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Abby is overanxious about meeting other people and dogs...typical puppy curiousity of course, but I need some help in teaching her to calm down. She has learned to walk beautifully on her leash, but as soon as she sees people or another dog, she is out of control. Now that it is warmer out, coming across people and dogs is much more common. Every person we have passed so far has said to me "Looks like your the one being walked!" I want to say...I swear, she's really good on her leash...just watch when she doesn't know you're there!
Yesterday, we came across an older man and his older poodle. Abby was thrilled when the man brought the poodle over to her, but I had to hold her back a bit of course. They sniffed noses and then she turns to me and does one of those in-the-air flips that boxers are so good at and nearly scared the poodle to death. I had my hand on her collar too so of course she nearly strangles herself in doing this. A jogger passes, she barks like mad....I want to continue walking her but she needs to get used to coming across people and dogs! One house has a rotty that is out front (electric fence) and I can't even walk her past the house because she flips out. Also, and this is a huge issue too..while at home she is fine with this, on the street, she becomes severely jealous that Brady might get attention rather than her. So if someone wants to pet them, she jumps at Brady and growls nasty. This of course puts off the people who want to visit with her. I NEED this to stop. I am afraid that is she does this while someone is petting Brady, she will accidentally hurt the person.
Brady is pretty good....he sniffed at the poodle and came and sat on my feet as Abby performed her antics! A young boy then came up and started dribbling a basketball right in front of her (he was only 3 or 4 and didn't know any better) and she was trying so hard to get at the basketball that she was crying from pulling on her leash. I could not re-focus her.
So far, I have made her sit and stay when people or dogs are approaching. I try to re-focus her attention by making her stay and she does alright until the person or dog gets closer. She's great at our house, where there are people in and out every day, but like my husband said, walking on the street is a different forum.
This weekend, Brady is due for a haircut...I decided to take him to petsmart for it just so I can take her and roam around the store for a couple hours while he is being groomed to let her come in contact with people and other dogs for a while. I am hoping that this will help socialize her a bit so she is more polite with strangers! Any other ideas? We have taken her to pet stores on her own and roamed for a bit and she has done fairly well with strangers then. On the street though, she just goes nuts. Any ideas to help much appreciated.
Yesterday, we came across an older man and his older poodle. Abby was thrilled when the man brought the poodle over to her, but I had to hold her back a bit of course. They sniffed noses and then she turns to me and does one of those in-the-air flips that boxers are so good at and nearly scared the poodle to death. I had my hand on her collar too so of course she nearly strangles herself in doing this. A jogger passes, she barks like mad....I want to continue walking her but she needs to get used to coming across people and dogs! One house has a rotty that is out front (electric fence) and I can't even walk her past the house because she flips out. Also, and this is a huge issue too..while at home she is fine with this, on the street, she becomes severely jealous that Brady might get attention rather than her. So if someone wants to pet them, she jumps at Brady and growls nasty. This of course puts off the people who want to visit with her. I NEED this to stop. I am afraid that is she does this while someone is petting Brady, she will accidentally hurt the person.
Brady is pretty good....he sniffed at the poodle and came and sat on my feet as Abby performed her antics! A young boy then came up and started dribbling a basketball right in front of her (he was only 3 or 4 and didn't know any better) and she was trying so hard to get at the basketball that she was crying from pulling on her leash. I could not re-focus her.
So far, I have made her sit and stay when people or dogs are approaching. I try to re-focus her attention by making her stay and she does alright until the person or dog gets closer. She's great at our house, where there are people in and out every day, but like my husband said, walking on the street is a different forum.
This weekend, Brady is due for a haircut...I decided to take him to petsmart for it just so I can take her and roam around the store for a couple hours while he is being groomed to let her come in contact with people and other dogs for a while. I am hoping that this will help socialize her a bit so she is more polite with strangers! Any other ideas? We have taken her to pet stores on her own and roamed for a bit and she has done fairly well with strangers then. On the street though, she just goes nuts. Any ideas to help much appreciated.