Americano Blue's musher/mushing chat thread

[Americano Blue]

we have about another foot of fresh snow

 

[ShrekDawg]

I think she just needs more time! I would say to try to let her meet as many people as possible and different ones like men, women, children, people of different races, tall people, short people, etc. Etc. But take it veryyyyy slowly. Perhaps start with people that look similar to you and your mom. Pr just with women. Or maybe with other family members or friends she sees a lot but doesn't know yet. And I don't know if your dogs are inside or traditional sled dog set up like outside or what but either way, you can also try taking her to new places. Like going on car rides and just like to a quiet park or pet store or just in and around town. But again, take it very slow. A town or pet store might be a bit overwhelming for her right now with all the scents and aounds and sights, etc. So maybe start sloe at a park or better yet, even slower, on her own turf. Have people come over if you can and visit with her and/or the dogs. And make it a fun thing. Find out her favorite treats have those people give her tasty treats. Maybe have them play with her if she likes playing. Maybe you could even start really slow and just introduce one person at a time and slowly expand her circle. But that might be a bit slow. But no matter what method you use, the goal is to show her that people are not scary and can even be great and fun. Taking her places is good too because it gets her used to not only people but also many other scary things at once. But again, take things very slow and do it at her pace. NEVER force her into anything. If she is obviously scared then take her out of that situation, whether that is walking her away or having the "scary" person leave. The goal is only positive experiences. If she had negative ones, it will just set her back. Now that said, she is obviously going to be a little bit scared at first so I wouldn't necessarily leave the situation yet but if she's terrified I would and also they don't necessarily have to approach her righr away. They could just come near her and sit down and let her approach when she's ready. She might not ve ready for strangers coming up and petting her.

Also you can try some confidence building exercises if you want to. There's a lot, you can Google some. But basically just a lot of positive reinforcement/clicker training and fun games with her, etc. She might like the box game or scent work. Scent work is a GREAT way to get shy dogs out of their comfort zone and having fun. But of course if you have a lot of dogs or whatever you may not want to but just another option.

Good luck with her!

 

[Americano Blue]

Thank you for the advice My friend bought Arrow's sister and said that all the pups from Arrow's litter are extremely shy (which is weird because the gal I got her from always has the friendliest dogs. )

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you for the advice My friend bought Arrow's sister and said that all the pups from Arrow's litter are extremely shy (which is weird because the gal I got her from always has the friendliest dogs. )

No problem! And wow that really is weird :/ sounds like genetics but could also just be lack of socialization but if it's all the puppies then both? Idk. Good luck with her

 

[RezChamp]

Ohhh okay, sorry then :/ but good you can still work together

And oh wow sounds bad for sledding??

No worries

 

[RezChamp]

Hanks foot is almost completely healed now! So happy.
Nala Hank and I have started back up our 4h dog show journey and it's a pain in the butt lol

aw that's good
I'm glad to hear that
Pain in the butt" is nice when the work pays off tho'

 

[RezChamp]

Arrow is either very shy or hates the human race. She likes me and is starting to like my mom, but anyone else she just shuts down into a ball of fear. Any ideas for getting her more socialized? No other dog I've worked with has been this scared. 

Take her for walks where she will be "kind of" exposed to human presence.
Make it "routine" like same time and/or same place every ...say ....Tuesday the. Tuesday and Thursday @ 5 pm the. Tuesday @ 3pm and regular Thursday then back to 5 on Tues and 3 on Thurs., then start changeing days but same place/s. Eventually different times, different days, different places.
Of course safe as possible environments as possible. Like not where mean or over friendly people may pose a threat albeit maybe good intentions.
Some dogs are just like that
Sparticus is still very shy. Not so bad with little kids though. But I still watch very close. You never know....

 

[RezChamp]

we have about another foot of fresh snow

Nice
All mine is froze hard. Travel anywhere by do team on top of snow but it's dangerous because the dogs slip easy and there are some hanging deep drifts
A dusting of fresh frost crystals lastnight

 

[RezChamp]

...

I think she just needs more time! I would say to try to let her meet as many people as possible and different ones like men, women, children, people of different races, tall people, short people, etc. Etc. But take it veryyyyy slowly. Perhaps start with people that look similar to you and your mom. Pr just with women. Or maybe with other family members or friends she sees a lot but doesn't know yet. And I don't know if your dogs are inside or traditional sled dog set up like outside or what but either way, you can also try taking her to new places. Like going on car rides and just like to a quiet park or pet store or just in and around town. But again, take it very slow. A town or pet store might be a bit overwhelming for her right now with all the scents and aounds and sights, etc. So maybe start sloe at a park or better yet, even slower, on her own turf. Have people come over if you can and visit with her and/or the dogs. And make it a fun thing. Find out her favorite treats have those people give her tasty treats. Maybe have them play with her if she likes playing. Maybe you could even start really slow and just introduce one person at a time and slowly expand her circle. But that might be a bit slow. But no matter what method you use, the goal is to show her that people are not scary and can even be great and fun. Taking her places is good too because it gets her used to not only people but also many other scary things at once. But again, take things very slow and do it at her pace. NEVER force her into anything. If she is obviously scared then take her out of that situation, whether that is walking her away or having the "scary" person leave. The goal is only positive experiences. If she had negative ones, it will just set her back. Now that said, she is obviously going to be a little bit scared at first so I wouldn't necessarily leave the situation yet but if she's terrified I would and also they don't necessarily have to approach her righr away. They could just come near her and sit down and let her approach when she's ready. She might not ve ready for strangers coming up and petting her.

Also you can try some confidence building exercises if you want to. There's a lot, you can Google some. But basically just a lot of positive reinforcement/clicker training and fun games with her, etc. She might like the box game or scent work. Scent work is a GREAT way to get shy dogs out of their comfort zone and having fun. But of course if you have a lot of dogs or whatever you may not want to but just another option.

Good luck with her!



Ya. That's what I meant

 

[ShrekDawg]

Ohhh okay, sorry then :/ but good you can still work together

And oh wow sounds bad for sledding??

No worries

Arrow is either very shy or hates the human race. She likes me and is starting to like my mom, but anyone else she just shuts down into a ball of fear. Any ideas for getting her more socialized? No other dog I've worked with has been this scared. 

Take her for walks where she will be "kind of" exposed to human presence.
Make it "routine" like same time and/or same place every ...say ....Tuesday the. Tuesday and Thursday @ 5 pm the. Tuesday @ 3pm and regular Thursday then back to 5 on Tues and 3 on Thurs., then start changeing days but same place/s. Eventually different times, different days, different places.
Of course safe as possible environments as possible. Like not where mean or over friendly people may pose a threat albeit maybe good intentions.
Some dogs are just like that
Sparticus is still very shy. Not so bad with little kids though. But I still watch very close. You never know....

Great ideas and stuff i hadnt thought of

...

I think she just needs more time! I would say to try to let her meet as many people as possible and different ones like men, women, children, people of different races, tall people, short people, etc. Etc. But take it veryyyyy slowly. Perhaps start with people that look similar to you and your mom. Pr just with women. Or maybe with other family members or friends she sees a lot but doesn't know yet. And I don't know if your dogs are inside or traditional sled dog set up like outside or what but either way, you can also try taking her to new places. Like going on car rides and just like to a quiet park or pet store or just in and around town. But again, take it very slow. A town or pet store might be a bit overwhelming for her right now with all the scents and aounds and sights, etc. So maybe start sloe at a park or better yet, even slower, on her own turf. Have people come over if you can and visit with her and/or the dogs. And make it a fun thing. Find out her favorite treats have those people give her tasty treats. Maybe have them play with her if she likes playing. Maybe you could even start really slow and just introduce one person at a time and slowly expand her circle. But that might be a bit slow. But no matter what method you use, the goal is to show her that people are not scary and can even be great and fun. Taking her places is good too because it gets her used to not only people but also many other scary things at once. But again, take things very slow and do it at her pace. NEVER force her into anything. If she is obviously scared then take her out of that situation, whether that is walking her away or having the "scary" person leave. The goal is only positive experiences. If she had negative ones, it will just set her back. Now that said, she is obviously going to be a little bit scared at first so I wouldn't necessarily leave the situation yet but if she's terrified I would and also they don't necessarily have to approach her righr away. They could just come near her and sit down and let her approach when she's ready. She might not ve ready for strangers coming up and petting her.

Also you can try some confidence building exercises if you want to. There's a lot, you can Google some. But basically just a lot of positive reinforcement/clicker training and fun games with her, etc. She might like the box game or scent work. Scent work is a GREAT way to get shy dogs out of their comfort zone and having fun. But of course if you have a lot of dogs or whatever you may not want to but just another option.

Good luck with her!



Ya. That's what I meant

Haha your suggestions are great too! I just used to be on this dog blog, and I used to be really into training so I've picked up a lot of info from others and still remember it. Wouldn't say I'm an expert by any means lol