Training Odie

We've had Odie 5 years now. Hes a great little dog (minus his marking) However he is so afraid of things like his collar, a sweater, his harness, the thundercoat, a leash, 1 on 1 training. Once he's in his harness and leash to go walk, hes ok but when he see's them, he runs away. He wears a collar 24/7 but don't take it off and forget to put it back on for a few day and your back to square one of being afraid of the collar again.

Since we built the ramp, I want to teach each dog individually how to use it and with the command "Ramp" with hopes to get them to use it more when I say "Ramp" to get them up. I tried working with Odie on his own last night. The usual began, I put a leash on his collar to use as a guide to have him go up and down the ramp. He froze. Wouldn't move. I got out some yummy training treats. With a couple little bitty tugs of the leash, I got him to go up and take a treat. The same going back down. We did it over and over. Huge praises as well "Good Boy Odie" Treats Treats Treats. I think I am finally breaking a part of the shell over this boy. I hope to try it again with him tonight. I hope one day he will finally feel confident!

Excellent! Odie is in great hands. I think repetition & rewards are great ideas. It builds confidence, and the happiness he feels while learning it will create a positive Pavlov-esque association.
http://fearfuldogs.com/training-fearful-dogs-videos/

whats odd is he isn't fearful of anything else other than something being placed on him. I have to use the leash to train or he will leave and ignore me. Funny though, when we get that harness and leash on to go for a walk, he trots and hold his head high on the walk with full confidence. Obviously his previous owner treated him badly with those items (harness, collar, leash, sweater) He's a happy go lucky dog without them. I will try to get a video of our training tonight :-)

Yes, he obviously associates some objects with bad experiences. Poor guy. Sounds like your training is going well, however! Go, Odie!:cheer3::cheer3::cheer3: I'm sure you know to keep sessions short.

It is wonderful you are taking your time, knowing his fears and helping him overcome then and build confidence. You are such a great Mom! :cheer3: :cheer3: :cheer3: :cheer3: :cheer3: Pixel is ridiculously noise sensitive. We have tried everything, but he gets in a zone and we can't break through the shell. :sosad:

I would also train him to touch or lay on his harness and collar. First teach him to go touch something like a plastic lid and then generalize it to other things. big party and treats if he'll go touch his harness or coat. and just don't get bothered by him not wanting to put them on. Segue is very much like that and I know he was not mistreated...he was just 6-7 months old when I got him and belonged to an elderly lady. he cowers from collars and sweaters and harnesses and from being picked up. While I am pretty sure he could have been grabbed a bit, being so small, I am sure nothing horrible happened to him but it persists. I just don't make a big deal of it or give him a bunch of sympathy or worried type talk. I've had him 2.5 years so I know he's fine and just ignore the drama. except at agility. I still take him into the ring holding him cuz the agility leash makes him sad. Salsa too. LOL goofy cheez.
I'd LOVE to see video of your training!!!!!
you know..thinking of this...I had a dog in my class that was so absolutely terrified of harness or collar that he could not function with them on. it was weird because his owner was also his breeder. It took 6 weeks in class until he could even walk when his collar or harness was on (seems like the harness was a bit better for some reason). we would just loop a leash around at first but even than freaked him out. so weird (he's a sheltie). he's all better now but it was very extreme and his mom is a good trainer so we never could figure it out.
Laika got her head stuck between the slats of a gate when she was a puppy and then hated having a collar on for a long time.

who knows if anything ever happened. Another odd one, he wears his belly band with no problem and always has. We think Odie has ADHD LOL. Its gotten worse over the years too. Maybe a little more since being put on phenobarbital for seizures (per our vet at the time, new vet says once he's on it you cant take him off even if you think he doesn't need it). He's jumpy and paces a lot and wants to lick (you) a lot. He cant sit down and relax. He is a routine dog too, don't forget something like his evening treat or you have jumpy, pacing, licking your face dog X 3. omg. We tried the thundershirt a while back and it caused him to shut down and whine this awful whine. We just re introduced it to him and hes actually doing ok with it, accepting it, calming down in the evenings and has gone 5 days without a bone at 8pm. I will work again with him and the ramp tonight. I will post a video of how well he walks on his leash and harness, like he's proud to be out there. Silly dog!

Walking. Sorry at the end, the leash got under rusty and I put the phone down to fix it
https://vimeo.com/123762578

The challenged ones have a special place in our hearts. Was Odie a rescue? [emoji173]️


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yes, he is a rescue. I was supposed to foster him but he didn't leave ;-) When he was given up to the shelter (Michigan Humane Society) the reason the owner gave was that they moved into a new home and people in the home were allergic. He was a gift from a friend to them. He was said to be 3 years old (about 9-10 now) When I picked him up he was sick, little hair, skin and bones, rips in his ears that constantly bled, poor teeth. He wasn't cared for, until now :-)

Scooter is also noise sensitive. That's actually why I ended up with him. The guy we got him from wanted to keep him for his kids, but they live in the country and hunt and shoot a lot and Scooter freaked out about the shooting.

I'm not always sure it's something that happened in their previous life. I got Bogart at 12 weeks from a breeder and he had some silly fears (like fear of velcro :scratch:). I just know that I usually try to work with them and work around their fears. I need to do some more readings on it since Darby is the first dog I've had in a long time that wasn't fearful.