Foster Dog

fairymoneysaver

We are fostering a 9 year old dog with a view to keeping her. She has been here 2 months and is settling in nicely. She gets on with the family living here and our other dog fine but we have one problem that we are getting no where with is that she HATES anyone visiting us. She spends the whole time growling/barking at visitors, she is a very nervous dog and it is fear barking. We can't hold a conversation because as soon as the visitor speaks she barks.
We have tried with the visitor ignoring her then throwing treats at her, she even takes them out of their hand but then backs off and growls. We have all tried ignoring her but the barking gets worse. I have shouted at her, made her sit and say 'no barking' then praised her when she is quiet for a moment but none of these methods are producing any results.
Anyone with any ideas or anyone had success in stopping this behaviour? I realise it is going to be hard work at her age and I am prepared to put in the effort but am unsure about the best way of tackling it.

tizerbelle

I don't know enough to advise on this but don't the rescue you are fostering her from have a behaviourist / expert you can get advice (and potentially training) from.

fairymoneysaver

She isn't from a rescue so there is no one to ask. We would like to get this sorted otherwise she may end up back in kennels which she hates.

tizerbelle

Is there someone who can come round and help out? Perhaps try friend coming in, everyone ignoring the dog - ignore the bad behaviour completely. Depending on her reaction, friend comes in for a minute say and then leaves for 5 minutes. Comes back and repeats and repeats. Hopefully you will get a point where the dog starts getting used to the intruder so friend stays while the growling carries on and as soon as dog is quiet, friend goes again and repeats and repeats again. When she is quiet reward her - either with the visitor leaving, a stroke/cuddle (from you not visitor) or a treat if dog is a foodie. But completely ignore the bad behaviour - if you talk to her/try to reassure her when she is barking/growling you are reinforcing that behaviour - it's as if you are saying to her that there is something to be worried about.

bugslet

Agree with tizerbelle. Try ignoring her - you will need a patient friend and a tolerant neighbour. The less reaction she gets from you the better. Eventually she'll get bored and keep re-inforcing the message every time someone comes.

bethie

it does get better. 2 months isnt that long.


my dog was like this when i brought her home. (10 month old puppy spent her life in a kennel!)


i found that if she met the person outside, and sometimes had a couple of minute walk with them, and then came inside was a bit less protective.


echo the tolerant neighbour/friend route. Also, does she meet anyone on her walks which you are friendly with? friendly enough to have them come over for a cuppa? i find that mine is much better with doggie owners than non doggie owners.


i also let guest know when they enter to ignore her but put their hand out. not to look her in the eye, and if they want, crouch down on their knees, but not leaning over.... this way she can sniff and back away quickly.

bagginslover

I agree with the above, shouting at her when she is already afraid will just compoud the problem and make her worse. You need to totally ignore her while she is noisy, not even a 'no' as she isn't actually being naughty, and being afraid isn't her fault, as soon as she is quiet, even for a moment, praise her, give her a treat (by hand, not thrown at her).

Are your visitors smokers? Do they wear strong perfumes or scents? are men with (or without, what ever is opposite to the man in your house if there is one) facial hair reacted to strongly? How did you first approach her so that she knew you were OK and not to be scared of? Are visitors approaching her differently? Does she 'greet' the visitors ate the door, or do you bring her out once they are already in (some dogs, especially those with guarding tendancies don't like to see people entering). Any of these things (and more!) could have an effect on how she sees someone, especially if they remind her of past bad experiences.

I'd be interested to know how its a foster arrangement if she's not from a rescue, who are you fostering her for?

fairymoneysaver

Thanks for your replies. I have a neighbour who will probably help so will try with her first. The dog seems to be better with females anyway. Very hard to ignore a constantly growling/barking dog but we will try - not try we will! and get the rest of the family on board!
Meeting the visitor outside seems a very good idea, she (the dog) met our dog and us at the kennels and we all came home together with no problems.
I will stop the shouting at her, I didn't think it was a good idea but was losing the will to live at this point

bethie

mine doesnt like men, especially men in hats! men have to have hats off in the house or else she wont settle... even if she has met the person before.

she settles much faster with females, but probably because the females tend to smell like her dog friends.....

she used to dislike senior citizens as well. especially ones with zimmer frames or canes.


i think it really is just practice. 3 years on my girl will now tolerate having engineers/painter/decorators in the house... but only just. a few good woofs and growls, hackles, running up, sniffing their hand and then watching them for the rest of the day.... plus every time they re-enter the house it starts again...


but to be honest, I much prefer her doing that, then trying to lick everyone to death... and, a defacto guard dog! (as much as a guard dog can be cowering behind the owner!!!)

hethmar

Strangely, I just arranged for my cousin to foster a dog with a view to adopt - a GSD. He had the same problems, once she got her paws under the table she is possessive of him and will growl and bark at visitors. He has now overcome this by taking her out of the room and putting her in the kitchen once she starts - letting her back in with the visitors after 5 minutes and if she starts again, out she goes again into the kitchen. She seems to have learnt quite quickly that she misses out on the fun if she barks or growls when people are there and cross fingers rarely does so now, after just a couple of weeks.

fairymoneysaver

Thanks for that hethmar. Do you know if the dog could see/hear your cousin and the visitors from the kitchen? Also was the dog barking in the other room? We tried shutting her out but her barking became more frantic.
I think we have a little progress today. A female neighbour arrived who didn't need telling to ignore the dog, she never made eye contact the whole time she was here. I gave the neighbour some dog treats and she held her hand out, my very sociable dog couldn't get there quick enough then foster dog quietly took a treat then retreated back to me and settled quite quickly. She hardly barked and I praised her for being quiet then when she gave out the odd random growl/bark I turned my back on her, this seemed to work, she even lay down and ignored vistor for a while.