Help!! New puppy fear biting & barking

S

scottanddeb

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Hi everybody;

we are the proud new parents of a sheltie puppy.

we believe he is 18weeks (though that is in question -we may have been victims of a bait & switch -more on that later)

anyways -we'll find that out when we bring him to the vet.

here's our problem;
the puppy panics big time when our other three shelties bark. he tries to climb out of his pen (folding gate/portable pen sort of arrangement) -I'm going to have to put a sheet of plywood over it to keep him in I guess.

when we are not home we keep him in his crate, for now. but we can't keep him in the crate forever.
he is very sweet & likes to be picked up & held -but he is terrified of the other dogs & their barking.
He freaks out so much that I have had to pick him up to keep him from injuring himself -I have been bitten 4 times so far.
we had a puppy before -but we got him at 9 weeks -his biggest problem was shyness -not this aggressivness.
I don't blame the pup -he was out of his mind with fear and again -he is very sweet.

any suggestions?
we can't stop the other dogs from barking -I'm tired of getting bit (three other dogs -one we've had for 9 years & I never got bit!) and giving up is not an option -this is his forever home no matter what.

help!

scottanddeb
 
It sounds like he was not very socialized when younger and doesn't have much self confidence.
I would try separating him from the other dogs and try to make him comfortable by engaging him in play and teaching him some basic obedience.
 
I would suggest a puppy class to get him better socialized. He may not be as fearful with young/smaller pups and you can build a relationship doing this together.
 
Counter-condition a competing emotional response. Find a high value treat (beef heart, beef liver, salmon rollover....something your puppy finds completely irresistible and will do anything for. If your other dogs know a "bark" command, keep one dog out and put the others somewhere that the puppy won't hear them. Have the one dog bark, and every time it barks, throw a piece of the reward to your puppy. At first you will need to put it right in front of the puppy, and you will need a decent sized piece to catch her attention. As the puppy becomes more comfortable, sit down in the same area as him/her and feed her from your hand when your dog barks. Slowly add in the additional dogs (over the course of weeks/a month). If your dogs don't know a "bark" command, use stimuli that will cause one of them to bark (again, put the others away - don't overstimulate the pup). This method is effective, and it will save your hands. :smile2: Good luck!
 
Another approach is to desensitise him to the sound of barking.

You can either record your own dog's barking or just download some from the internet and play it really low while he is eating, cuddling with you or just doing something that is both enjoyable and a little distracting. Very gradually increase the sound as he gets used to it. You do need to be patient and not push up the sound too early. I used this approach to desensitise my very sound sensitive male from dogs barking on the tv and it worked a charm. I also used it for airplanes and have had some success with fireworks, although have not been able to completely cure him of that fear.
 
thank you

Thank you everyone for your prompt & valuable replies.
they all sound good & we will see what works.

the flee reflex in Jack (we've named him -YAY!) is very strong -this would be easier to deal with if he cowered or treated his crate as a safe haven -instead -anywhere but where he is seems to be his percieved safe haven.

thanks again
 
Did the breeder say you were getting a younger puppy - the bait and switch thing you spoke about? I am guessing they did not pay him much attention. Keep us posted on how he is doing with the rest of the pack.
 
Sumac3890 said:
Did the breeder say you were getting a younger puppy - the bait and switch thing you spoke about? I am guessing they did not pay him much attention. Keep us posted on how he is doing with the rest of the pack.
Click to expand...

a different puppy -maybe younger -(we'll know when we get him to the vet early next week).
markings are completely different from what we saw on the website -the dangers of buying sight unseen (sigh).

doesn't matter -he's here to stay.

his name is now JACK (it was Patches or Jim -depending on who he really is ;)

He is VERY shy -won't come out of his crate unless scared - i refuse to pull him out -he's gonna need time and lots of it.
 
thanks

pupy is doing much better.

he now wants to spend the rest of his life being cuddled in my wifes or my arms.
thank you to whomever amnended my post heading -that is much more accurate & helpful.
scottanddeb
 
scottanddeb said:
pupy is doing much better.

he now wants to spend the rest of his life being cuddled in my wifes or my arms.
thank you to whomever amnended my post heading -that is much more accurate & helpful.
scottanddeb
Click to expand...

This is great news.

Thanks for the update. Please keep us posted on how things progress for you all.
 
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