papilion

Question
I have just rescued a 2 yr. old newly neutered male papilion. Louie is fearful around people (except for me) & dogs.  When he sees another dog he becomes very agitated, growls & wines.  I live in an apartment complex with many other dogs that meet each other on walks.  I have only had him for 5 days.  So far I have made sure we don' come face to face with another dog, but he sees them from the balcony, at the park, across the street so he is getting used to them that way.  Louie has had many changes in the last few months.  What can I do to help him with yet other change & become friendly with people & dogs.


Answer
Hi Nancy,

Is your 2 year old a rescue? Do you know his history? It sounds like Louie hasn't had enough socialization as a young dog and it might be too late to really help him become friendly with people or dogs. Or if he has been socialized he could be extremely stressed out by the many changes he's had over the last few months that you mentioned.

I urge you to find a positive trainer that can give you ways to help Louie but in the meantime you are doing the right thing to help him get used to people/dogs at a distance. Whenever he is calm while seeing people/dogs at a distance it would be a good idea to reward him with a very small treat for being calm (not growling/whining or being agitated.)  You need to VERY gradually move him closer to people all the while rewarding him for being calm. There is a great book called Click to Calm that you might want to buy. There are a lot of ways to increase your dog's confidence but the best thing in this case is to seek out the personal help of a trainer in your area who uses humane and positive training methods.

Jaz