Scaredy dog with bad dog manners

[lokilou96]

I adopted a very scared Chihuahua about a year ago. She has, what I call, puppy PTSD. As far as I'm aware she had at least three homes before I adopted her. And that was all before she turned one. There's is no way to know what she has been through in those homes other than the foster home that I adopted her from. They were amazing!

My little Mavis has come a very long way in the year I have had her. I have read book after book on how to help guide her. She has gone from running away from me to climbing across "strangers" (my family/friends she doesn't see often) laps. As long they are calm, she is very excited and her security dog (my most confident dog that she clings to) has approved of these "strangers." In some areas, she can even be off leash now.

The biggest concern that I could use some guidance on is how she engages play with other dogs. She doesn't "ask" with a bow or any type of normal dog asking. She either stalks them and attacks or she will just start chewing on their ankles or any other part of their body she can reach. I believe this is due to her not being socialized as a puppy and possibly taken away from her mom to early and mom/siblings didn't get the chance to teach her proper manners.

I am just not sure how to teach her how to "ask" before playing. My larger dogs ignore her or swat her down when they are not interested. And if I see her stalking, I call her to stop it before hand.

I am worried that if she does this at daycare, another dog may get upset. Plus, it's just not good manners. So, any advice would be appreciated.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

Bless your heart for helping this little fellow out! These dogs need lots of tender loving care as they learn to feel safe and are provided with opportunities to bloom. You are doing a great job!

 

Now the fact that your Chihuahua doesn't send out signals meant to initiate play may occur because she never developed such play signals in the first place or her play solicitations were for some reason unsuccessful so she they extinguished as she stopped exhibiting these at some point. This may happen as a lack of response from other dogs or a lack of actual play partners. If she was taken away at an early age, you are correct that she may have missed out on some important life lessons such as how to properly "speak dog."

 

In dogs like yours, if you decide to take her to daycare it's important that you use a facility that offers a safe, controlled environment. If there is a dog trainer there to monitor every interaction, even better. He or she can assess your dog's play style and determine whether she can be suitable for day care.

 

If she is, it's important to match her up with dogs who are more "resilient" so to say. In other words, dogs who are more likely to "forgive" if she happens to miss some social signals and capable of "bouncing back" if she engages in some minor infractions. Exposure to such dogs can also work well as 'teachers." If she is still young, there may be good chances she may learn more about meta-signals such as the play bow and other appropriate play behaviors such as role reversals and refreshing pauses. Sometimes dogs are the best teachers.

 

Now, not all dogs have these 'teacher" qualities. Messing with the wrong type of dog could turn costly, both in terms of potential physical injuries and emotional tolls (which often taken longer to heal from compared to battle scars). Since your dog is small, it would also be important to ensure that she is placed with dogs of her same size as a larger dog could cause considerable damage. Sometimes, providing long tug toys where one dog grabs one side and the other grabs the other, can help shift focus from chasing to a more appropriate form of play.

 

Of course, this is all based on whether she would be suitable for daycare. Inform the facility about her behavior. If her behavior stems from underlying fear, daycare may be too much for her at this time. If it's more due to high arousal levels and not-so-great play skills such as perhaps a tendency to fixate on the same repeated behaviors with little or no pauses in between, she might be suitable for only closely supervised play with certain suitable playmates. A careful assessment may be needed.

 

With the issues you are facing, it would therefore be important for your dog to learn how to disengage as you or a daycare supervisor may need to act as a referee. Now, everyone seems to have different criteria as to when certain types of play need to stopped. Some will be more lenient in letting dogs "work things out" when play gets a little out of hand, others are more strict, calling out dogs at the minimal infractions. I personally think, "the golden way in between" is the wisest action, intervening as needed while keeping in mind what type of dog she is playing with and other factors.

 

Of course, take my words with a grain of salt as I haven't assessed your dog in person and therefore don't know exactly how her body language is when she approaches dogs, how her behavior may impact other dogs etc., as we need to consider several factors such as how long she engages in the ankle chasing, how fixated she is when she does that, whether there are pauses in her behaviors, if she uses other play styles in between and how other dogs react to it. Usually we gauge how the other dogs react by removing them temporarily and seeing if they promptly come back to her for more play. If that's the case, they likely weren't intimidated by her play style and somewhat enjoyed the interaction.

Edited January 10, 2020 by Adrienne Farricelli

[lokilou96]

Oh thank you very much. I tend to gravitate towards the special cases. Each of my pups had a bit of a rough start and now are a bit spoiled and extra loved.

Sadie, was separated from her pack in the shelter for "picking on them." So now has anxiety and always needs something to do. Turns out she is super smart! She helps with the laundry, getting shoes, getting all the bowls for meal time...the list goes on and on. Gozer spent the first 6 month of his life in a shelter and is a bit off. It took me quite a while to learn how to work with him. But now we are eye to eye and boy, what an amazing snuggler!

Then there's my tiny Oliver Twist (Ollie). He has brain damage due to a puncture wound...he twirls to the right. He was found on the side of the road. He was the MSPCA poster child this year! Honestly, I still can't believe I was lucky enough to be chosen to be his mom.

 

Mavis, the scardey pup, will either wrestle or run around the yard with the other dogs. (It's unbelievable how fast she is.) When they are in the mood for her antics. If not they either grumble at her, ignore her or swat her away with a paw.

My oldest, more confident dog, Sadie is her go to. She tries to keep Mavis in line a good amount of time. When Mavis is really excited she will jump up on me and the others. I have been doing my best to teach her to only jump up to me when I say "boing" and not any other time. Especially when I'm walking. Gozer turned his head away and stays focused on me. Sadie will catch up to her and swat her down and sometimes put her mouth on her...like a mom dog would to a puppy.

When they are up for playing, they allow the jumping and ankle bites. They do they bows and other dog language but she just doesn't seem to pick up on it.

Do you think there is a way I could help her learn these behaviors or maybe even make them into cues?

She loves to play with other dogs. She is more afraid of people and objects that she's not familiar with. And new places as well. But once she is comfortable with a person or something, she is super silly and full of love and snuggles. I really wish that people could see the real her. The side I get to see.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

You are blessed to have such a wonderful group of dogs, with so many different personalities! Of course, pat yourself on your back too for a job well done! Sounds like you have helped these pups flourish and unlock their full potentials.

 

I remember now about your little fellow Ollie, if I recall well he was struggling with doing number two outdoors when it's cold. How is he doing? I hope there's an improvement considering that winter is in full swing!

 

Glad to hear that Mavis loves to play with other dogs! To answer your question, it sure may be worth it training your dog to take a bow (it's a cute trick anyway!), but there may be chances that, once it's learned and on cue, it may not occur spontaneously. In other words, there's no guarantee she may start using it on her own upon playing with other dogs. She might use it only when you say it. You can certainly try to remind her to take a bow before playing with other dogs though, if that's what you are planning. In that case, rather than giving a treat to reinforce the play bow, you can tell her to "go play!" and see if the other dogs are more accepting of what comes next.

 

Here is how to train it:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/train-dog-bow/

 

On a plus side, something to consider is that there may be chances that your dog displays what I call "micro-play bows." You may not notice these, at a first glance. It takes a really careful eye and considering that your dog is small and so close to the ground this makes it more difficult to notice. Many times, these micro-play bows are noticed by recording the behavior. It may be worth a shot recording one of her play sessions and playing it in very slow motion. You may notice very fast lowering of the body before she starts sprinting or chasing. This micro-play bow is often noticed by the other dogs who interpret it as a meta-signal, an invitation to play and an indication that anything that follows should not be taken seriously.

 

In regards to her fear of objects she's not familiar with, have you ever tried working on creating positive associations using a training method known as "shaping"? For example, with young puppies or fearful dogs, I would introduce an object placed in the middle of the room (like a box or an upside down chair) and then say "yes" followed by a treat for just looking at it, then I would say "yes' followed by a treat for walking towards it, then "yes" followed by a jackpot of treats for physically interacting with it (sniffing it, pawing it).

 

For dogs who are particularly fearful, I would start this "game" first with objects the dog is familiar with, and then gradually progress to larger and stranger objects. This is an excellent confidence builder exercise, as the dog is never forced to interact (the dog goes at her own pace),

but learns that investigating things can be quite rewarding.

 

Normally, for shaping I would use a clicker, but if your dog is particular scared of new things/noises, you can just use a verbal marker for now.

 

If you are interested, look up some basics on shaping used for confidence:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-build-confidence-insecure-dogs/

 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/clicker-training/

 

Here is a game that's based on shaping:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/hot-and-cold/

 

Happy training!

Edited January 11, 2020 by Adrienne Farricelli
Added links

[lokilou96]

Ollie is doing much better with going potty outside. I have been doing my best at catching him in the act or just before and scooping him up and getting him outside quickly. Same as I would train a puppy. I also have made a sweater out of a thermal sock for him to help with the cold. All the clothes I find are too big. He has been letting me know when he needs to go out. And on the rare occasion I am out, he has a fake grass pad in his area that he will use.

 

I have actually been playing the hot and cold game recently! She picked it up very quickly. Mavis is one smart cookie. I have also been working with her and all the others using "yes" as most of them seem to be afraid of the clicker noise. We have been doing this for some time now. They all really love training time. And so do I! It's so much fun to watch them figure things out.

I love the "take a bow" idea. I will give that a shot and see if she picks it up during play.

As for micro-bows, I don't see those at all. She is normally kind of stalking them and does a belly type crawl. Sometimes she makes eye contact, others she will just run and tackle. When I see that there has been no response from the other dog that they are ready to play before she charges, I will call her to me instead. Hopefully the "take a bow" will help.

Thank you for all your help.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

You are very welcome,

Keep us posted on how it goes!

Happy training!