredibly patient- telling Ziibi in a soothing voice that next time he would bring treats. He waited Ziibi out and again I was able to convince Ziibi he was a friend and then he wanted to play with him.
I'm at a loss. I'm sad. I feel like a failure. My friendly happy boy is turning into something I don't understand. I've talked to the instructor at our local kennel club who knows him and she wants me to try to stage people to come to the house to work on this. But now I'm also seeing some of the behavior out on walks. I'm to the point where I don't trust him to meet people. I'm scared- which I'm sure he is noticing. And due to the pandemic, at least in our neighborhood, everyone is incredibly respectful and steers clear of passing too close on the sidewalk or we all just cross the street to avoid each other. Which is great for physical distancing, but only makes things worse for my dog.
I feel like this pandemic has messed up so many things. I'm concerned that maybe the lock down happening right at his 18 month mark may have been at his last fear stage and now we're past the point of no return?
Sorry if this is rambling. Anyone experience anything like this before? Suggestions? I'm trying to do some reading online and will continue to work. I just don't want to do the wrong thing and make things worse.
Thank you for any help you have!!
Jennifer
The problem: 24 month neutered (at 15 mo.) male, Spoo. Brought him home at 10 weeks from a great breeder who did lots of early socialization work. (Volhard score of 4 -I wanted lower drive as I have a shy cat). I did my best to continue- lots of reading, 2 puppy classes, obedience class, agility class, etc. He's been a great dog- happy, eager to please, friendly. While he has always tended toward apprehensive he always seemed unflappable until the last month or so. Suddenly we're experiencing what I can only describe as some fear aggression.
Background- Ziibi is crate trained and loves his crate. Husband and I both work full time and would trade off coming home at lunch to give him a potty break and short walk (luckily we live close enough to work to do this). In March, due to Covid, like many folks, we started working from home. Clearly, Ziibi has enjoyed this. We have an enclosed front porch and he has enjoyed spending time laying out on the porch where he has a good view of the driveway and street. He has gradually developed a habit of explosive barking at anyone approaching the house or walking on the sidewalk. While I know this is not out of the ordinary for dogs in general, in the past he would settle down quickly and was generally tail wagging excited for someone to come visit. Since Covid- we haven't had visitors in our house except our two young adult children. We have had people come stand outside or drop something off (both strangers and familiar people) and he has started rushing up and barking in an aggressive way. The first time this happened it was with someone he hadn't met (but known to us) who was also wearing a mask. It completely caught me off guard and shocked me. It took a bit before we could convince him this person was invited and friendly- but of course by that time the poor woman (who loves dogs) was apprehensive of him. The next time it was my sister dropping something off at the house- he knows her well and has been to her house and she to ours. She approached the house while he was on the porch and started barking. I went to the door and shushed him and opened the door for him to greet her the way I normally would. He ran out and barked at her and lightly nipped at her hand. We were both shocked and again it took a bit to convince him she was safe.
It has now continued with others- now that I'm on to him I'm working to correct the issue and clearly don't let him out the door without my permission and on leash and making him greet appropriately etc. Yesterday, the garbage man came while we were out doing our morning potty (on lead). He saw us and returned the can up to the house. Ziibi showed interest as soon as he got out of the truck and I made him sit. His tail was wagging away and when the man approached talking to him I let him (dog) approach. I told him we were working on meeting strangers. As he got close to the man he started to bark and did the same nipping as with my sister- I did a fast correction and pulled Ziibi back, made him sit. The man was incredibly patient- telling Ziibi in a soothing voice that next time he would bring treats. He waited Ziibi out and again I was able to convince Ziibi he was a friend and then he wanted to play with him.
I'm at a loss. I'm sad. I feel like a failure. My friendly happy boy is turning into something I don't understand. I've talked to the instructor at our local kennel club who knows him and she wants me to try to stage people to come to the house to work on this. But now I'm also seeing some of the behavior out on walks. I'm to the point where I don't trust him to meet people. I'm scared- which I'm sure he is noticing. And due to the pandemic, at least in our neighborhood, everyone is incredibly respectful and steers clear of passing too close on the sidewalk or we all just cross the street to avoid each other. Which is great for physical distancing, but only makes things worse for my dog.
I feel like this pandemic has messed up so many things. I'm concerned that maybe the lock down happening right at his 18 month mark may have been at his last fear stage and now we're past the point of no return?
Sorry if this is rambling. Anyone experience anything like this before? Suggestions? I'm trying to do some reading online and will continue to work. I just don't want to do the wrong thing and make things worse.
Thank you for any help you have!!
Jennifer