We have a beautiful four-month-old Terv, who is a joy to live with; affectionate and obedient. Our only problem is that he barks and growls at strangers on walks. We are having to put him on the lead when strangers approach, otherwise he runs up to them shouting his little head off. He seems to want to protect us, maybe we haven't made it clear enough that we are the leaders. But he is so good in every other way. We have tried distracting him with treats as he is normally very food-orientated, but no success. Do you think he will grow out of this? We would really appreciate any advice as this is starting to worry us.

Hi
To be honest I don't think is something he will grow out of.:(
You need to be very firm with him, I don't mean smack him or yank his head off, just tight short lead and a tug combined with voice control.You could try making him sit until people have passed..make sure he can't get to them or frighten them in anyway....hold on to his collar and tell him off, but watch his eyes for the sign that he is going to growl and warn him in a stern voice before he does it..as soon as he doesn't growl..really praise him.It's going to take a while, and you will have to be firm.
It may be an idea to re inforce your status to him in the home too.
Good luck :)
Tracey

This is something that needs to be stopped - people won't be at all amused if he still does it when he's grown up.

Does he bark at people when he's on the lead? If so, make him sit and look at you till the people have passed - only move on again when he's behaving himself. He needs to feel that you are in charge, and usually the best way to achieve this is to practice some simple basic obedience training whenever he starts to take charge.

Hope this helps :)

I think he is a little confused as who is in charge on your outings with him, you say he is fine in the home and is not a problem there, thats because he is confident in his surroundings.
I agree he needs some basic obedience i.e. controlled exercise on the lead, walking to heel at your side and not leading you.If you allow him to take the `lead` in any situation basically you are putting him in charge.
Socialisation is so important especially with a big breed.I would stop the free running in public places until he is confidant with strangers.
A good idea would be to ake him along to a local ringcraft class which in my experience are more
relaxed than formal obedience classes.If you just explain to the secretary that you just want to sit and let him watch,this way he will see you interact with strangers i.e. doggy folk who will understand, he will see that strangers can be friendly and that their is no need to protect you from them.
He is just a baby who is confused as to what is expected of him , he loves his mum and is doing what he thinks he should do protect you.
If you let us all know what area you are in I`m sure someone will be able to advise of your nearest
classes.
Good Luck

Hi Cressida

Tervs, like several other breeds are natural guard dogs and it's important to control and socialise them from an early age. He isn't likely to grow out of this and it'll probably get worse as he gets older and bigger if he's not corrected now.
Is he the same at home when people visit? Does he react? and if so what do you do?
He needs to be socialised as much as possible so he gets used to strangers being around. Have you considered using a headcollar like a halti or gentle leader on him. You can turn his face breaking eye contact with the stranger. I wouldn't sit him and wait for the stranger to pass. I would keep him on the lead and walk past the stranger ignoring the dog but keeping him walking and not making an issue of the situation. If you don't seem to be bothered about the stranger approaching and passing then why should he?
You are right at the moment to be putting him back on the lead when strangers approach if he is going to run up to them barking.
If he is not responding to a food treat then try a ball on a string that you can play with or a toy with a squeak to get his attention.
Keep up daily obedience sessions to reinforce the fact that you are in charge and he has to obey your command to get rewarded etc.. It's positive that he is already obedient so he is responsive to you. This isn't a problem that can't be overcome with practice and firm handling :)
Lara x

HI Cressida

I've been involved with this lovely breed since 1985 and am besotted - you wont' regret having your Terv ;) :) Having said that, the youngsters can go through some very odd behavioural phases, and very often just when you feel you have sorted something out, they will react totally differently, having interpreted you in a different way to the way you wanted!

To a Terv, this kind of behaviour is very often because they are unsure, and they will use "offensive" behaviour to cover up their insecurity. Many young TErvs are a bit windy with strangers in some situations unless socialised very well - but a tip, when socialising, don't just reward for interracting well with humans; praise them for reacting appropriately to human body language. So if a human walks by and doesn't want to say Hallo, praise or treat for the youngster ignoring that particular human.

Some tend to show intense curiousity towards people out and about on a walk, (not so much along a street, more on a country walk where you meet strangers on occasion, that sort of scenario) which can unnerve those unused to dogs.

I agree the youngster needs to take his cue from you, so always appear confident to your dog. I would advise no very firm correction as such, because this will only convince the dog that approaching humans make his mum cross with him. He needs to learn confidence. If you can use a Halti do, but my current Terv bitch got very upset when she was the age of your youngster so althouhg i agree with Lara that it would help, you may find it difficult to put the advice into practice. Have him under control but not a tight lead.

I have found toy training worked wonders with my Terv bitch when she was going through a phase of "mugging" people. Although not the same problem, I suspect your youngster has the same reasons for his barking as my girl did for her mugging. I used a clicker too, but basically she was rewarded with the toy whenever the person or group of people had just gone past. It is the power of association: - the appearance of people = Good Things.

So it may help to get him fixated with a special toy that only comes out for very specila occasions, when he is very good and clever :) Don't over use it, but keep it as a special reward - but do play a few sessions first so he is excited by it. He must WANT that toy!!!

Start off on the lead, when people go past say "Good!" and immediately reward with toy, then use a long lead attached to harness (or collar if you are very careful - use it only for training) and eventually he should be trustworthy off lead. Keep this up for a long time, even when he seems OK. I highly recommend a toy to tug and chase, use his instincts and help him to relax, so try the good old Kong on a rope :)

All dogs are different but if you can get him fixed on the toy, he will start to like people approaching. Start somewhere where he will not be so stressed as to bark, so maybe just off a path where people walk, not actually where they approach him head on. Work out his "critical distance" and start from there. Gradually move the exercise more towards the "head on"situation.

After some time,when he knows to go past people, if he then still barks, you can use a word he may know to say "Er, excuse me fella but that is just not on". I use a sharp "ah ah" to do this if it is necessary. Timing is crucial and plenty of reward when he is even slightly good. As you will knowthey respond very well to voice control :)

My belief which seems to work well, is to show them what is required, train them, and then you can use the "Er excuse me!" scenario.

Agree too about the obedience advice and also ringcraft etc, but make sure he isnt forced to behave or it will only cover up his fear. He needs to learn confidence as I suspect lack of it is at the root of this problem.

If you can find a good agility class, (a bit early yet!) as he matures, this exercise does help to give dogs coinfidence in themselves and their environment.

Lastly, I would be interested to know his breeding :)

If this does not work please do feel free to email me on lindsay@do-wot.co.uk

Good luck with your beautiful boy ;)

Lindsay

Read all these postings with much intrest. I have 5month old mini Schnauzer and it is also doing "the running upto strangers and barking business" I have had to put her back on the long lead in the park or beach as it is becoming a serious problem. People with little children especially dont welcome her behaviour (and rightly so!)
She is generally a good pup in the house and is obedient when it is required but, she goes deaf when off the lead. I am afraid I am ignorant of what "ringside" classes are? and I would appreciate it if anyone would inform me of classes I may attend in Eastbourne, sussex. I am dismayed to find out that it is behaviour she may not grow out of and will try anything to help. Good luck with the Terv,

i have a five month old westie who from his first walks up until now has growled and barked at people.
they are only babies and i think it is because they are small and insecure and dont forget up until about 14 weeks old after their jabs they have only had you and people who have visited them to socialize with.
its a big world out there for the wee things.
i found every time toddy growled or barked at a stranger with each bark i would give a tug of his lead and say quiet i kept doing this until he had stopped making a fuss then he had a loud "good boy".
this i have kept up and it seems to be working.
i think you just have to be persistant.
the only thing i will add is i do not let toddy off the lead just yet until the barking has totally ceased.
he is controlled on a extendable lead.
this is my own feeling until he is a bit more sure of the world and until i am totally confident in recalling him without being ignored sometimes.(just like my kids and hubby but hey ho)
he just has a problem with football on the tv now.
but he is getting there.
when he did bark at strangers the majority realised he is only a baby and it is expected to some degree.
i should not worry to much, you can nip this in the bud.
jo

Hi, thank you all very much for your replies; it was good advice to take him to ringcraft just to watch. We have been taking him to a very good puppy training class which is run by my puppy's brother's mum. She also does agility and we will get into that.
We've had some success with distracting him with toys on walks.
He does react the same when strangers come to the house, but settles down quite quickly when they ignore him.

Enjoy him, bet he's a beauty :)

LIndsay