Should he be made to face his fears or???

[GreatPyr]

I know in horses when they are afraid of something you turn them and make them face there fears to become more confident.Was not sure about a dog and or puppy.

As I have mentioned before in another topic my 13 week old pyr pup is very leary of people,strange people he doesnt see much.

Bear stays out some on the back porch where the fenced area of our yard is with our Cocker Spaniel for his potty breaks and playtime.UPS pulled up yesterday and he ran onto the porch and threw his entire body against the screen door wanting to come in,he was scared of the truck...i let him in.He does this anytime someone or something comes up that scraes him, he will literally toss himself with full force into the door(we are afraid he is going to bend the metal at the bottom of the door )

Do I let him in becasue he is afraid or make him stay out and face his fears? I do not want him scared but at the same time what is it doing to him when i let him right in?

I know the proper thing to do would be go out,maybe introduce him to the person or scarey thing..but thats not always fesable to do when UPS or the mailman or so forth is in a hurry.

[pyr4me]

I agree with you that the best thing would be to go with him with copious treats in hand and help him with his socialization, which of course, is not always possible for a variety of reasons. I don't think I would make a dog "face its fears" because a scared dog is more likely to bite out of that fear. They have no other recourse if they can't get away. I would calmly, so as not to reinforce his fears, let him in and ignore him if you can't go out and do the socialization thing. 

[Scootergirl]

Why don't you try to catch the mailman or UPS guy next time he comes around and explain the situation. Ask them if they have an extra few minutes to help you introduce your dog to them. They will probably appreciate your effort to make Bear friendly towards them so they don't have to be afraid of him when he gets bigger.

Give the UPS guy/mailman a lot of treats and have them approach confidently and give Bear a treat several times, using Bears name and praising him. Maybe the first few times, you can walk up with the mailman so he knows he's OK.

If they can't spare some time right then, maybe they could come back after their shift. It's important that they come back in their truck and in their uniform, though, I think.

Good luck. Let us know what happens.

[marypyrs]

I have the GREATEST UPS Guy & Mail Lady! They both carry treats with them & my Pups adore them! The lane to my mail box is about 1/4 mile long so we don't always get down there by mail time but when we do they sit by the car and get doggie cookies. My UPS Guy gets out of the truck, kneels down to greet them & offer the yummies to the Fuzzy Butts.

I can't say enough good about Training Classes too. It's money well spent and fun not only for the pups, but for me as well. 

[BigSoftandFluffyLover]

I must say, your lucky that your boy runs away.  When the mail man comes (our mailbox is on the side of our house) Rasputin goes after him barking all the way.  I cant see him ever biting anyone but he goes running and barking enough to scare the crap out of the whole neighborhood!!!  Ive had the mail man stay in the neighbor's yard and hand the mail over the fence to me twice.  He doesnt come over anymore unless we arnt home!!!    Socialize, thats what we did will our boy and he couldnt hurt a fly, he sounds like he will but hes all bark and no bite (as they say) 

P.S.  He was extreemly timid as a puppy and would run away a lot.  It may just be something that he will grow out of.

[GreatPyr]

Thanks for all the great advise

I am going to say something here but dont take it the wrong way like I am awful
I really do not want to socialize Bear with to many people other then family,Reg friend visitors, and the vet..where we are moving i will depend on him to be our faithful watchdog ::)So i dont want him to accept anybody and everybody.I dont mind if he is a little leary.Confiden t wise i wasnt sure if letting him run or have him face these fears would be the best in this respect.

Any thoughts?

[London_Pyr_Lover]

You're not a bad person for wanting that at all .  I will say though that Bear is a Guardian Type dog, and will respond to anyone on your property the same, he will Bark and make a whole lot of noise, whether it's the mail man, the UPS guy (as he gets older and with socialization) or whomever.  Naja still barks like crazy whenever ANYONE comes onto our property, and it could even just be me coming home from school.  That is the way Pyrenees were bred for hundreds of years.  You do not want him to bite though.  Having a good guard dog is about letting you know when something is not right, not about taking action into their own paws.  That is how Lawsuits and Orders to Destroy happen.  Socialization is key to this.  It will teach your dog that it is okay to bark when someone comes to the house, but it is not okay to bite.  

You'll do great though, jsut remember to load up with lots of treats and take him everywhere just like the others have said.  Good luck!    

PS  I'd love to see more pics of your boy!  He is too darn cute!  

[marypyrs]

Socialization is a very important factor in living a happy and fullfilling life with your 2 and 4 legged family. I can never stress it enough.

One thing about Pyrs is that they know much more than you do so far as the character of a person. It can not be 'trained' out of them. Raise your Babe to be sociable. That's to his/her betterment in the long run. You CAN NOT train 'out' his/her ability to recognize a danger. Not with a Pyr.

No matter how friendly they are nor as acceptable they are to different situations, if a REAL threat is there - they WILL respond.

So - socialize, socialize, socialize. If it ever comes down to being protective the instinct will come through.

On a day to day basis - you will want your Baby to be a wonderful part of family, friends, and society.

[People Whisperer]

The main reason to socialize him in different environments (for your benefit!) so he won't suffer when you move.
If you only keep him on one property and that't it Bear might get pretty confused else where.
Pyrs are guard dogs and will guard their property and people no matter what! Like everyone else pointed out the socialization will only help in a long run and make him more confident dog than spooked and angry 

[maxsmom]

I have heard the old wives tale, if you want your dog to protect you, don't let a lot of different people meet it as a puppy.  Only close friends and family are supposed to meet and interact with the puppy and you should not take the puppy away from your home and property, unless you have to and it will grow up to be protective and territorial.  In reality, and our society, this doesn't work.  Any dog can be protective and territorial, regardless of the breed.  Any dog can be aggressive and a fear biter, regardless of the breed, if it is not properly socialized, introduced to lots of new things, people and situations.  A guardian type breed, is going to be protective, regardless, but is only going to be a good companion, family member and member of society, if it is properly trained and socialized.  That is all we are talking about.  It won't prevent your dog from protecting you, that much is inherent, but it will make both your dog's and your life much more pleasant, if you socialize them as a puppy.
Kathy

[peytons mama]

peyton is very scared of alot of things. some noises make her pee when she doesn't want to. i talk her through it though. i make sure she is far enough away that she doesn't feel threatened but that i know she is still thinking about what is scaring her. for a while she was scared of cement trucks (we live in a sub-division where they are there all the time), we went on a walk and one was there. she freaked. started crying and trying to go backwards. i leaned down and pet her under tummy and told her "its okay, mommy won't let you get hurt". we stood there for about 2 mins. which felt like FOREVER when your baby is crying and trying to get away. i kept telling her that its okay and i told her what it was. "it's okay peyton, it's just a cement truck. i know it's scarey but its okay. it can't hurt you." she understands the tone in my words and soon we were able to walk past it (on the other side of the street) and about a week of doing that everyday when i saw them in the area, she can now walk past them or have them drive by and her not freak!

i also have taken her to the fire house near by and had them all (who were able to) pet her and play with her and had them put on some bunkers. i had her smell all around the trucks even.we were there when they got a call and she FREAKED when she heard the sirens. but they told her bye as they drove out and she wagged her tail. i think she understood that they were not scarey but the noise was. we have gone there a couple of times now and the sirens just spook her now.

so yeah, we make her face her fears, but calmly and slowly.

[MarleyPyr]

It is hard to see them so scared. Marley used to be really skiddish - he still is over some things and almost always over new things. We hired a professional trainer that has worked a lot with the breed and her advice right away was to make them face it. Marley for example was terrified of the stairs. She came in the house and played with him a bit. Put him on a leash and in a controlled manor basically forced him down the stairs. He was screaming and trying to back up. I had to leave the room. However she continued and down the stairs they went. Immediately she brought him back up and then down again and repeated this about 5 times with lots of praise afterward. Amazingly after I did this with him again the next night on the leash, the following night he went down on his own. It was pretty funny cause he would go up and down a few times each day till he was satisfied. Almost like he was proud of himself for doing it on his own. LOL

The one thing I do find though is if he gets over a fear of something but then isn't exposed to it for awhile we are almost back at square one. The truck is like this. In the summer I take him to the ball park all the time and he pretty much runs and jumps into the truck before I even call him...however we can't go as often in the winter and when I do try to get him in the truck after not being in there for a few weeks he is scared of it and braces himself to not have to go in. It is frustrating... anyone else experience this? 

[GoldenPyrs]

Cara was a good example of what socializing will do.  We got her when we were newlyweds.  We'd moved from the SF, CA area just before the wedding, but neither of us had jobs in the new area yet, so hubby commuted 5 hrs round trip 3x week and I commuted when I had a consulting job in the SF area (usually 2x week).  When we both were working Cara would travel with us to SF and I'd put her into puppy day care during the day and we'd sneak her into the hotel at night.  She met our collegues, friends, family members, people at parks, etc. every day and she was a very popular little fluff ball.  When she grew up she traveled with us on every vacation and again whenever we went to visit family.  In 12 yrs she only took a protective stance 3 times.  Once she just stepped in between me and a nasty neighbor and she gave me one quiet, warning growl before he came close.  She simply sat there between us until the jerky guy left, then she went and laid down.  The second time she reacted to a very large & angry Fed Ex guy that came to the door.  She stood on her back legs (while I held her collar) and barked like fury until he left.  It was out of character for her, but the guy was clearly angry, he was quite intimidating and I was home alone with her.  The last time was when we were sight seeing on vacation and were driving down a 1-way street in a historic district.  There was a man that looked like he was really strung out and probably mentally ill that looked like he was tracking us as we drove by.  Hubby didn't like the look of the guy and wanted to leave.  I wanted to see the historic houses (and I was driving), so I was inclined to go anyway (shame on me), but Cara's reaction changed my mind.  We left and a few months later a man was arrested in that area for a string of murders that looked very, very much like the guy that we'd seen that day.  I'll never know for certain, but I really think that Cara may have saved us that day.  Cara had amazingly accurate instincts about people.  Since then I've learned to really respect my hubby's instincts too!   

So I agree with Stella, Jane and everyone else that said that if your dog is well socialized he'll not only be more pleasant to live with, but he'll have a much better chance of protecting you if necessary b/c he'll have the experience & knowledge to truly access a threat.

[GreatPyr]

UPS comes again last night(I order alot ),this time he brings Nilla wafers Bear is out in the fenced yard,UPS drives up,Bear crashes into the door,,,Max greets the Ups man in the drive,I let Bear in the house and through the kitchen to greet UPS at the door,he stood back at the door just looked at him(UPS man),Max took his Nilla Wafer and he offered one to Bear and he just sat there and would not take it.I did not force him,I just let him sit there and watch.Atleast he didnt run this time once he came in the house.