# 8mnth puppy nervous of strangers



## elephant (May 29, 2016)

Hello, I am new to this forum and really would be grateful for advice on how to help our 8mnth old male puppy.
On walks,he is very nervous of strangers. We can walk past people ok though he can go behind me but if someone approaches him, he can bark, growl and has jumped up occasionally. My worry is if he ever nipped I would be devastated.
He has always been a mouthy puppy and a bit nippy but we have taken him to training and he has become a lot calmer recently.
This is our main problem and with it he barks if he hears someone outside or if someone comes to the door.
He isn't neutered yet but will be done soon as he has one testicle not descended.
Any advice greatly received as want to get things right! Should we muzzle him on walks or just don't let people approach him?
He is such a lovely dog and our children afore him.


----------



## sugerlump (Oct 6, 2012)

I don't know that any thing is wrong now he is still very young,and ginger barks at every sound she hears out side of our house.,and she has very good hearing. i tell her sushhh and she will stop barking, .but i would rather her bark when she hears some thing for i am deaf in one ear and all most in the other ,so when she barks i will all ways see why before i stop her..and ginger used to nip when she was young .but she don't any more .so your puppy might grow out of it , and if she ever nips you at play just yipe as loud as yo can so to scare him .this will also stop him from nipping good luck


----------



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

If he is nervous of strangers you need to try to change his perception of them by giving him some nice yummy treats when passing people (you give the treats not them) and let him start to associate passing people with good stuff not scary. Don't let people approach too closely to him - if he wants to avoid them let him. 

I would also hold off on neutering for a while if you can while you sort this out a little (and it would be worth consulting a good reward based trainer for some help) as the testosterone will help him be a little more brave so neutering could make him even more nervous.

Good luck - it is not an unresolvable problem but you need to take a gentle approach with him


----------



## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

elephant said:


> Hello, I am new to this forum and really would be grateful for advice on how to help our 8mnth old male puppy.
> On walks,he is very nervous of strangers. We can walk past people ok though he can go behind me but if someone approaches him, he can bark, growl and has jumped up occasionally. My worry is if he ever nipped I would be devastated.
> He has always been a mouthy puppy and a bit nippy but we have taken him to training and he has become a lot calmer recently.
> This is our main problem and with it he barks if he hears someone outside or if someone comes to the door.
> ...


Where do you live? In GB there is a Yellow Jacket scheme which warns people to give your dog space. Might be what he needs. Might give him time to adjust to strangers. Where do you walk him? Maybe you could take him to crowded places just for a short time each day to acclimatise him to strangers. Little and often is the way to go. If he loves a ball then take that with you. He can carry it in his mouth. 

As for barking in the house, it's natural, but can get really annoying, I have resorted to a Pet Corrector spray with very positive results.


----------



## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

I would not use any form of correction for a nervous dog - you need to work on the underlying emotion and help the dog learn to enjoy the world not just use something which stops the bit of the behaviour you find annoying. 

Find a good trainer and work with them


----------



## elephant (May 29, 2016)

Thankful everyone for your advice, we are asking people not to stroke him if we are out and just letting him get use to people when we stop. Also taking him into buiser places as we live in a small village so he gets more use to strangers. He's doing reall well thankyou again ?


----------



## dogcrazy (Feb 16, 2016)

What about having a bag of treats and when people ask if they can stroke him, ask them not to look at him but to drop a treat on the floor near him, then he will learn that strangers are not to be feared or barked at but are the source of good things. Also anyone coming to the house, again ask them to ignore him and just throw a couple of treats down for him which will distract him. Might help a bit.


----------



## barkley (May 4, 2016)

All you need to do is train him every day or go for a training program to teach him a proper behavior. I know he will be okay soon. Just do the same routine as you did, go for a walk everyday if you have a free time and then you will see he will be more aware on his environment.


----------

