I've recently got a new dog. It's a dachshund black and brown (sausage dog). It's about 3 years old and was bullied by it's siblings.
My dad feeds her so she has taken kind to him. However whenever she is aware of my presence she just barks and barks and runs away. This happened for 2 weeks straight. Then i went away on holiday for a month and when i return the same thing happens!
And it's just to me, no one else in the family I'm not teasing her or anything, i just stand or sit down and she goes crazy. The only time she doesn't bark is when someone has picked her up. But she still growls if i try to stroke her.
I'm not sure what to do. If i shout or confront her i'm not sure if she will bite me.
What have YOU offered this dog? No need to be aggressive, they don't respect that. Be calm, have treats.. work into it slowly. This dog clearly has trust issues, don't take it personal.
You are the human, it's on you to make the relationship work.
Also ~ if this dog is a rescue *you said new dog but you said it's about 3/y* there may be a whole world of things going on that you don't know about. Good luck.
It's called body language. Shrink down a bit to be less imposing. Don't loom. Offer a hand slowly, no sudden movements.
Once it's less scared of you, start doing things it likes, but always make sure it knows you're the boss by your body actions. Lead the way, go through doors first, don't let the dog ahead of you on the leash.
Properly trained dogs walk beside their master, not in front.
There could be many explanations. Perhaps someone in her past was similar to you in some way and has a negative connection to her.
Some things to do to help:
When you enter the house or the room, don't make eye contact for now, basically ignore her. Don't try to befriend her yet. If she barks and does such things ignore her. Let your dad or another person she's closer to get her to calm down.
Once she allows that, have some high value treats with you. High value meaning something other than her normal food. Something "special." For a while, each time she does something good, reward it. So if she looks at you and doesn't bark. Give her a treat. If she comes close to you and sniffs and doesn't bark/growl/etc. giver her a treat. Remember, just using ordinary kibble is not a treat that will motivate her since she gets that anyway. The best time to "train" a dog is just before dinner time so that they will be more motivated by food.
Over time, doing this will help out and you can lay off the treats. Each time you give her a treat you need to use a phrase you'll always use for positive behavior. It may be "good girl".. it may be something else you're fond of. Just be consistent and make sure your family is. Dogs are creatures of habit, the more consistency you can give her the more results you'll get.
You might also be the one who feeds her at least on occasion.
Kudos to you for asking for help instead of just ignoring her or getting angry with her.
My Uncle used to have a Dachshund that was extremely aggressive toward me and my siblings when he would visit. A trick I used to use was to sit next to whoever was holding her on the couch and completely ignore her. In about 10minutes she ended up curled up on my lap :P
You said it yourself, your dachshund opened up to your dad because he feeds her. Start giving her treats and let her get used to you. Going away for a month didn't help either.
All you can really do is upon entering the house, greet it, maybe offer it a treat. Remain calm but confident at all times. If it runs away, barks or growls, don't back off, don't get nervous. Just ignore it and talk to the rest of the people in the room. Never back away from it, but let it know through body language that it does not bother you in the least. When you speak to it, do it in a calm, reassuring voice. DO NOT do the high pitched, excited voice, as this will likely only agitate it (it's not a playful dog towards you yet).
In time, it will learn to accept you. Ignore it long enough while engaging with everyone else, and soon it will beg for your attention. But once it does, stay calm, and be reserved in your affection at first. IOWs, don't come off as aggressive. Just mild petting, offer another treat maybe, and soft, calm voice. Don't stare at it or open tooth smile for a while. Both can be seen as aggression in the poor dog's eyes.
He's shy. Possibly was neglected or abused. Maybe he just wasn't socialized properly as a puppy. Give him time to see you are trustworthy, and he'll accept you. Just don't expect it to happen in a day.
When I first greet a new dog, I stand my ground a bit away from them and offer my hand palm side up. I let them make the next move. Sometimes, they'll walk up to me, sniff, maybe even lick my hand, than I'll pet them. If they walk away or otherwise don't want to come near me, I ignore them until they want to get acquainted. Works 99% of the time.
Last edited by Disenchanted; 2011-04-07 at 05:28 PM.
I had a similar thing happen to me with one dog. He just didn't trust me for some reason. Over time, the more he got to know me, the more he trusted me. give it time
the treat idea is a great start. also a proper display of confidence is good.
you may also ask people to not pick up the dog when it is misbehaving. it's coddling and "can" lead to continued bad behavior. i would suggest instead of picking up the dog they sit by it's side with hand on the dog ready to restrain if necessary while you lay a treat down in front of you as an offering from a safe distance. at first don't try to hand feed the dog else you might lose a finger if she/he is being aggressive. let the dog take the treat on it's own terms. once she/he begins being more comfortable taking treats from your proximity then you can attempt to let the dog take it from your hand. offer the treat in an open upward facing palm. don't shove the treat at the dog, let it approach you and take it on their own terms.
You mention you've only spent a total of two weeks with the dog while others have given the dog more time. you are technically a stranger to the dog. you need to earn it's trust and become familiar with it to develop a better bond and more trust.
Yeah i'll try be more confident. I'm quiet myself and somewhat shady when i walk about which might make her nervous. So yeah i need sort my body language out for sure.
Some great tips here I think they could work. I'll give them all a shot thanks all!
I had the same problem with a dog of my friend. What he did was just simple and easy, he held the dog up made him take eye on eye contact with me and told the (Friendly but still with an strong tune)dog that im a friend not a bad person and hes supposed to befriend with me. I dont know why but it worked It most likely isnt the thing that will work in your case but in the scenario that nothing works you should try it definatly
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I'm not teasing her or anything, i just stand or sit down and she goes crazy. The only time she doesn't bark is when someone has picked her up. But she still growls if i try to stroke her.
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