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Post by Aussienot on Apr 11, 2008 18:57:57 GMT -5
Tarot has received more consistent and structured socialization then any dog I know. When the puppies were surrendered to the shelter at approximately 6 weeks, it was obvious that they were not used to human contact.
We engaged in a flooding program, where each of the nine puppies were handled by a range of individuals several times a day everyday. Tarot distinguished herself by being the first puppy to welcome human contact, and her courage in being social was one of the reasons I selected her.
Individual socialization exercises have continued every day of her life. She has had good experiences with men of all shapes and sizes and wearing all kinds of clothing and equipment. She has been exposed to more people in more situations over the course of her life than 99% of dogs that have been socialized.
But I still have a naturally suspicious dog who does not want to get close to strangers, particularly men. Or even familiar men that she sees everyday. But it's not for a lack of trying!
There is a man in the office who has been trying to be her friend for more than four months, and she still shys away from him. She will wag her tail and seem happy to be around him but will not get within touching distance. He can get usually close and pet her, but each time there is a period of avoidance.
She will approach a man from the back and sniff, but she backs up if the man looks at her. She will take food from the side, but will not approach a man head on. She will even climb over someone sitting on the ground to take food from them, but still will not approach from the front and will not let a familiar man pet her even after taking food from him.
I've had men treat her, play with her and take her for walks. I've tried making hand touching a man a game. I've tried gradually raising the criteria that gets rewarded, but feel I reached an impasse in getting her to welcome the approach of new people.
I have a team of men willing to help with the problem. (There is at least one upside to working on a building site. Kind of a trade off for all the dirt and inconvenience)
She usually is quite friendly with women upon first meeting but tends to avoid smokers. I don't expect her to be a social butterfly, but the lack of progress in trusting men is discouraging. I hope to obedience trial her, and she needs to allow a judge to do the stand for exam without undue stress.
She's never had a bad experience with people, and she's had more than sufficient good exposures. Traditional socializing is just not achieving the results I want. I think I've hit a genetic roadblock. Any other thoughts or ideas?
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Post by Aussienot on Jun 7, 2008 19:13:28 GMT -5
Well, I have had Tarot DNA tested, and she is up to 50% Dingo. I can stop blaming myself now. I don't have a badly socialized dog, I have a REALLY well socialized Dingo cross. Domesticated Dingos and Dingo crosses are known for being extremely timid around people. They do not show affection readily, and generally don't like to be handled. At almost one year, Tarot has her short list of six or seven people that she is affectionate with. Everyone else, stranger or friend, she is comfortable around, as long as they don't try to touch her. She will back up and run away if a hand comes near her. She doesn't like direct eye contact either, and would rather investigate people from behind. She is interested in people, likes to be in their company and will take food from anyone. That still doesn't mean they can touch her. She likes her role as 'Greeter Dog' at work. Whenever someone new enters the building, she runs to meet them with ears up and tail high. If it's a friend, she runs to them for a greeting. If it's anyone else, she backs up and runs away. Aloof is her middle name. The Dingo explains a lot about her learning style, too. She does not respond to corrections. A correction does not correct performance, it just makes her shut down. She does respond to a Non Reward signal, and tries again. She displays juvenile behaviors, such as face licking and fawning, offering submission even when no threat is present. I am a bit disturbed by the news. I do not support crossing domesticated dogs with wild dogs, and would not have selected one if I had known at the time. This doesn't mean that I would give her up for anything. My little wild girl is devoted to me. I still think she looks like a coyote.
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Post by Brooke on Jun 8, 2008 12:21:42 GMT -5
Gosh this is all so interesting. I'm glad that you aren't giving up on her though. She didn't ask for what she is and it doesn't mean she's a bad dog. She's in the right hands though! ;D
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Post by sibemom on Jun 9, 2008 6:49:47 GMT -5
Brooke is right Linda. She is in the best hands possiable. She is what she is and you are doing what you can to make the best of it. At least she is not coming from behind and ATTACKING PEOPLE In alot of ways she sounds like Willow and Willow is not part wild dog at least I don't think she is ?Even before she went through that whole trauma thing she was very cautious of men, she did the same thing she would take treats from the side, approach from behind, etc... but as soon as they would reach out to toucher she would recoil backwards. She never got aggresive by snapping or anything but her behavior did make some men very uncomfortable. See with her it is genetic I know that. I did all the socialization a person could do, in all different situations and she still is this way. I have found though the older she gets the more accepting she is so no worries here I think your girl will be just fine. Willow does not do the stand for exam 100% either. It does not matter if it is a man or woman doing it, if she senses that they are intimidated by her she will grumble. She will stand but she will voice an opinion.
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Post by Richard on Jun 9, 2008 12:38:31 GMT -5
Aussie,
I'm going to agree with the ladies here and even go so far as to say that the title of this thread is misleading - I don't think you've failed at all! For a dog to be part of your pack is the same as winning 25 million in a lottery - good times all around! Even though you may not accomplish everything you had hoped for in one way, in others, you are miles ahead of anyone else out there!
In your last paragraph, your comments
hit a positive note with me - that is what it is all about - you're devoted to her and she's devoted to you. I can't think of a better way to describe having a dog in your life - if only more humans would display that type of devotion <sigh>.
Besides, come to think of it, Mr. Spock was 1/2 human and 1/2 Vulcan and he made out pretty damn well so I know you both will do well too!!!
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Post by willow on Jul 2, 2008 14:18:45 GMT -5
Your socialization of Tarot hasn't failed, Aussie. I would say she has turned out to be an exceptional dog, and you have done remarkably well with her, especially since she is half dingo. Most people could not have done as well as you have done. I would not worry in the least that she is reserved with some people. In fact, I prefer my dogs to be a little reserved with people, rather than treating every one like a long lost friend! ;D As Ann said, as long as she is not aggressive, I would be totally comfortable with how she is with people. BTW...she is one gorgeous half wild dog!
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Post by Aussienot on Sept 12, 2008 19:03:56 GMT -5
Looking at it differently based on what Ann said, I think many of her behaviors are Shepherd like. She takes her security duties seriously, patrolling the perimeter of the property first thing upon arriving and last thing before leaving. She also wants to scrutinize anyone entering and sort them into a category that determines her behavior.
She has her short list of people she is friendly with. Actually, it's not that short, there are at least nine people that I can think of who can pet her including three men. She is affectionate and happy in their company. She knows them by name, and if I tell her to 'Go Greet Katherine', or 'Go Greet Ian', she does it like a party trick.
She has another list that I call Known Associates. There are about ten or twelve people she is familiar with and relaxed around - as long as they don't try to approach and touch her. She will take treats off them but doesn't trust them. This list is growing as she meets more and more tradespeople who are regulars around the office.
Everyone else gets barked at and then she runs away if possible. She doesn't seem have a flight or fight mentality, her instincts seem to say flight or freeze.
As she passes the one year mark, she is a little braver and not so frantic when she is worried. She is offering fewer fawning submissive behaviors, and seems to bounce back from stress quicker. So her behavior is moving in a positive direction but I don't want her to go too far down the line of thinking like she is responsible for security.
In hindsight, I worry about some of her litter mates that we adopted out. I reckon there were a couple of potential fear bitters among her siblings if they were handled in the wrong way.
My preference is for inherently confident, strong nerved dogs. I guess life is telling me I still need to learn about creating confidence in the timid ones.
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Post by Aussienot on Jul 8, 2009 20:00:10 GMT -5
One year on, and at two years Tarot is definately more confident and social than six month old Tarot was. Not the nerves-of-steel superdog I was aiming for, but for Tarot, pretty close. She is still naturally suspicious of most strangers and would prefer that strangers ignore her. She is still not a social butterfly. However, her tolerance for being petted, and her willingness to interact socially when with people has risen to what I would consider an acceptable level. On Tuesday night, she gladly ran to and greeted the male owner of a dog friend, and was happy to be petted by another man who is a long time friend of hers. She also calmly accepted a large, tall, looming booming-voiced stranger petting her while she was in a sit stay. She has recently successfully completed a stand for exam with a male judge, something I never thought we could achieve. The panic attacks when faced with new situations have virtually disappeared. I've never seen even a glimmer of aggression, defense or fight in this dog. Heaps of prey drive, and that instintive Shepherd sense of always being on security duty. Alertness and intensity is in her DNA. And she is packing enough energy for two dogs. She is beautifully dog social. Very submissive, a true pack omega. I have not been bringing her to work with me for about four months now, and I think her reactions to people are actually better than they were with constant exposure. So what Tarot has taught me about socialisation is that training can only maximize the potential that is there. And persist - don't give up until the puppy reaches adulthood. Something I've never taught her - she takes a nice photo and can strike a pose. And she's naturally supermodel thin.
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Post by Richard on Jul 10, 2009 22:49:03 GMT -5
I know it's been said before but let's be honest, Tarot is also a lucky dog to have been chosen by you.
When it comes to training dogs and understanding their needs, no one does it better Linda!
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