Does your doodle have a fear of strangers?

[Shawn South-Aswad]

My oldest doodle, Groovy Tallulah Bleu, is mortified of strangers. She is not aggressive to them, but she barks and tries to flee. It is very frustrating because she is the sweetest and funniest thing around those people that she knows, but new comers don't get to see that. I don't want it to ever turn into an aggression issue. . .and I don't want her to give doodles a bad name!!!!!! Also, I'm an artist and I have shows in my home once a month. . .a big part of the show are my dogs. Everyone loves to visit them, but now, I have to either put Tallulah outside or put a gate up in my studio. This isn't helping, only teaching her to hide from the situation. . . .any suggestions. . .or is there just anyone else out there suffering from this who would like to vent with me?

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Has Tallulah gone through school? How old is she? Is she fearful in public or just in the house? When we first started Puppy Kindergarten, it was strongly suggested that we take Samantha everywhere to get used to all kinds of people, places, sights, smells and sounds. She HATED the buses and trains. So that's where we spent lots of time. It took time and patience but she did get desentsitized to them. Do you think if you took her to Starbucks, lets say, and sat outside and asked strangers to say hello and give her a treat if she sits quietly - that could help. I don;t think it would hurt -
Good luck,
Adrianne

[Shawn South-Aswad]

We didn't do obedience school with her.. .she is almost a year old now and I think that may be something that we do just for the socialization. We take her everywhere, football games, soccer games, festivals, walking trails, you name it. She is better when she is out in public, she is fearful, but doesn't bark at people. At home is our biggest problem. We have people in and out constantly. She is not afraid of other dogs and if a stranger has a dog with them, she is fine. After some time, she settles down and will eventually come into the space where the stranger is, but if they speak to her (which we tell everyone no touch, no talk, no eye contact. ..but they don't remember apparently) she goes nuts and starts barking again and running. She is very very afraid of small children. . .we have two teenage sons who have friends in and out. . .she is of course, afraid of them, but not like she is with small children. I'm just worried that one day she is going to get so frightened that she will bite someone. I think I may also, try and get her into an agility class. She is very agile (as I'm sure you know from your doodle as well). . .I think the challenge would really boost her confidence level. Everything I study says that this stranger fear is a confidence thing, so I'm thinking anything that I can do to boost it might help. . . I don't know. . .we have a very stable pack, so I'm not quite sure how this even happened!!!!!

Thanks for your input.