Unsocialized rescue dog needs time, training, patience, love
Article Source: oregonlive.com
Article by: Deborah Wood
We recently agreed to foster a dog through a rescue group. He’s 18 months old and has never been socialized. Thus, when he meets people and dogs on the street all he wants to do is to jump on them and start playing. However, if people approach him he seems to feel threatened and will bark and nip. In our home he is pretty comfortable when people come in, and we have been able to train him not to jump up or bark at them.
There is a small army of heroes like you who are fostering cats and dogs through local rescue groups and shelters. You give them the social skills to fit into the world with their “forever” families.
It sounds like you’re doing everything right — it’s just a matter of time and patience. Your foster dog is just learning these new skills, and he has to be able to concentrate to remember them. The dog will do better in an environment that is familiar or has few distractions, and have more trouble in an environment with more distractions.
Practice his basic skills like “sit” and “watch me” at home, reinforcing with lots of treats. Help him learn these skills backward and forward. Then, practice these skills in progressively more challenging places in the coming days and weeks.
When people want to pet your dog, explain he’s part of a rescue program and isn’t ready for petting. As he develops his confidence, you can have him do a sit-stay and have the stranger give him a cookie.
Tags: behavior problems