Change in personality

[TonaChilds]

My 14 month old male overexposed Oakley was training to be a therapy dog, he was always friendly to everyone, young and old.  Of course during the shutdown we couldn't make our regular trips to Lowe's and training was suspended.  Recently I took Oakley to Lowe's and he was standoffish, he also barks a lot when people come to our house and doesn't warm up to them like he did.  We are going to Lowe's more frequently now and restarts therapy training this week, any other things I can do?  Right now he's not ready to do therapy work

[TonaChilds]

Meant bernedoodle not overexposed

[Adrienne]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forums,

 

Nice you hear your dog is in training to become a therapy dog. It's unfortunate, but this lockdown has had several negative repercussions on dogs. Many puppies have not been able to attend puppy socialization classes at a crucial time when they needed it the most. Dogs who were undergoing behavior modification for reactivity have missed out opportunities to maintain all the progress they have made, and then there are dogs like yours who may start acting more reserved due to the loss of ongoing socialization. Because socialization requires maintenance, especially during puppy hood and the adolescent stage (staring in general at 6 months up to 36 months in larger dog breeds). Not to mention the onset of separation anxiety in dogs whose dog owners must suddenly go back to work.

 

Since this is a very new behavior, it's important to nip it in the bud using desensitization and counterconditioning. You can read more about these methods here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

 

You can use social distancing to your advantage and try to find a distance from which your dog seems more comfortable in the store. Arm yourself with tasty treats you hold in your treat pouch. Position your dog perpendicular at the end of an aisle and feed him treats every time he sees people walking past the aisles. Rinse and repeat for several trips. Aim to gain a conditioned emotional response (your dog looking at you happily eager to get a treat, every time he spots a person). 

 

Open bar closed bar may work well in a store as you use feature of people walking past aisles as treat-giving (open bar) and once they are out of sight as a signal for stopping treats (closed bar). Here is this method explained:

 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/

 

If he doesn't seem able to focus well or he shows signs of stress, this is often a sign that he is over threshold. You can read more about threshold levels here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

In such cases, you may need to increase distance, and maybe start this exercise from the parking lot or by the store's entrance every time your dog sees people. 

 

For people coming in the home, you may find this behavior modification protocol helpful:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-barking-someone-enters-room/

 

Hopefully, this is just a new behavior that has erupted due to the quarantine and with a little intervention he'll go back to being friendly as before.  In some cases, as dogs reach the adolescent stage, changes in the brain occur at a chemical level and may lead to the onset or reactivity. It could be both these factors played out together leading to a combined effect, or that it is mainly one or the other (quarantine effect, adolescent stage/ fear period https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-periods-8-10-weeks-6-14-months/)

 

Only time will tell whether he'll go back to being friendly as he was before. Worth mentioning is having him see the vet just to make sure everything is fine in the health department. 

When you are resuming therapy dog training with the help of a dog trainer, mention the changes you have noticed and have your dog undergo behavior modification under guidance of your trainer so to ensure safety and correct implementation. A final assessment would be important considering the level of confidence, tolerance and sense of comfort in meeting new people in unusual environments is required in dogs in this line of work. We certainly don't want to put him in situations where he's not comfortable or stressed. 

 

I hope this is just a temporary hiccup, 

Best,

Adrienne 

 

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your dog is aggressive or has shown reactive behavior towards dogs or other people, please play it safe and consult with a dog behavior professional for safety and correct implementation.