NicoleDelangen

Hello! So we have a one year old Dalmatian puppy who is quite timid in certain situations and around certain people. Noises - there are loads of random small noises we make around the house that set her off barking. I have read your files on getting dogs use to a certain sound (the rusty bus brakes) but the sounds are so random it would be hard to do this. For example one day she will bark at cutlery banging together sound, but the next day she wont, etc. So is there a way to generally get her more confident with loads of sounds? Kids - she is quite fearful of kids and backs away from them, occasionally also barks at them. But then in the next breath she is going up to them and wants to play, then they will make a sudden movement and she will back away again. Kids are so unpredictable and it would be hard to train with them. Do any games or training we can do help her generally improve her confidence around kids or do you really need to teach with kids to gain confidence and trust? Hands - I have also read your files on hands. She is very timid around new people especially when they go and pat her, again she backs/slides away. But she is so comfortable and loving with my husband and I, we could put our hands and face anywhere and she loves it. I find it hard to train with other people and again it's not just one imparticular person, so is there anything we can do to help her around new people? Do your games improve confidence in general or is it now a desensitizing situation to every individual thing, since we have obviously done something wrong in the socialisation period 😞 We just have a gorgeous sweet girl who is scared of many things and i want her to be more confident with the world and comfortable and love to be around people. Thank you!

Thank you heaps! This information is amazing! I'll be starting this weekend in teaching the little guy to be independent. Watch this space 🙂

Hi Adrienne, Thanks for your quick reply! When we are behind a closed door/baby gate, sometimes it's 5 seconds to grab something quick (and he will still start to whine) and sometimes it can be 20 minutes to get dressed and ready for the day. Probably no longer than that! So yes, the final goal of 20 minutes would be good. On a bad day we can be gone from 7.30am to 5.30pm, but usually 8am to 3.30pm. I think he is just very very excited that we are home and crazy barks/whines as soon as he sees us pull in the drive then run around like a mad man! YES he definitely whines ALOT more if we were to go behind a door or gate within the first like 30 minutes of being home, so I do try and avoid this as much as possible? But even when we are with him all day long, he will still whine when we go into the separated rooms for 10 seconds. Thank you, speak soon :) Nicole

Hello! A little about us to paint the. picture - I have a 8 month old Dalmatian pup, Ziggy. He is inside with us when we are home, and outside with a generous area when we are not home. He mostly only has access to the kitchen and dining room at all times, the other areas have baby gates or are behind a solid door. I don't know how to get him to stop whining when we go behind a closed door or behind a baby gate to another area of the house...I was hoping it was something he grew out of as he got older! Any tips? I have tried to close a door, wait 5 secs, treat if he doesn't whine, wait 7 seconds etc. I can get up to a minute sometimes but I think he has caught onto the training by then and knows to be quiet....but then it doesn't revert to reality when I am not training. Mind you, I've only done this a few of times, so happy to continue if this is correct? He is pretty okay when we leave for the day. We have recorded a few times and settles down after about 20 minutes. He whines a little, has let out a howl a couple of times?, but mostly sleeps for the day. He does get very worked up when we get home! Hopefully this info has helped 🙂 Thank you very much 🙂 Nicole