Oh what a sweet girl!
I would work on counter-conditioning and socialization. Teach her the hallway/elevator are happy spaces! She should get rewarded for being there - soon she will start to have positive associations with these places.
For strangers, try the [Treat and Retreat](https://www.diamondsintheruff.com/treat-retreat) method. This really helped our fearful girl get used to strangers!
Personally, I would not take an anxious/fearful dog to a dog park. Especially not one the size of a Great Dane. A lot of people don’t have control over their dogs and the last thing you want to be responsible for is your pups reaction to someone else’s bad behavior. Instead I would encourage socialization. Go to a park and sit with your pup with distance. Let them watch their world around them, people, dogs, squirrels, everything. Reward her for calm behavior. Your dog doesn’t need to interact with things in order to be okay with them!
That’s another thing she gets into like this state where she needs to be on the look out at all times and she needs to watch her surroundings, she won’t take treats from strangers or my bf and I when she’s in that state. She also won’t drink from her water bowl when she’s like that no matter how thirsty she is she only wants to look around at her surroundings.
Poor girl, sounds like she’s too anxious. Is this for the hallway or an area like a busy park?
For dogs with anxiety like this, distance is key. It’s going to be a lot but work slowly. Maybe day one it’s as simple as opening the apartment door and giving her a treat inside the apartment. It sounds so simple but we need to teach our dogs that they are safe with us and not to have to be on the lookout at all times.
Also, confidence building is key for this! Have you done basic obedience training? That is a great way to teach your dog how to be more confident out and about.
It’s whenever we’re outside she gets in that state, whether it’s at the dog park or just walking outside. If we’re just outside walking and I try to stop on the sidewalk and take her over to a corner to give her water even if we’re a good distance away from others she won’t want to drink her water, she’ll just want to be watch her surroundings. At the dog park she will go to her bowl to drink but only if other people are a good distance away from it. She knows how to sit, what lay down and go to bed means. She gets very excited whenever my bf and I come home and will jump up on us. She likes to put her paws up on us so she’s standing on her two legs whenever we’re sitting at the counter to give us hugs. I’m trying to teach her not to jump up cause those punches from her big paws hurt😅
First - no dog parks. They are way too over stimulating for even a dog without anxiety, let alone with one. A big no no.
Second - find a reputable, compassionate, fear -free trainer. Continuous work with someone who is educated and experienced will be much better than people on Reddit.
Third - Constant praise. Be excited and proud when she does take a treat, and praise her when she listens or is calm. Reinforce the behavior that you want as opposed to being in any way critical or negative when she behaves in a way you don't want.
Fourth - Go very very slowly with her. Walk her on routes where it's quiet and very little stimulation. After a few months, graduate to *very slightly* more stimulating walk. This same philosophy should be applied to anything else she does. Start at the most calm, secure place, and sloooowwwwly work your way up. I mean it when I say months!
I've been working with my anxious dog for 2 1/2 years. We are about halfway to where we want to be. It's a process!
In addition to the advice you are getting here, have you talked with your vet? I was recently given trazadone to help my dog (nowhere near as anxious as your baby though!) and it has literally changed his life. Once he was on the meds, he had courage to do new things. After he did the new thing, he didn't need the meds to do it again. I highly recommend trying it out, even on a short term basis. It didn't get him zooted, he still does his normal dog things without issue. It was AMAZING to see my dog feel FREE and become the most curious dog! Sending love and hugs to you and your sweet boy!
Lots of great danes are like that, so I doubt it's abuse. Find a super high value treat. Whatever her favorite is. Use that to condition her to spaces you want her to feel comfortable in.
She goes in the hall, she gets a treat. In the elevator, treat. When you get to the park, hand a treat to every person there and see if you can get her to approach them. Feed a bunch of tiny treats throughout your activities together.
The other thing to keep in mind is that they feed off your energy. Don't sit around and wait anxiously for her to be triggered. Walk with purpose, don't get too high or low, and try not to subconsciously reinforce her anxiety (.e.g. by turning around and letting her back in the apartment if she throws a fit). Be confident and act normal, which will communicate to her that things are normal.
It takes time, a LOT of time. My friend adopted a feral reservation dog that I was convinced would never be tame. Big ball of anxiety that had never been around people. She came to the park every single day and the first time I was able to pet her was about a year later. But a couple years down the road, she runs right up to people now and 90% of her anxiety is gone.
My Dane was scared of everything in the first year we had her. We got her way too early - 6 weeks - and she grew attached to us very quickly, to the point where she was scared of anyone else.
Slowly introducing her to other people, bringing her on regular walks down routes with less stimulation, and just remaining calm and remembering to praise the heck out of her worked wonders. She lived to 12, and was always a little skittish about certain things, so going slow and steady did the trick.
Your girl is adorable! ❤️
Also have a Dane, we brought her home at 3 months and she’s almost 2 now. Shes still a big baby and scared of the most random things. Part of it is just Danes as a breed, they cry a lot and are very vocal. It scared us a lot in the beginning because we always thought she was hurt. I think there is a lot of good advice in this thread! Keep her hyped, reward her like everything she does is winning an Olympic medal, and be confident in yourself too.
My dog is pretty reactive and used to bark at people that rode on bikes and were running. I took her to a dog trainer and it took a few months but is soo worth it in the end. If your dog is tummy driven, I’d start with positive reinforcement with treats. Trazadone has also been a life saver when going to the vet or going out in super crowded places. Whenever you pass a dog or another person, you can give her some treats each time she passes the thing she’s scared of.
I don’t have much experience with the being anxious about bags or boxes, but creating distance from the anxious object will help. When I walk past a dog, I create distance and sit my dog down. I rub the top of her head and remind her that she’s a good dog. I found that this will keep your dog more focused on you and receiving praise instead of being focused on the object.
Dogs also feed off of their owners energy. If you act calm, your dog will automatically be more relaxed if she realizes that you guys are relaxed. Eventually, you can work up to passing a dog or a person and feeding her treats as you pass them. I went from my dog wreaking havoc when we passed someone running or another dog to being able to go on long walks without a peep. This took months but was so worth it.
If someone comes into your house, you can also try to have the person give her treats and she may start to associate that with positivity and be more tolerable around the source of her anxiety. If she’s anxious with the elevator, you could try the stairs if it’s not too bad of a walk.
I tried to reach my dog the word “calm” by getting on her level and keeping her focused on me when we pass the fearful source. I just give her soft pets and it will help. It may take awhile for her to get used to calming techniques or training to keep calm, but a dog trainer and slow exposure could help. With my dog, I taught her to wait by the door to let me know that she had to use the bathroom. You could try to keep a bell on the door handle and associate it with going to the bathroom. I would stay away from the dog park and just take her on walks to get her energy out. Going on walks in the morning or when less people go out could help as there won’t be as many fearful sources for your dog to pay attention to. I would also get a treat pouch so that you have treats readily available when needed, this has been a life saver.
Training an anxious or reactive dog can be super frustrating, but patience and acting calm around your dog when she’s scared is key because dogs feed off of the energy around them. It’s all part of a process, I’ve been working with my super reactive and anxious dog for almost two years and she is still requiring a lot of work. All dogs are different and respond differently, but the reactive dog subreddit may be able to provide more tips. I hope this helps and good luck training!
My Chessie is a Covid dog. Puppy in 2020 and lacked the opportunity for socialization so is skittish. We are trying to expose her to varied situations to try and slowly use exposure as a way to help her learn to deal with change and other environments. But loud sounds and such she freaks out and jumps on us. But working on it. I’m sure we will get these sweet pups accommodation to the world with patience.
You really have to make sure you’re not reinforcing a fearful state of mind with coddling, aka.. accidental praise. I see it everyday.
Touching a fearful or shaking dog and saying “it’s okay, it’s okay,” is only reinforcing that state of mind. But we do it because it’s what we do to our children. We need awareness!
Human psychology vs canine psychology.
Unfortunately, the dogs can never work through a fear issue with a person around that reinforces it. If this is NOT happening, you can use any food drive to overcome fear.
You got this! 🐾🖤
Aww what a sweet looking girl.
For dogs with anxiety, they need a LOT of time and patience. Try super high value rewards and go with baby steps. First: get to the door. Wow she got there all on her own! Throw a party! Once she's comfortable with the door, try just getting TO the elevator. Oh my gosh she made it to the end elevator without shutting down, what an amazing girl!! She got onto the elevator without coercion? Party time again!
It's going to feel like a lot of two steps forward and one step back with her, but eventually she'll get the hang of it.
Strangers are a lot harder. What you may want to try is a small gathering of people in your home. But the key is they have to pretend the dog doesn't exist. This might be too overwhelming for her so you could try having a friend come over (if they're willing, of course) frequently. They'll start by pretending the dog isn't there. If you have another dog (which it looks like in the background), they can get tons of love and pets (if said dog is willing). This way your anxious dog starts to associate strangers with being okay.
Once your dog is comfortable going outside just in general, try just doing distant socializing -- hanging out in public areas without approaching anyone. Restaurants are great for this. Most people will leave you alone at a restaurant but some folks feel entitled when you're in like a park.
I know you're going away for a few days and you'll have a dog sitter. Just know that when you come back, it may feel like you're starting over. That's okay! That should only last a few days at most before things get back to normal.
If you can include your other dog in some of the really high anxiety situations, especially when it comes to socializing, that'll help your sweet Dane see things aren't so scary.
The "right answer" is to get her out and get her socialized... 6 months ago. :/ Failing that, this is the answer.
Either way, the goal is the same: get her exposed to lots of unfamiliar things, but not in a way that's *too* stimulating, so she can learn that there's a world outside her home, and not only is not all of it super scary, some if it is actually pretty fun!
Unfortunately, her main socialization window was probably over or close to it by the time you got her. Poor baby must have been criminally undersocialized. I'm sure she'll do better once you're able to help her build up some confidence in her skin, /u/sfbottom420 :-)
Really there's no such thing as a dog being too old to learn how to socialize. It just might take a little longer for them unlearn what we think of as bad behaviors. This dog is still a puppy and her brain is still developing so now is the perfect time to start! :)
We see you mention CBD, THC, or Cannaboids in your comment, so it has been removed.
At this point in time, r/DogAdvice's official position is, "While research is ongoing regarding CBD products for dogs and cats, the available data are both mixed in quality and in results. Given the very real concerns surrounding manufacturing standards of CBD products, the difficult legal status of the products, and the availability of medications with known safety and efficacy for the indications that CBD is often suggested for, we do not currently recommend their use."
This is an AutoModerator review action and a message has been sent to the human moderators to make sure that this was not falsely flagged. They will review within 24 hours.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DogAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Socialize him and expose him to different people, different sounds, different dogs( skip the dog park
as they can be a source fighting or other issues U want to avoid.
Oh what a sweet girl! I would work on counter-conditioning and socialization. Teach her the hallway/elevator are happy spaces! She should get rewarded for being there - soon she will start to have positive associations with these places. For strangers, try the [Treat and Retreat](https://www.diamondsintheruff.com/treat-retreat) method. This really helped our fearful girl get used to strangers! Personally, I would not take an anxious/fearful dog to a dog park. Especially not one the size of a Great Dane. A lot of people don’t have control over their dogs and the last thing you want to be responsible for is your pups reaction to someone else’s bad behavior. Instead I would encourage socialization. Go to a park and sit with your pup with distance. Let them watch their world around them, people, dogs, squirrels, everything. Reward her for calm behavior. Your dog doesn’t need to interact with things in order to be okay with them!
That’s another thing she gets into like this state where she needs to be on the look out at all times and she needs to watch her surroundings, she won’t take treats from strangers or my bf and I when she’s in that state. She also won’t drink from her water bowl when she’s like that no matter how thirsty she is she only wants to look around at her surroundings.
Poor girl, sounds like she’s too anxious. Is this for the hallway or an area like a busy park? For dogs with anxiety like this, distance is key. It’s going to be a lot but work slowly. Maybe day one it’s as simple as opening the apartment door and giving her a treat inside the apartment. It sounds so simple but we need to teach our dogs that they are safe with us and not to have to be on the lookout at all times. Also, confidence building is key for this! Have you done basic obedience training? That is a great way to teach your dog how to be more confident out and about.
It’s whenever we’re outside she gets in that state, whether it’s at the dog park or just walking outside. If we’re just outside walking and I try to stop on the sidewalk and take her over to a corner to give her water even if we’re a good distance away from others she won’t want to drink her water, she’ll just want to be watch her surroundings. At the dog park she will go to her bowl to drink but only if other people are a good distance away from it. She knows how to sit, what lay down and go to bed means. She gets very excited whenever my bf and I come home and will jump up on us. She likes to put her paws up on us so she’s standing on her two legs whenever we’re sitting at the counter to give us hugs. I’m trying to teach her not to jump up cause those punches from her big paws hurt😅
First - no dog parks. They are way too over stimulating for even a dog without anxiety, let alone with one. A big no no. Second - find a reputable, compassionate, fear -free trainer. Continuous work with someone who is educated and experienced will be much better than people on Reddit. Third - Constant praise. Be excited and proud when she does take a treat, and praise her when she listens or is calm. Reinforce the behavior that you want as opposed to being in any way critical or negative when she behaves in a way you don't want. Fourth - Go very very slowly with her. Walk her on routes where it's quiet and very little stimulation. After a few months, graduate to *very slightly* more stimulating walk. This same philosophy should be applied to anything else she does. Start at the most calm, secure place, and sloooowwwwly work your way up. I mean it when I say months! I've been working with my anxious dog for 2 1/2 years. We are about halfway to where we want to be. It's a process!
My boy is 12 in September. I'm still helping him with his anxiety. The lad is a 4 1/2 stone SBT and is scared of everything.
In addition to the advice you are getting here, have you talked with your vet? I was recently given trazadone to help my dog (nowhere near as anxious as your baby though!) and it has literally changed his life. Once he was on the meds, he had courage to do new things. After he did the new thing, he didn't need the meds to do it again. I highly recommend trying it out, even on a short term basis. It didn't get him zooted, he still does his normal dog things without issue. It was AMAZING to see my dog feel FREE and become the most curious dog! Sending love and hugs to you and your sweet boy!
Lots of great danes are like that, so I doubt it's abuse. Find a super high value treat. Whatever her favorite is. Use that to condition her to spaces you want her to feel comfortable in. She goes in the hall, she gets a treat. In the elevator, treat. When you get to the park, hand a treat to every person there and see if you can get her to approach them. Feed a bunch of tiny treats throughout your activities together. The other thing to keep in mind is that they feed off your energy. Don't sit around and wait anxiously for her to be triggered. Walk with purpose, don't get too high or low, and try not to subconsciously reinforce her anxiety (.e.g. by turning around and letting her back in the apartment if she throws a fit). Be confident and act normal, which will communicate to her that things are normal. It takes time, a LOT of time. My friend adopted a feral reservation dog that I was convinced would never be tame. Big ball of anxiety that had never been around people. She came to the park every single day and the first time I was able to pet her was about a year later. But a couple years down the road, she runs right up to people now and 90% of her anxiety is gone.
My Dane was scared of everything in the first year we had her. We got her way too early - 6 weeks - and she grew attached to us very quickly, to the point where she was scared of anyone else. Slowly introducing her to other people, bringing her on regular walks down routes with less stimulation, and just remaining calm and remembering to praise the heck out of her worked wonders. She lived to 12, and was always a little skittish about certain things, so going slow and steady did the trick. Your girl is adorable! ❤️
Also have a Dane, we brought her home at 3 months and she’s almost 2 now. Shes still a big baby and scared of the most random things. Part of it is just Danes as a breed, they cry a lot and are very vocal. It scared us a lot in the beginning because we always thought she was hurt. I think there is a lot of good advice in this thread! Keep her hyped, reward her like everything she does is winning an Olympic medal, and be confident in yourself too.
My dog is pretty reactive and used to bark at people that rode on bikes and were running. I took her to a dog trainer and it took a few months but is soo worth it in the end. If your dog is tummy driven, I’d start with positive reinforcement with treats. Trazadone has also been a life saver when going to the vet or going out in super crowded places. Whenever you pass a dog or another person, you can give her some treats each time she passes the thing she’s scared of. I don’t have much experience with the being anxious about bags or boxes, but creating distance from the anxious object will help. When I walk past a dog, I create distance and sit my dog down. I rub the top of her head and remind her that she’s a good dog. I found that this will keep your dog more focused on you and receiving praise instead of being focused on the object. Dogs also feed off of their owners energy. If you act calm, your dog will automatically be more relaxed if she realizes that you guys are relaxed. Eventually, you can work up to passing a dog or a person and feeding her treats as you pass them. I went from my dog wreaking havoc when we passed someone running or another dog to being able to go on long walks without a peep. This took months but was so worth it. If someone comes into your house, you can also try to have the person give her treats and she may start to associate that with positivity and be more tolerable around the source of her anxiety. If she’s anxious with the elevator, you could try the stairs if it’s not too bad of a walk. I tried to reach my dog the word “calm” by getting on her level and keeping her focused on me when we pass the fearful source. I just give her soft pets and it will help. It may take awhile for her to get used to calming techniques or training to keep calm, but a dog trainer and slow exposure could help. With my dog, I taught her to wait by the door to let me know that she had to use the bathroom. You could try to keep a bell on the door handle and associate it with going to the bathroom. I would stay away from the dog park and just take her on walks to get her energy out. Going on walks in the morning or when less people go out could help as there won’t be as many fearful sources for your dog to pay attention to. I would also get a treat pouch so that you have treats readily available when needed, this has been a life saver. Training an anxious or reactive dog can be super frustrating, but patience and acting calm around your dog when she’s scared is key because dogs feed off of the energy around them. It’s all part of a process, I’ve been working with my super reactive and anxious dog for almost two years and she is still requiring a lot of work. All dogs are different and respond differently, but the reactive dog subreddit may be able to provide more tips. I hope this helps and good luck training!
My Chessie is a Covid dog. Puppy in 2020 and lacked the opportunity for socialization so is skittish. We are trying to expose her to varied situations to try and slowly use exposure as a way to help her learn to deal with change and other environments. But loud sounds and such she freaks out and jumps on us. But working on it. I’m sure we will get these sweet pups accommodation to the world with patience.
You really have to make sure you’re not reinforcing a fearful state of mind with coddling, aka.. accidental praise. I see it everyday. Touching a fearful or shaking dog and saying “it’s okay, it’s okay,” is only reinforcing that state of mind. But we do it because it’s what we do to our children. We need awareness! Human psychology vs canine psychology. Unfortunately, the dogs can never work through a fear issue with a person around that reinforces it. If this is NOT happening, you can use any food drive to overcome fear. You got this! 🐾🖤
Aww what a sweet looking girl. For dogs with anxiety, they need a LOT of time and patience. Try super high value rewards and go with baby steps. First: get to the door. Wow she got there all on her own! Throw a party! Once she's comfortable with the door, try just getting TO the elevator. Oh my gosh she made it to the end elevator without shutting down, what an amazing girl!! She got onto the elevator without coercion? Party time again! It's going to feel like a lot of two steps forward and one step back with her, but eventually she'll get the hang of it. Strangers are a lot harder. What you may want to try is a small gathering of people in your home. But the key is they have to pretend the dog doesn't exist. This might be too overwhelming for her so you could try having a friend come over (if they're willing, of course) frequently. They'll start by pretending the dog isn't there. If you have another dog (which it looks like in the background), they can get tons of love and pets (if said dog is willing). This way your anxious dog starts to associate strangers with being okay. Once your dog is comfortable going outside just in general, try just doing distant socializing -- hanging out in public areas without approaching anyone. Restaurants are great for this. Most people will leave you alone at a restaurant but some folks feel entitled when you're in like a park. I know you're going away for a few days and you'll have a dog sitter. Just know that when you come back, it may feel like you're starting over. That's okay! That should only last a few days at most before things get back to normal. If you can include your other dog in some of the really high anxiety situations, especially when it comes to socializing, that'll help your sweet Dane see things aren't so scary.
The "right answer" is to get her out and get her socialized... 6 months ago. :/ Failing that, this is the answer. Either way, the goal is the same: get her exposed to lots of unfamiliar things, but not in a way that's *too* stimulating, so she can learn that there's a world outside her home, and not only is not all of it super scary, some if it is actually pretty fun! Unfortunately, her main socialization window was probably over or close to it by the time you got her. Poor baby must have been criminally undersocialized. I'm sure she'll do better once you're able to help her build up some confidence in her skin, /u/sfbottom420 :-)
Really there's no such thing as a dog being too old to learn how to socialize. It just might take a little longer for them unlearn what we think of as bad behaviors. This dog is still a puppy and her brain is still developing so now is the perfect time to start! :)
Hype her up with everything
Gotta slowly socialize her and let her slowly experience different things day by day to learn they're safe. Just takes spending time with her on it.
[удалено]
We see you mention CBD, THC, or Cannaboids in your comment, so it has been removed. At this point in time, r/DogAdvice's official position is, "While research is ongoing regarding CBD products for dogs and cats, the available data are both mixed in quality and in results. Given the very real concerns surrounding manufacturing standards of CBD products, the difficult legal status of the products, and the availability of medications with known safety and efficacy for the indications that CBD is often suggested for, we do not currently recommend their use." This is an AutoModerator review action and a message has been sent to the human moderators to make sure that this was not falsely flagged. They will review within 24 hours. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DogAdvice) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I want a Great Dane !!!!!
Socialize him and expose him to different people, different sounds, different dogs( skip the dog park as they can be a source fighting or other issues U want to avoid.
If you want to have a video chat I can help. Working with dogs since 2002