Expert: Jill Connor, Ph.D. - 1/7/2008

Question
Hi Jill,
I have a 10 month old yorkie that is a true delight.  She is quite obedient "most of the times", extremely loving and is completely house broken.  My concern is that she has recently started showing signs of apprehension when we go out.  she seems frightened and very reserved.  I thought I had done a decent job at socializing her by exposing her to different people/experiences and taking her to puppy classes. However, looking back, there are things I could have done better.

From your experience, is there anything i could do to improve this?  Do you think that additional classes such as advanced obedience or agility would help?  I would really appreciate any information that could help me have a happy dog.  

Thanks for your time!

Answer
I've seen literally hundreds of dogs that have acquired mysterious superstitious behaviors and fear behaviors without owners having the slightest clue what set them off.  One hint I can give you is that the owner, perceiving what s/he thinks is apprehension, responds to it.  Owner might pet dog and say "It's ok", thereby rewarding that instant of thought in the dog's mind and actually setting a fear behavior.  You need to take a very, very close look at what is setting her off.  Observe everything after leaving your home.  The front door, the hallway and elevator ride (if you're in an apartment) or the front yard, the sidewalk, noise on the street.  Use your dog as an experiment in your observational skills.  Observe her body language, especially tail set and ear set.  If you see a moment of what you think might be fear in the dog, STOP where you are, call the dog's name, praise her verbally with a smile and laugh, and continue on for a few steps and go back inside.  Repeat exercise an hour or so later and observe as you originally did, respond as described.  If you are in any way contributing to this, by changing your own behavior you might just be nipping this in the bud.  If changing your response does not work after about a week, then you need to recondition the dog to the experience of going outside by associating positive reinforcement/clicker, or visual cue like putting your finger to your nose, with her body language.  When her ears are up and her tail is up, click/treat as you approach the area where she begins to show some trepidation but remember: you know what you're trying to teach your dog but you also have to know what your dog is LEARNING.  Never reward any moment where ear/tail set shows hesitancy.  If you feel inadequate to the task (and no one would blame you!), hire a credentialed behaviorist (one who can desensitize and recondition the dog's response.)  BUT....8 to 10 months of age is a HUGE fear development age...HUGE!  So I'm thinking that offering praise for her positive engagement with the outside world, a little at a time, and observing her carefully might just get her over this hump.

Now, regarding obedience/agility, you might want to wait at least two months before introducing these, but certainly any activity your dog enjoys WITH you is a positive thing, so long as NO negative reinforcers or punishers are used AT ANY TIME.  NO choker collars; no using the word "NO".  ONLY positive reinforcement.  Quite obedient "most of the time" might indicate that you are repeating obedience "commands" and inadvertently training your dog to wait for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th repetition.  Take your dog back to kindergarten using positive reinforcement and you will see 100% happy cooperation and a very well adjusted little dog.  Congratulations for caring so much for your girl.  Any further questions, don't hesitate to repost.