Sheltering Without Socialization

Bill Porter

Bill Porter

Forums Enthusiast
Howdy Folks,

We brought Remy, our tri-color Sheltie, into our home in March when the beginning of the lockdowns started here in Texas. He has been super spoiled with the family of 5 (6 with him) all home all the time. Yesterday, was the first time his mother (my wife) left the house and drove off in the car. Remy's crying and searching for her was both very sad but also very cute. Since we know people in our neighborhood have Covid-19 and the rates have never gone down in my home town, we have been super cautious about seeing other people - i.e. we don't. Remy is way too high strung right now to go for walks without a harness, but I found one that I think will be strong enough to hold him from breaking free. With the lack of interaction with other people and pets, we're just not sure how he'll be with others when things return to normal.

One behavioral thing about Remy is that he bites at everything and every one. Our 9 year old son is very timid and Remy knows he can dominate him, so our son is a frequent choice for biting. The only time he is not attacking and biting is when he's tired at the end of the day or the brief moment he is resting after exercise. He's just so playful but also rough and doesn't listen to "no" when he doesn't want to. Everything is a game to him. Any suggestions here would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Bill P.
 
Ok, spoiling is the worst at this age. Don’t fall for the cuteness!

Never allow your puppy to bite human skin, ever! If he is dominating it is because he has not learned to control his behavior... yes, darn it, I am a puppy after all!

It worked for me when Liam was a puppy and he would use his teeth on me I would let out a sharp... ouch! It startled him and he would then lick my hand. He got the message very quickly!

Also, try to get him to do a sit and stay. Impulse control is everything at that age. They are smarter than people give them credit for.
 
This lockdown has been HORRIBLE for our sheltie! Our once VERY socialized pupper is now barking at everything he sees outside the norm in the neighborhood. This morning he had the opportunity to meet a puppy our neighbors got, they travel all the time normally but are working from home so figured why not. Brodie was scared and GROWLED at this little ball of fluff that so wanted to play with him. No advice, just want you to know that you are not alone in unwanted behaviors during this lockdown. Within your own home though, you do want to address the biting - else it will eventually move outside your home and you'll have major troubles, but in your home is problematic as well. More experienced folks here will have advice... welcome - post pics!!!! :)
 
Gloria gave good advice. We also say "OUCH" loudly if Meadow chomps us, and the play stops. She is pretty good about not doing it now. Our vet told us to take the puppy to places like the supermarket, just stand there with him so he can see cars, pedestrians, shopping carts, etc. Take lots of treats. A good thing to train is "watch" so they focus on you if you need to distract them. We got Meadow end of March and while it has been a challenge, we were lucky that our town has not had high numbers and friends were willing to come into the backyard while distancing with us, so they could play with Meadow.

It has been challenging for sure.
 
I'm a dog trainer and we've been having zoom presentations during lockdown by various well known trainers and behaviourists. Last week we had a presentation by a behaviourist to talk about puppies, as we expect to be running puppy classes within the month. And I puppy too so I did ask about how puppies will react to normal things they haven't seen because of Covid

The behaviourist believes that as long as the puppy is well-rounded and confident in other areas and have been exposed to lots of other things during lockdown, this should translate to when they see new things when they go out such as seeing people, and other dogs and noises.

I mentioned in another thread about the Dr Sophia Yin socialisation check-list and you should work through that, even if you use family or yourself to wear beanies and backpacks and the like.

For sights they are not seeing, such as groups of people, other dogs higher levels of noisy places, you can still play the sounds at home, look up youtube or sound effects on the computer. This should especially be done when Remy is eating or playing (distracted). For more information on this do a search in the behaviour threads for de-sensitizing. Some of the sounds I would suggest are groups talking, metal things banging (like shopping trolleys), dogs of different sizes barking, children playing noisily, traffic - incl trucks and motorcycles.

The reason it is important to play the sounds is, it allows the puppy to get partially used to the activity they are missing, so they don't have all their sense overwhelmed. If they are used to that sound you are more than halfway there. As many of us can tell you, Shelties (like other herding breeds) are very sound sensitive, so it's the noises they will notice first, then the smell and then the sights. Being startled is okay as long as the puppy settles quickly - that's where some high value treats are important, and a squeaky toy to play with your dog so it's a fun experience.

Remember also that 5-6mths is a fear period, and it's the 'tween' age - so they can be a little precocious. They are experimenting with ways to deal with the world, including fight or flight. Your job is to encourage exploration and to protect them when they can't cope.

Sharon7 is absolutely right about going to places with actitivy, you can watch from the other side of the road and not be close at all. And 'watch' or 'look at me' is a really excellent command to learn, so is 'wait' which you should be using for waiting for the food.
 
I agree with the other posters, you can also sit in your car nearby any area that is louder than normal (grocery store, mall etc) and allow your pup to hear things, just give lots of treats so they associate good things with the noises they hear.
I find with Finnie he's regressed a bit from the lack of classes. He barks constantly on a walk at absolutely nothing and vehicle traffic bothers him again! I'm going to try walking them separately to see if this helps any. Of course nothing bothers Piper...I swear he's just the perfect dog.
 
I want to thank you all for your posts so far. I don't know how to upload a profile pic - either that or it won't let me. Nor do I know how to post pics/vids of our Remy on here either.
 
Bill Porter said:
I want to thank you all for your posts so far. I don't know how to upload a profile pic - either that or it won't let me. Nor do I know how to post pics/vids of our Remy on here either.
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to have an avatar where the picture shows up with your name in posts, you need to be a premium member. that also allows you to post pix directly in your post. otherwise, you will have to use a photosharing site and paste the link into your post.
 
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