How do you break a dog of a “fear of men”?
Written by admin on April 13, 2010 – 12:36 pm -Friends of ours recently adopted a 2-year old male lab mix. The dog is afraid of all males. He is not aggressive, but cowers and pees on the floor if any guy comes near him. What can they do?
Tags: break, fear
Posted in People | 7 Comments »
By Heather Lee on Apr 13, 2010 | Reply
First you have to get to his level, sit on the ground and just feed him treats and tell him he’s a good boy and be soft about it, and each time you feed him a treat, bring your hand in a little so he has to get closer to you, and when you think he’s comfortable enough try to pet him gently
By Chelsea on Apr 13, 2010 | Reply
Try putting a box of treats outside your door so whenever a man comes in he brings a treat with him. Make it a different treat, not one he normally gets, but a really good smelly and tasty one and have it reserved for men to give only. Or you could try introducing the dog into the room after the men are sitting down or already in the room. Hope it works!
By wiiuser2463 on Apr 13, 2010 | Reply
you have to wait until he will accept them… you can force him to
By jessiemj1990@sbcglobal.net on Apr 13, 2010 | Reply
they can try training him to think that males are great thinkgs to be around. when they are walking the dog outside they can have a male friend walk buy and call the dogs name and throw a peice of chciken or any treat to him. this will take a little bit for him to get used to them. then once he gets used to the males outside take it into the house and do the same thing. it might take a while but its all worth it. good luck.
By Corky :) on Apr 13, 2010 | Reply
Poor puppy.
That’s weird!
By Patient Paws on Apr 13, 2010 | Reply
First- stop looking at this like its a problem.
“Breaking” the dog of it won’t do a damn thing buy damage the dogs confidence to a worse point.
I strongly suggest showing your friends this question and allowing them to be informed that this is not a habit or anything like that, which can be cured overnight, but this is a disorder that must be handled as such.
Find a behaviorist in your area and have the dog evaluated. His fear most likely stems from under confidence, abuse by a male, or no socialization with men as a puppy.
Begin training with every man that comes into the home tossing chicken at the dog and walking on. When the dog takes the chicken- praise.
Do this EVERY time some new man (or a familiar) comes into the home. When you’re walking on the street and the dog sees a man, treat with chicken and say “man” (or another male-related word).
This will help the dog associate men with food, and to take away the first instinct of fear.
By Vashti on Apr 13, 2010 | Reply
The dog is scared and submissive towards men because a man or men were mean and abusive to him in his past.
All they can do is be patient and work with the dog to gain his trust. It will get better with time, but his inherent distrust of men will never completely go away.