Shih Tzu rescue....

[Girliefriendlikesflowers]

We now have our little female Shih Tzu rescue (previously posted for advice about the breed!) She is settling in really well and dd and I love her already!

The only few issues we are having are;

Walking her, she walks fine on a lead (doesn't pull, has a harness) but seems terrified off other dogs. This came as a surprise to me as she came from a rescue where she was living with 20 other dogs!! She completely panics if another dog comes over to say hello and nearly threw herself in the river yesterday in order to avoid a dog!!

She is also scared stiff of small children.

She has a habit of doing this really grim fishy odour thing when she is scared which according to Google is something they release from their anal glands. This has only happened a couple of times and will be something I will discuss with the vet next week (she is booked in to be spayed.)

Any words of wisdom ye experienced ones?

You need to train her to focus totally on you, use a clicker and a watch me command with treats/toy whatever reward works for her, so when other dogs go past she is ignoring them. If people see you're clearly training they tend to give you a wide berth!

Oh o.kay thank you Pansy i hadn't thought of that! So when something goes past her that I can see is going to stress her out (today she freaked because a girl went by on her scooter) i need to get her attention and keep it on me?

Yes, train her at home so get her to.look at you, click with clicker then give her a treat, play with a toy she likes and use a voice that keeps her attention on you. Practice outside with things like bikes or people going past and try to keep her focus on you. If you see anything coming that would stress her try to put some distance between you and it and then do the 'watch me' thing getting her attention. I am sure someone will come along who can explain this better than me!

That is really really helpful, will pick up a clicker tomos.

She has been so good generally but she just seems stressed on walks rather than enjoying them iyswim.

Take walks really slowly and even if it's 5 minutes but positive then that's better than a stressy half hour. Good luck 🙂

Can't offer any advice, but had to say she is lovely and a lucky girl to have a great home.