Doodle scared of strangers

[Diana Allen]

Hello...we are having a problem with Cagney being fearful of people he does not know.... he seems to take awhile to warm up to someone even after numerous visits to the house.... Does anyone have any trouble with their Doodle and strangers? Cagney is 15 mths old.....he will back up and cower and bark and even growl at people he does not know... men and females alike... any help would be appreciated.

[Chris & Boys]

Fozzy Bear does the same thing and he is 16 months old. The only thing that has seemed to work for us is to ask our guest or people we meet to ignore him. Their lack of interest in him, makes them that more interesting to Fozzy. We tried having strangers give treats and a few other things that escape me right now, but none of them worked.

[Diana Allen]

Yes I do the same thing if he won't relax.... we also have tried giving people treats to him ....doesn't seem to help... he will take it from them very carefully but then growl in the next few seconds...odd.....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How old was Cagney when you first got him, and where did you get him? Have you socialized him continuously since he was a puppy? (Socialization for dogs does not mean getting together with other dogs, BTW. It means acclimating dogs to human society.) Do you take him out among strangers regularly?
Has he has always seemed fearful of strangers, or is this a new behavior?

[Diana Allen]

Hi there.... We got him about 4mths old...from a breeder... he was very shy then too... his sister it seemed sort of protected him...... yes we have socialized him from the get go.... day one we took him right into a big family get together and he was fine that day.... we always walk him.... let him run on his own etc. we also have 3 kids and my kids have friends in too... he loves to go for drives and he is in the van most often with us.... he has always been scared of strangers..... seems odd.... it is like he is not sure of himself.... does not have enough confidence yet when it comes to strangers..... he also seems more possessive of us... even if we stand near another dog he will go between and growl... and bark at the other dog...even though it is the neighbors dog and we see it between the fence every day... otherwise he won't growl at it only if we are near the other dog... odd.....

Cagney on the other hand is extremely lovable... I don't have a fear that he would do a thing to our kids.... he is not mean at all.... loves company.... will cry for someone to play with him or if he wants loving... hugs and such....just a little odd.... we will continue to bring him to the public parks etc. and stop and chat to people when we can....

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The possessiveness around other dogs is not unusual; most dogs love you the most when you are showing attention to another dog, lol.
It sounds like the breeder didn't do a very good job of socializing him as a puppy, but you seem to have done things right in that area. Is the fear of strangers limited mostly to when people come into your home? He's okay with strangers in other places?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think this concept of "people socialization" is pretty interesting. I am in Puppy Obedience class now with Murphy, and the trainer spends part of the class on "dog" socialization, part on basic commands, and part on "people" socialization. This was the first I had heard of the "people" part. I had a different trainer at this stage for Guinness who never mentioned this. So, during our class we have to trade off dogs three or four times. It didn't really bother Murphy, but it does bother some of the dogs. One of the dogs I had on Sunday was a Boxer who was a nervous wreck when his owner passed him off to me. Just when he got used to me, he got passed to somebody else. By the end of the class, he seemed to be coping with it so much better. She will now be doing this at every class. She thinks the puppies should now have enough confidence to handle it (although some will initially be nervous). I know that Cagney is older, but I'm thinking something similar might still work. Do you have friends or neighbors that could come and take him for walks or just play with him (without you being right there)? Eventually he might learn that strangers are actually "fun". I know it sounds pretty simplistic....but maybe worth a try.

[Kyoko]

Charlie is somewhat like Cagney. My trainer taught us ( Charkie & I ) a game call "Look at That" game.
Everytime when she would look at the stranger, before she start to think about barking at them, quickly say "Yes" and treat.
You have to be really good at catching that moment, though. This way, she would learn that looking at the stranger / sight of stranger is connected to something good - treat. I walk around the pet store, doing this "look at that game" at least once a week.( I probably look like a crazy lady )
I also ask people not to directly approach her since that seems to scare her more. ( Like Fozzy, if they ignore her, she feels better) It takes time and effort from both Charlie and I ... But things are getting much better.

[shelly]

I don't know if Tori is afraid of some people, or what it is...She LOVES people. I have a big exteneded family and she is fine with them....However... If someone comes to the door she barks furiously at them... and frantically paces back and forth from one window to the other barking LOUDLY...Some - she is fine with after they come in, and others she does continues to bark at them.. I have tried a version of 'look at that', but she just fixates on the barking... NO! I did not socialize her enough with strangers when she was younger.. it was stressful for her and me. She did go to puppy classes and really would not do anything, but did learn because she practiced everything great at home.... She has gotten better, but is still far from alright.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

With Tori, it sounds like it may be more territorial than fear; barking at people coming to the door or into the house is pretty common, and it's "guard dog' behavior. Sometimes you can tell by the dog's body language and whether they are backing away or trying to get right up to the person.

[shelly]

True Karen.. She doesn't really back away.... most times... the trainer had suggested once that it was "fear aggression", but I think you're right.... she is very protective.... even when the boys rough house with each other she jumps on them and barks at whomever is being more aggressive at the time. I guess it's just like your kids... always trying to figure out ways to do something better next time.... BUT - if that were the case... I'd probably have 10 kids... LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I shouldn't even admit this, but Jack has a problem with strange men coming to the house, like delivery people and service workers. And he doesn't act the least bit afraid of them, they are afraid of him. He comes running to get right into their faces. (I don't let him, of course.) He usually settles down after he gets to know the person, and ends up bringing them his ball, lol.
On the other hand, Jack is afraid of my very tall adult son, for some reason, and he will not come close to him. He barks, but he backs away and keeps his distance. He will not bring him a ball or play with him, no matter how hard my son tries to engage him, how often he comes over, or how long he stays. Jack's clearly afraid of him, and there's an obvious difference in his behavior.

[shelly]

That's a good idea, Jane! I will try that.. actually one word she loves is 'bagel'... thanks to my son... LOL
although she knows "meatball" too... we'll see if that works... thanks!