Socialisation dilemma

I agree about seeing if you have a neighbor or another dog owner that you meet while out on walks that can help you. It shouldn't be too difficult as she is not afraid or mean just a little 'puppy pushy' about meeting other dogs.

Anyway, if you can let her meet other dogs in a controlled fashion, she'll get the idea fast. That meeting with the terrier/terrorist gave her something to think about ! But it's not all bad, if she's like most shelties she's a smart cookie and will figure it out fast.

Another thought is to take her to your local petstore - like Petsmart or somewhere else that is okay with you bringing your dog with you. A lot of people in my area bring their dogs with them regularly. That wasy she'll be able to have controlled interactions with other dogs as well.
 
Chinchi said:
Ok, today we got to work on some impulse control in the house. She has actually always been very good at this in the house as there are few distractions, but I tried the food hidden in the hand trick and she got that within seconds. However, we have always taught her to wait and look at us before eating her dinner.

I then moved onto something a little harder for her. We were playing fetch and at one point during the game when she was all revved up I told her to sit and stay. I threw the ball, she got up and started to chase but stopped when I said 'uh uh'. We tried a few more times and I think it was about the fourth time that she got it. I then hid the trick within the game, again getting her all excited and revved before telling her to sit and stay, and she did it! Ok, this is inside the house with no distractions, but i think it provides a good grounding on which to build on.

She loves my bunny so for the next step on the distraction scale I will put the bun in a pen on the grass in the garden and have Darla walk on the lead focussing on me and not on my bun. Then work towards off lead, sit, stay etc with bun still in the pen.

Next step perhaps have bunny running loose round the garden (using her to mimic the dogs in the park) and again work on Darla focussing on me whilst on the leash, progressing to off leash if she is successful.

Then when I feel she has mastered all these we can move onto training in public with a few more distractions, people, dogs etc.

What do you all think?
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I think that's perfect... great ideas!! Isn't it fun to work with them and see the little light come on?

I would add to reward the stay, like when you throw the ball, I would immediately drop a treat in her mouth for staying, then say go get itttttt.
 
The terrier was a good thing. It didn't attack her but did tell her to watch her P's and Q's. Tinsel got told by Rhiannon early in his living with us and he loves Rhi. Follows her all around the yard, isn't at all afraid of her but is respectful. That is your pup's problem. It hasn't learned to respect other dogs. That can be a dangerous thing as all dogs are not like the terrier - they will bite if bugged. She needs to be in a class with some older dogs that are pup friendly.
 
Tagg said:
The terrier was a good thing. It didn't attack her but did tell her to watch her P's and Q's
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I don't know how fast pups should learn, but Darla doesn't seem to have learnt anything from the terrier encounter. She still whines and makes a scene wanting to go and say hello. I'm glad the terrier didn't install fear into her, but I had hoped she would be more cautious.

I took some chicken out on our last walk and she barely noticed it when there was a dog in sight. I may try a toy with her instead for distraction. She seems to get worse if the other dog ignores her and runs around playing fetch. Guess she wants to give chase! A tug game from me may work better than food.
 
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