Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone--
We adopted a 5 y.o. Schipperke about 3 weeks ago. He's obviously been trained previously, as he's terrific at loose-leash and no-leash walking, sits and pays attention perfectly. He may also have been taught some strage things too, since he seems "bathroom-shy" -- he just won't do it if there's people around. Anyway, at first he was very very shy and would pretty much just sit nervously for petting and go on walks (only once you took him out of the house though). For the first four days or so that we had him home we didn't see him ever except when we went to his chosen spot in a window seat to bond with him. My son and I were the first ones to visit him at the shelter and were the ones to bring him home. On the way home it seemed like we bonded to the point where he was comfortable appreciating my petting, he was licking me, he would sit on my lap, etc.
Since then, however, his relationship with my wife has gotten much much better (he prefers to be at her heels pretty much at all times) while he's gotten much much worse with me (to the point where he avoids me, growls at me 99% of the times he sees me, etc). The only time he forgets he has a problem with me is when we're out walking. He's reluctant to take treats from me, and only tolerates my petting (although sometimes he "comes around" to me after about 15-20 minutes).
So what's the deal? Something happened, right? The only theory I can come up with is that the dog got startled once by a stranger coming around a corner, and got himself a little bit stepped on (by me... oops). I don't think this would account for the continuing deterioration of his trust though. We are just starting to see a trainer at a local large chain pet shop, and her theory is that the dog just needs re-socialization to men, and this may take lots of time. The idea being he never really trusted men in the first place, but he made an exception for me at first because of the novelty of getting him out of the shelter. I don't know if I buy that though. (BTW, the first theory everyone seems to jumps to is that I'm abusing my dog. If I were, I think I'd be able to figure out the cause of the problem on my own I don't know if I just look like a dog-beater or what...)
Anyway, I wanted to see if either of these ideas hold water or if anyone has a better explanation, or better yet, practical advice how to fix it. Thanks!

do check back often, cos several of us may answer over several days & we have different ideas...and

that was so great of you to adopt an older dog -

my first thought is - is the dog growling at you when your wife is around? like maybe he is 'guarding' her? like not exactly 'protecting' but like she (her attention) belongs just to him?

its impossible for you or me to detail the whole situation, so I'm just offering a guess...if this applys, you might want to set up more situations where your wife is totally out of the picture for certain periods so the lil fella 'has' to depend on you for food/attention.

with any dog whose history is unknown, there can be behaviors that seem to come out of nowhere, triggered by we know not what...

all classes/trainers are not equal, so you need to feel comfortable & might want to check around/observe/get ref. & even seek out a trainer that has experience with Schipperkees or at least small types, if that is convienent?

another 'mistake' that some make, is when a dog seems nervous, they sweet talk it, give too much attention or exhibit other subtle body language that may actually signal the dog that there is something to be nervous about.
for the most part, your being non-chalant may be more helpful.

do keep us updated

Welcome to Dog Hobbyist!!!!

You have done a wonderful thing bringing this dog into your home.

It can be tough taking in a resuce not knowing the history ofthe dog. 3 weeks is not a huge amount of time to get a feel for this dog's true personality.

Do your best with this dog. I'm sure he will eventually come around and learn you are not a threat. If it were me, I'd have little goodies in my pocket all the time and feed this pup a treat every time he approached me. Don't force the issue with this dog. Let him make the choice to come to you. Direct eye contact, holding a dog against it's will, etc will just create more issues. Continue to take this dog on the walks that it loves. Use positive reinforcement training methods and you do the training in classes. I'm sure things will turn around in time. Just be patient.
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PHReign
Email me: HReign@pethobbyist.com" target="_blank">PHReign@pethobbyist.com
Dear dog,
I can not buy anything larger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think that I will continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos of dogs sleeping, they can actually curl up in a ball. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to your fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straigt out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space used is nothing more than doggy sarcasm.