i have recently taken on a foster dog for a rehoming program.  She is absolutely gorgeous but needs some training with cats, little fluffy dogs and men.

we are getting there with the little dogs and wil correct her behaviour with them before we start on cats, but i was hoping for some advice on building her confidence with men.

i have started by giving any males that come to our place a piece of sausage to give her. It seems to be working and im thinking the next step will be to take her down a quietish street and ask people if they would mind giving her a treat.

does anyone else have anymore tips/suggestions?

A trainer friend of mine suggested finding a seat in a very busy place,take a book,and sit there for a good 4 hours with your dog(one of mine was worried by traffic and people approaching her,to the point shed snap if they persisted-only happened once,once i was wise to it i warned people off-)The idea being the dog confronts her fear,works through it and finally becomes bored and accepting of what scared her.She also suggested taking a sign to warn people off,such as "please ignore me,i am in training"I have to admit,though seeing how this might work,i didnt try it,what i did find helped was the "controlled greeting"exercise in class,which is basically what you are doing,good luck with her!If only we could talk to them and explain!such as"if you werent such a snappy little madam,you could play and have loads more fun!"  sigh!

> i have started by giving any males that come to our place a piece of sausage to give her

I did this when we were out and about as he (10 months) was very wary of approaching men. He's alot better now, but gave up quite soon as he then started to follow people and wouldn't give up until they gave him something! For what ever reason he is still unsure but ask people to ignore and allow him to approach them.

If she's only just come to you I'd suggest not rushing anything.  She may not have had much contact with men and simply needs to acclimatise.  If you have lots of male visitors it's almost better that they spend the first few weeks completely ignoring her, as intensive training can easily overwhelm an anxious dog.  Men, sound and smell very different to women (obviously) and if you want to her to get used to their presence then let her settle a while first.  You can do a bit of reward training with her when they arrive but keep it focussed on you.  She'll soon realise that visitors, of either sex, means that she gets some treats and gets to show off her nice manners.

I agree with the advice to sit and watch the world go by - every time a bloke walks past then give a treat.  You can also help her acclimatise to male voices by playing the radio to her.  Grab a man to walk with too, if you have a spare one!!

Once she's been with you a while you soon know whether you need to take the training further but in the meantime it's worth assuming it's just a lack of experience

i rescued a 10 month old JRT who had been beaten by his previous owner. The man had beaten him so badly that he only had to here a mans voice before he wee'd himself. When i got him i was living on my own so he didn't have much to do with men, but when i met my husband and he moved the dog turned VERY aggressive towards any men that approached. It took my husband nearly 7 months of hard work for the dog to trust him. We then started inviting some male friends to join us on walks with their dogs and he started to take treats off them and let them pet him. I always let him go to the men and told any male visitors to ignore him until he wanted to know them.
Now, 12 years on, he's been a great family pet, my 2 young children have grown up with him and he will great any man that walks by with a wag of the tail. The only time he growls at a man now is when he's sat on my knee or next to me on the sofa and my husband come too close, but i can forgive him for that.

Only use the food when she has stopped showing any sifns of fear full stop or you are rewarding nervous behaviour.

Flooding only works with some dogs and is something I am cautious about as it can make behaviours worse.Thisis where knowing your dog counts. I don't likeasking strangers to reward my dogs as I can't predict exactly what will happen could result in a bite and as it's not your dog caution should be used.

I wouldcarry on with what you are doing as long as NO fear signals,and then start food rewards for standing close to you whilst you're close to fear issues in an environment you can control. Desensitive first the counter condition the negative to a positive.