puppy steve suddenly afraid of me :(

[elegy]

puppy steve is a 13 month old intact male sporter collie. he's always been very soft but he's never shut down on me before. i've had him since he was a baby.

 

wednesday night at agility class, steve suddenly became afraid of me. i have no idea what happened. i didn't correct him, didn't step on him, didn't whack him in the head with a clicker, nothing. he was happy happy happy and then he was shrinking away from me, wouldn't take treats from my hand, wouldn't come to me. if i approached him, he'd shrink away, go lay down at the wall, head down tail down eyes down, looking away.

 

i took him outside and walked him around, because i was so confused and bewildered. i was afraid he was hurt or sick or something but he seemed fine.

 

he was on leash when it all started, but then i took the leash off to see if it was a leash-related issue. it didn't make a difference one way or the other.

 

now, he'd still work with me happily- head up, loose, enthusiastic- as long as i didn't get near him. he'd take direction around the jump standards we were doing crosses around, do his crosses wonderfully and correctly as long as i stayed back. he would come in to me for a tug, but continued to not take food from my hand. he'd take it if i threw it to him. he'd go to other people, just not to me. his restrained recalls were fantastic, but there was a tug toy involved.

 

the trainer blew me off, told me he didn't want to be caught because that ends the fun and i am expletive expletive upset about that. that is NOT what was going on, not even a tiny little bit and i am debating what to do about that facet of things, whether i'm going back to this class or not, whether i'm going to contact the agility director about it or not. i'm that angry.

 

anyway, an hour or so after we got home from class, he decided i was ok again. thursday and friday he was fine but we didn't do any significant training other than my asking for behaviors in exchange for throwing the ball.

 

today we had obedience class. i got there early and we did some heelwork for tug and just played together. class started, the first two exercises we did went well, and then he was afraid of me again completely out of the blue. this trainer did NOT blow me off, but she didn't really have any good solutions. she had me sit on the floor and then lay down on the floor and see if he'd come to me that way, and he did initially investigate my weirdness but still didn't want to be touched and wouldn't take treats. he totally whored himself out to her, of course.

 

i finally got him back through the tug and he worked a little bit, then got squirrelly again. i had him off leash because we were working recalls, and he ran away from me, was running circles around me. at that point i grabbed him by the collar (and then immediately showered him with treats) because if he'd run out of the ring or into another ring, something bad could have happened to him. that of course upset him again. (this was a mistake- i should have not grabbed his collar, but i could reach him and that was just my instinct.)

 

i was in tears at that point. the trainer had me sit and massage him, but i bailed, went for a long walk with him, sat outside as far from the club building as i could and massaged him. after class i cried on the trainer's shoulder (yes, literally. god i'm such a girl sometimes.) and she was really supportive and encouraging, but she didn't have any great ideas or solutions.

 

so, guys? ideas? sorry this is so long. i've been crying off an on about it all freaking day. i feel like i'm ruining him. could this be some kind of fear period thing? i love him so much, and the idea that i've done something that makes him afraid of me just breaks my freaking heart.

[Jedismom]

It may be a fear period or he's picking up on some feelings you have, and it may not necessarily be something you did. They're good at that. Regardless, he shouldn't be blowing you off when you ask him to come, and should not get rewarded for that ie. given treats after you had to grab his collar to get him to stop circling you. I don't know why you thought grabbing his collar at that point was the wrong thing to do. I think leashing him up and taking him out (with no conversation) is fine. Then try again. If he continues to be weird with you and not listening then it's time to go home. Funs over. Jedi at various times has decided to be afraid of some strange things. I've found that if I pay too much attention to it, the behavior lasts longer. I usually ignore it and continue what we're doing and he comes around. Perhaps Steve needs a break from classes? I would just spend some time bonding and having fun with him to build up the relationship. Good luck and don't worry it's going to be fine.

[desertranger]

I have a similar problem with Jin and it has left me in tears more than once. Perhaps if I describe my problem it will help with yours.

 

Jin is in training to be a service dog however there are times when my PTSD/ADHD take over and I have little or no control over many things. As a puppy Jin would always come to bed with me. Then one night instead of going to bed he ran outside. The problem continued, I would ask him to go to bed and he would run outside and hide in the bushes. Over the last couple of months I've noteiced when I got up in the middle of the night he would just run outside. There was no reason for him to do that but but he does it anyway. Over the last couple of weeks I've been able to get him to come into the bedroom but last night I had chase him down to carry him in to the house. Once I put him down he ran and got on the bed. His breathing was heavy indicating anxiety to me.

 

I know they can feel and sense emotions. Jn is also noise sensitive and when I get andgry or raise my voice it doens't help. Whatever the probelm is it is similar to yours as the next day or perhaps later in the day he seems to be back to normal. I only menton this because you seem to be having a similar prob.

[SincereArtisan]

When he reacts to you fearfully, is there any way you can catch that first trigger, break the training session, and go take a nice long walk? ...No eye contact, no talking, no asking him to do anything, just a nice, relaxing stroll. I'm thinking this might have a lot to do with Steve feeding off your emotions and body language. Naturally, you're concerned about his behavior, and thus press the issue by trying to figure it out...but when it distresses you, it could also be distressing him to see you distressed, and whatever it is he IS worried about gets multiplied a hundredfold by your behavior/actions. You can't help but be worried, and he can't help but feed off of that worry.

 

Rune will get this way once in a while, and whenever I try to 'fix' it she just breaks down and gets worse. For instance, trying to get her to sit up for a picture...she'll respond to the command, and something will trigger her submissiveness to me. She will then refuse to sit up, but hunker down. If I press the issue and insist--even in a happy tone!--that she get up, she will slink lower and then move away, or turn all limp noodle and be totally useless, lol. On the other hand, if I break away from her, call her to me, ask her to heel for a second, then sit, stay...I can usually stand back and get the picture I needed. I just need to redirect her attention, ask it of her differently. Same thing with her fear of shiny floors. If she starts to skitter over one, and I stop, and try to help her straighten up or direct her, she only gets worse and practically collapses for fear of moving across the shiny surface. If instead I ignore it, and continue walking without even looking in her direction, she corrects herself and soldiers on. This method has helped her immensely with the shiny floors thing, and it is beginning to help with water bowls. (Yes, 'Short-Bus' is afraid of water bowls...and the harder I try to get her to drink from one the more afraid she will be, so ignoring that too helps.)

[SoloRiver]

This is so random that it's not something I would try to "fix." If this were my dog, the first thing I would do is schedule a vet appointment. I'd be worried that there was something medical going on.

 

The next thing I would do is just put him up for a while, by which I mean don't put him in the situations in which this happens for at least a couple of weeks, I'd probably wait like a month or so. Just totally take the pressure off (not saying you are pressuring him, but whatever pressure he may be perceiving in his pointy little head). Then go back to class and just do really baby stuff. If he does it again, just back off totally and if he'll happily go to your trainer have her put him in a crate or in the car for you and then take a break and try again next time. I can't really say why, but trying to "get him back" by playing, tugging, or working seems like it's the wrong thing to do to me.

 

Sorry you guys are going through this. When Solo was coming out of the sedative the last time he went to the vet (he has to be tranquilized to be examined) he was obviously very loopy and could only recognize me in waves. He was very wary of me and would growl if I moved certain ways and even though I knew it was just the drugs it did hurt my feelings a little. It's tough to see them acting like they don't trust you.

[mbc1963]

I've never had anything like this happen between Buddy and me... though he will suddenly get spooky with people he's been fine with.

 

I'm wondering if there's not something happening that you can't see or feel: maybe the dog has gotten a static shock off of you, and doesn't know that this is a random act of nature? If not a shock, could it be a sound or some other painful stimulus that's just not registering in human senses? Pinch? Maybe a sore foot or shoulder that he's twisting a certain way when he's doing the training, so he's associating it with you?

 

I absolutely agree that you should rule out the potential physical (pain = fear) causes before psychoanalyzing the dog.

 

Buddy had a weird period this summer, when he was jumping up from his naps, darting away, acting like he was scared of lying on the floor. This went on for a few days, until close inspection revealed that there were tiny, tiny ants crawling around on the floor, driving him crazy when they got on him.

 

Mary

[eclare]

Are you maybe wearing something different to the training sessions? A new bait bag or a watch or something that you might only wear at those times that might spook him?

[kelpiegirl]

I'm thinking weird smell, or clothes.

[CLW1]

I have a dog who did something similar. He was suddenly afraid of agility equipment and didn't want to get near me, wouldn't tug, didn't want treats. It took awhile but we finally figured out that he had a TBD and a round of Doxy cleared it up. The fear behavior got sort of ingrained in him and took longer to get past but we did finally manage it. When I have a dog that has a major personality/behavioral change I first think of tick diseases and even if they were neg on a SNAP I'd probably do a course of Doxy anyway just to see if it made a difference.

[Anda]

My dog freaked out when I came back last year from a 3 weeks vacation in Europe. He stayed home with my husband, and bonded more with him - he even barked at me at the airport, then he was acting wierd and afraid of me for a few days. I had just gotten my long hair cut short, and I smelled differently. My first dog, Blackie, acted the same way when my mom returned from a trip to Israel, many years ago - it took her a few days to "remember" mom And yes, I felt pretty badly, but I tried to ignore him and not go chase after him or try to make up. I just made sure to do a lot of fun stuff with him, then soon we were back to normal

 

(ungrateful bastard )

[Dalesred]

I'm sorry you're going through this, and you've had some good advice already.

It sounds like you and Steve are very close so I also wondered if there's anything going on in your life right now that is causing negative emotion - however subtle - that Steve might be picking up on? Just a thought.

[urge to herd]

I'm thinking the very thorough vet visit plus Melanie's advice would be best. When what you're doing doesn't work, try something else.

 

Steve might be feeling some sort of social pressure from you, and for some dogs, it doesn't take much of that for them to shut down. Don't work with him for a couple weeks at least. Take as much off of him as you can, being neutral the rest of the time.

 

When I first got Sam, I read Koehler's (sp?) book on dog training. Old school, and one of the things he recommended was to only give firm commands to your dog. No baby talk, no petting, no playing. Within 3 days, Sam was leaving the room when I entered. I couldn't figure it out, but DH pointed out that I was acting like a drill sergeant with her. Oops.

 

A week of ignoring her got her to approaching me cautiously. When she approached me, I'd pleasantly say "Hi, Sammie!" pet her for a minute, and then go back to what I was doing. She gradually got to asking for more and more interaction. I'd give it to her only when she asked. Took a month to get her to trust me again.

 

I'm not saying you've been harsh to Steve, but if there's nothing physically wrong, then he's perceiving something that's causing him to avoid you. It might help him get over it if you back off the intensity of your interactions.

 

Good luck, I know you're very frustrated right now.

 

Ruth

[elegy]

I have a dog who did something similar. He was suddenly afraid of agility equipment and didn't want to get near me, wouldn't tug, didn't want treats. It took awhile but we finally figured out that he had a TBD and a round of Doxy cleared it up. The fear behavior got sort of ingrained in him and took longer to get past but we did finally manage it. When I have a dog that has a major personality/behavioral change I first think of tick diseases and even if they were neg on a SNAP I'd probably do a course of Doxy anyway just to see if it made a difference.

 

You know, Lyme was one of the first things that crossed my mind on Wednesday. Then I kind of dismissed it as he has no fever or apparently lameness or discomfort.

 

Thanks everybody for your advice. I'm going to get him checked out by the vet, and just chill. The good side of this is that it doesn't happen at home (or at least hasn't), so whether it's a training building issue or a training issue, at least I have my normal, obnoxious, in-your-face puppy at home, and that's the very most important thing.

 

Oh this puppy. I love him so much and he is such a good dog, it just broke my heart to think I'd screwed things up in a big way.