fear of sticks

[loggerboots]

Emmie's my rescue dog and I've had her for nearly 3 months now. She's about 20 months old and was rehomed from a working situation.

 

I've discovered that she's afraid of long sticks.

 

We noticed this at her sheepdog lessons (the shepherd's crook scared her), but I assumed part of her behavior was her general wariness of strangers. We are currently not using a staff at her lessons. Keep in mind, Emmie's only been in with sheep a few times and is at level zero with training - right now it's more about building her confidence around stock and we're not really even training, yet.

 

We brought some walking sticks home from vacation and left them on the porch. Last night, as I was leaving with Emmie to go on a walk, I picked one of them up and she immediately and quickly moved away, in a submissive posture. I could call her over to me, but she acted really worried and didn't like being near the stick, so I put it down. I've also noticed that she gets worried when folks nearby are using those 'ball throwers' to play with their dogs.

 

I'm guessing it normal/desirable for some degree of wariness of the staff (I would imagine it is for exerting/increasing pressure), but I'd rather desensitize her a bit because she's generalized the fear to include benign things such as walking sticks and ball throwers.

 

I don't know much about sheepdog training, but is it common to whack the dogs with the staff so that it will increase the pressure they feel from the handler? Not sure I like that, if so, but then wonder how else they would learn to feel pressure from it (or maybe that assumption is off base). She's obviously a very soft dog, maybe not suitable for being a sheepdog, but she does have good, appropriate herding instincts otherwise.

[juliepoudrier]

The stick is mainly an extension of ypur arm. You can use a stick to apply pressure without ever touching the dog, or even being near the dog. Some folks may use a stick more like a weapon, but that should be unnecessary (though I have bonked a dog for grabbong and hanging on). Dogs can be stick shy without ever having had an actual bad experience with a stick. Desensitizing is a good idea, because crooks have a purpose snd if you need to use one to catch a sheep it won't be helpful if your dog quits on you. Starting out getting her used to your walking stick is a good idea. Just keep it around until she realizes it's a benign object. If she's been seriously gone after with a stick, then she may default to a fear response in high-pressure situations, but you ought to be able to get her comfortable, generally, with you working with stick or crook in hand.

 

J.

[Maja]

Julie,

And what is "bonking"?

Maja

[Smalahundur]

Julie,

And what is "bonking"?

Maja

Let me venture a guess, "bonk", the sound of a stick landing on the head of an offending dog...

[Donald McCaig]

Dear Aspiring Sheepdoggers,

 

White plastic whippy (training) sticks are far more powerful than most humans imagine and can easily intimidate a young dog. Bad tempered bonking can have the same result. I once had a trial dog who was so stick shy I had to drop my stick in the shedding ring before our run. By the time she reached it she was so lost in her work she's keep at it instead of running away.

 

I do not think she was bonked. I do think a frenzied over demanding trainer whipped that stick at her once too often.

 

Donald McCaig

[Pam Wolf]

You can try to desensitize her to the stick. I prefer to use a long whip for training (and that thing can be very scary to dogs, so it requires caution). I am currently working with a dog that has had a whip used in too forceful a manner and I am working to desensitize him to it's use.

 

Additionally there are a variety of 'dog weapons' that can be used. A rolled up plastic feed sack works quite well for many dogs.

 

since I work a lot with rehabilitating dogs that have been messed up by others I try a variety of things, but mostly it is through a relationship with the dog and the dog's trust

[Sue R]

Celt's never been mistreated with a stick (he was hit once by mistake when he was maybe five or six) and he's always been bothered by it being waved around, but he is very pressure-sensitive. Dan, on the other hand, has had some "experience" with the stick and while he's wary of it at times when he's not working, my using it around the cattle when we are working does not bother him one bit. He is not pressure-sensitive but seems to relish pressure situations. Two very different dogs.

[bill virginia]

Loggenboots

 

I relate the following because all my dogs are rescue dogs.

Angus (now 10) is my cheerleader. Arrived with diabetes insipidous.

Rocky (now 12) is my number 2 herding dog. He arrived with heart worm and ticks all over his body.

Zac (age unknown) number 1 herding dog. Story to follow.

 

Zac was found running wild with substantial amount of burn marks around his neck. The pound contacted a service group and told them they were going to put him to sleep in one hour and if they wanted him to come down immediately. They tried to get him to pick up a phone and other service related act but to no avail. When Zac came here he had uncontrollable diarrhea and very serious personal problems.

If I tried to touch his collar he would try and bit me. If I picked a herding stick he would go to the ground and quiver. I put away my herding stick. It took months for him to rid himself of diarrhea. Today, he is, in my opinion, a top notch herder. No, he and I will never trial because he has nothing to prove.

Rescue dogs need love and understand. When you have accomplished this now comes the training.

Put away the stick for awhile. Try moving the dog out with waiving your arms. Later get a stick and attach a couple of Wal-Mart bags and shake them when you want him to got back. Proceed slowly and things will work out.

My reward with Zac is every night he lays him head on my lap and look up at me.

Thanks for listening to Zac's and my incredible journey with him.

 

bill

[DeltaBluez Tess]

Rainey was born here and has been here pretty much all her life then in her teenager stage, she became terrified of the stick and men in caps. So I put the stick near her food and in her bed. We have no idea what made her afraid but it was a stage she went thru. I would work her and just before we would go out, say "Rain, wanna work" and grab the stick.....so now, she sees me grab the stick and bolts to the gate....she associates the stick with herding. Ironically enough on her fear stage of the stick, it was never in the pasture but in the barn area. The one day, both fear disappeared just as suddenly as they appeared. no rhyme or reason either.

 

I would put the stick I loaned you next to her food and bed. Let it lay there and make no note of it. Put a treat on it and every time she touches it, she gets a treat.

 

I talked to her former owner and she never used the stick as a correction but Emmie was always soft on stock. She just wasn't strong enough for cattle. She was not a confident pup and still needs to have her confidence built up...it's her nature.

[Liz P]

I had a dog that was so pressure sensitive that I couldn't have anything in my hands when I worked her. She was never hit or threatened with a stick. Some are like that. As others have said, make the stick a positive experience and try to get her used to it.

[loggerboots]

Thanks All,

 

I've been working with her by just carrying around the crook Dianne let me borrow (I posted the original topic before I had spoken with her). She's getting better, slowly. Now she's decided she's afraid of the kitchen and, specifically, plastic baggies, lol. I have no idea.