Hi, I was wondering if anyone else has a dog that seems to remember a bad thing forever. I have two dogs, 3 1/2 & 6 mos. My 3 1/2 year old seems very smart, which is good in some ways because he learns very fast. However, he also remembers a bad thing forever. For example, I bought him at a pet store when he was 10 weeks old. The lady told me that he was already leash trained, as they had kids who were volunteers walk the dogs. Well, since he was a puppy he has always had a fear of children. I am pretty certain he would snap at a child if allowed to. Luckily I am always with him to make sure kids don't get to close. I have taken him to behavior therapy, obedience classes, etc. and still he has this fear of children. The only thing I can think of is that the kids were rough with him before I got him. But, could he remember something from 10 weeks old??? (Now that I have a puppy, I always have kids wanting to pet the pup. When they are petting her, my older dog whines and wags his tail like he wants to be pet too. But, if the kids come too close, he then changes behavior and growls!!!)

Now, there is this second thing. He always loved going to the vet (attention, cookies, etc.) until he got his microchip. When he got the microchip, they took him in the back. I think it must have hurt him a lot, because ever since then he is very fearful of the vet. He tries to hide behind me at the vets, and when he is on the table he shakes like a leaf. Only 1 bad experience, many good ones, and now he is very afraid. I have even changed vets, but he acts the same with the new one.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else has had experience with a dog like this? And, is there anything I can do to help him get over his fear?

Thanks :) ...

Yup,
Most dogs have a pretty good memory for bad stuff, as well as the good stuff.

Usually, it depends on the dogs character as to how they use that memory. A confident and happy dog probably wouldnt be that bothered by going to the vets for a jab, if he was previously happy to go, after a painful experience, however a nervous, or underconfident dog might well be more scared.

Then, depending on what kind of dog you have, (nervous, happy, docile, excitable etc) they can develop that memory, and learn how to avoid such a situation again, in your dogs case, by snapping and growling at children (because this effectively keeps them away, either by them not approaching, or by you telling them to go away), and by hiding and being reluctant at the vets.

My own dog Rocky, is a bit of a wimp, however he has a very very gentle character, and has never ever needed to resort to snapping at people to aviod unpleasant things. However, whilst he doesnt bite at the vets, he leaps around like a fool, which makes it nigh on impossible to examine him!

What happens to your dog now depends on how YOU react to his behaviour. If you comfort him, or give him any kind of attention when he is snapping at children, then he may well take that as a reward for behaving that way, and will continue to do it.
The same goes for the vets. If you make a big deal about going there, and reward him (cuddles, there there, vet wont hurt you etc) then he will behave like that again. If you ignore his reluctance, and reward him well for setting foot in the vets, then the chances are he will overcome this fear.
To make that really work though, you will have to take him to the vets lots, feed him treats, or play with him, and move on to letting the vet feed him treats, play etc, without anything nasty happening. That will depend on wether your vet has time to humour you!

Good luck with him,
Emma

Hi, thank you, that does make sense. But how do I tell if he lacks confidence and how do I give him more? He seems happy, he is very mellow but he plays with my puppy and even initiates play with her. He also plays with other dogs very well and he likes people in general, just not kids. However, the kids he knows, my nieces, he is fine with them (never left alone of course). But, he is very afraid of strange kids (my puppy absolutely LOVES kids, so I really have to watch them -- It feels like i have 5 dogs instead of two).!!!

Anyway, how do i give him more confidence? Is it obedience training? Or just not babying him? I do praise him everytime he walks by a kid without growling though ... and give him cookies. Maybe that is not the right thing to do?

They sure do have a good memory. My house was broken into a year ago and on Saturday the council were working on a garden near mine, because the dogs could hear men and only slight noise my old girl went mad and nearly ripped her feat open trying to get out of the kitchen, it took me a couple of house to settle her down again. Luckily after a swim at the local water park in the pouring rain and she was as happy as Larry again.

As far as being scared at the vets is concerned, I always have a pocketful of "high value" treats handy for the vet to give so that the last thing my dogs remember at the vets is something nice :D When I first started this the vets thought I was mad but now they can see the point as my dogs have always been calm - even when they've had jabs. My present dog was tattooed at 14 weeks and the person doing it had some tasty liver treats ready for him. Next time the dog saw him he searched his pockets for liver !!! and this dog has a memory like an elephant for good and bad things.

Well, that is the hard part!

Basically, pay very close attention to the way your dog behaves in each situation.

What i have done with rocky is to make sure there is no reward for the way he behaves when faced with things he is scared of (in the case of other dogs for example, where he barks and lunges when on the lead, and pins them down when off it).
Then, when ihave got him a bit more used to that situation, where he realises that the wrong behaviour from him doesnt result in any reward, i then give him rewards for NOT behaving like that.

Then, an this is the good bit, i also worked much more on his self control!
Basically, i have done a lot of obedience exercises with him, to get him to listen to me, and pay more attention rather than just zooming off to do what he wants to do, with out listening to me.

You do need to make sure your dog has faith in you, that you will protect him, and he doesnt have to, and that what you say is what will happen, and not the other way round. Im definately not saying that this is anything to do with dominance or anything like that, but, if your dog is confident that you are there for him, it makes sense that he will see less need to deal with potentially unpleasant situations himself.

Em

Obedience does seem like a good place to start. He knows a lot of commands and is good with commands, but sometimes is very stubborn about doing them (He will do them verrry slowly). So I guess that is where I will start, which makes me wonder something else - Can I train two dogs at the same time or do I need to train them separately? I imagine separately is better?

As far as me protecting him, there was one time I was with him and another dog bit his nose very hard (he still has a scar from that). Do you think this could make him think that I cannot protect him? :( ...

it's interesting this:my 2 year old lab milo -who i got when he was 9 months old-always refuses to come back in when he's been out for a wee.he stands right next to the back door, and even scratches at it if i close it but refuses to come in when called.i think he must have had a beating at his old home when he came in once!!!if i leave the door ajar he will come in off his own bat, but not if anyone's waiting there for him.
He also absolutely hates the male vet, and barks at most strange men, but not women.
so therefore i think that they do remember bad things, unfortunately for us who have to pick up the pieces:(