Handshy girl

[Blistory]

Would really appreciate some advice on how to deal with a 1 year old who has suddenly started reacting to being petted.

By way of background, have had her since 8 weeks old and everyday she gets walked in the city centre and must be approached by between 10 - 15 people a day. She is fine at the park and at the beach but is generally off lead then. Recently when in town, she has started backing away, tail wagging when stranger men (only men never anyone else) reach out their hands. If they persist even just leaving their hand for her to sniff, she has been known to airsnap. I've tried repeatedly telling them not to approach her but they don't listen and I really don't want this to escalate. Timidity can run in her breed but this is just showing up for the first time and only with some men.

Have tried teaching her to bump her nose with outstretched hands ( works with everyone but the scary men) have tried having treats passed to her by men she's scared of but she's getting worse. Really don't want to resort to muzzling if I can avoid it but nor do I want this to escalate. She's a very striking dog and people seem unable to ignore her and not approach her.

Would welcome any ideas - thanks

I had that with a pup who looked very cute. People would walk up and pick her up. I had to be very insistent and quite arsy to stop people doing it. For some time she would back up and bark/growl if people, particularly men, put their hand out. It passed after a few months. You might find you have to tell people not to approach for a while. Is it necessary that she bumps strange hands?

The bumping her nose against hands was told to me by a behaviourist so that she had something positive to be treated for.

It's reassuring to hear that this might just be a stage as I'm reluctant to have her do something that she fears. The problem is that she's so big that she's just the right height for people to drag a hand along her when passing in the street. She looks like a big friendly bear but is still very puppyish.

Thanks for the advice

I can see the logic of the behaviourist, but am not sure it's natural for dogs to approach all and sundry in that way. I usually find that dogs who do that are overly exuberant. A tail wag is enough and she'll be more friendly with people that she knows. It might be easier for you to be the only one that dispenses treats. So when she's good and tolerates a random idiot touching her she gets a treat from you. It would keep the attention on you so you can reassure etc. I try to stick to the same words in those situations. 'Be gentle' is a good one as it also gives a hint to the person. Good luck and congratulations on your new dog. You'll be a good owner as you care about these things. There's always something to learn with dogs.

I think some people find it really useful to teach their dog to say hi by touching hands, as it gives them an alternative to jumping on people. So it's a good thing to teach.

Dogs have a fear stage at some point between 8 and 14 months, so it could be that she is in her last fear stage.

Am totally in favour of anything that stops dogs jumping up but this seems counter-intuitive. Anyway, always good to learn something new. Will look it up.

How are they touching her? It's not uncommon for dogs to be fearful of hands going over the top of their heads.

We have a new foster in atm who is a bit nervy. He has snapped at DH when he went to stroke him, but has been fine with me and dd2 who know to place our hands under his head or to the side of him, where he can see us and gauge our intentions better.

Generally when she backs off, she's being offered the back of a hand at nose height. She approaches herself but then goes into what looks like a playbow, backs off and then lunges with an airsnap.

It's only being going on for a few weeks and it's only some men that she does it with. She has really good bite inhibition in any event and has never made contact but I'm not really keen on testing her too much. Happy to go out of my way to avoid these situations if it is possibly a fear period but if it's a sign of what's to come, I'd rather address it before it becomes ingrained.