Whatsup with the grass??

M

Moulin

Forums Novice
We have a beautiful 9-month old Sheltie, Cadbury, who is sweet-natured and gentle, and lately... A wimp.

He has always been fine in our (fenced-in) yard, quite happy to have our cats around and generally is very satisfied. Recently, though, he has developed a fear of the lawn, which is neatly mowed and open.

No matter how much one encourages him, he seldom ventures off the patio onto the grass, a venture which is always accompanied by tail-tucking, whining and crying. He will fetch his toys and take them back to the patio to play. Fetch is a big no-no.

My partner is afraid that it is an individual trait, possibly sometthing that we are doing wrong, and he wants to try "tough love". I think this scares puppy though. I have read several articles saying that one should praise the good and ignore the bad.

Is this the right path to take, or can you offer any other advice? I am extremely worried :(

Thanks
Sian
 
I would say that tough love doesn't really work with a sheltie. They are very sensitive animals. Your thoughts of ignoring bad behavior and rewarding good behavior is how we do things over here.

Is there something that you dog loves to do SO much? Maybe try doing that activity in the grass while she is watching. Then maybe the temptation would be so much that she would have to go out into the grass.

What happens if you pick her up and place her in the grass?
 
Last summer Ginny developed a fear of grass when she was stung by a bee while playing in grass.

We actually ended up seeing a behaviorist because her behavior became so extreme. We were told that the trick was to get her to associate grass with positive things again without actually putting too much pressure on her to step on the grass.

Another thing to remember is that pressuring them to face their fear can some times reaffirm that there is something to be afraid of. So forcing them onto grass, then praising them when they're afraid can just be downright confusing. Its ok to praise or comfort a dog when there really is something to be afraid of (like thunder, a loud car, etc) but irrational fears should never be praised or comforted.

Try placing a blanket or large towel in the the grass a few feet from the edge of the grass, then leash Moulin and walk him to the blanket. He will resist but ignore his fearful behavior and act like there is nothing wrong. Just make sure that you're only forcing him one or two feet, and not dragging him a long distance. The point of this is to remind him that walking across grass isn't a big deal, not to force him to be on grass for a long period of time and stress him out.

Give him something really yummy to chew on, like a stuffed Kong or raw bone. Hang out with him there relaxing so that he knows its not a scary place. See if you can get him playing with some toys to the point that he forgets about the grass. Do some training if he'll allow it. Try doing this for a short time every day. Remember that its important to be relaxed and completely ignore this behavior. Its good to praise relaxed behavior and play. Eventually, when he starts relaxing more, you can start decreasing the size of the blanket/towel.

Ginny was very sensitive so playing with her with a regular toy didn't work, it seemed to put too much pressure on her. However a cat toy worked really well. We bought one that's a stick/handle, with a rope attached and a mouse on the other end. The mouse had feathers as a tail and squeaked when it moved, which got her even more excited. Playing with a Toy at the end of a stick made her feel much better than playing with a toy I was holding.

My other dogs really helped her too. I'd play a fun game in the grass with them and Ginny, being a little bossy boots, couldn't help but jump in occasionally. :smile2:
 
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have you added something to the lawn ? like anything to keep it green, make it grow, weed killer ?
hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question. but was my first thought .
 
I like what everyone said--take it slow. Make all the fun things happen near the grass or on the grass. If on the grass is too scary/stressful, start right next to it.

That might include playing fetch, tugging, trick training, dinner, etc...

Every day that your pup starts to appear very comfortable/not worried, move a few inches closer to the grass. Then move farther into the yard, etc...
 
Sounds like a fear period has set in. Things which previously didn't scare a pup now freak it out completely!

I echo what has been said about working through it slowly. Don't push it. If it's safe, you can throw visible treats around the grass for him to pick up, then at the edge of the grass, then 2 inches onto the lawn, then 5 inches, etc etc.
 
Agreed -- when Beckon's fear period hit, ignoring the weirdness worked best. We didn't start to work on residual fear until he was 18 months.
 
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