Hey there! First post here, so please forgive any mistakes I may make along the way. I have a question about my dog. As the title states, she is about 1.5 Y/O (spayed), and is super sweet and loving, but only when she knows someone WELL.
For context, I work in a mom & pop shop and it is usually just me here most days. I bring my dog to work because the commute is long and no one can let her out most of the time so it helps her out and lets me have a friend when it's slow at work! I keep her on a ten foot cable leash behind the counter so she doesn't roam too much or scare those who are not fond of dogs, which kind of comes to the issue. To elaborate on what I mean, my brother comes down here and helps me out some days depending on what he's doing. It took her about four weeks of seeing him two days a week to not dart the other way from him when he came in, basically about eight days of exposure. He had it a bit easier, because with the cable she couldn't go far, so he could pet her and let her know he was not a threat. With most customers though, she will bark at them if they try and reach their hand over to pet her or introduce themselves and it's kind of embarrassing. One particular customer has come in weekly for four months bringing her treats each visit and she still will scamper away from him and softly bark until he sets the treat on the ground and walks away.
Is there a way that I can help her get over this fear and shyness around new people? She has never bitten or shown aggression, just a kind of nervousness. She also has had no bad experiences with anyone that I know of, and I'd like her to be able to stay at the store with me when possible, but sometimes I feel like I'm juggling helping customers, and controlling her which is a difficult ask especially when there's more than one group in the store.
Any advice or tips? Thanks so much in advance!
TL;DR - My 1.5 Y/O female dog does not like new people, and does not warm up to people unless she has a lot of exposure to them. How do I help her understand that people coming and going into the place I work at are not a threat?
For context, I work in a mom & pop shop and it is usually just me here most days. I bring my dog to work because the commute is long and no one can let her out most of the time so it helps her out and lets me have a friend when it's slow at work! I keep her on a ten foot cable leash behind the counter so she doesn't roam too much or scare those who are not fond of dogs, which kind of comes to the issue. To elaborate on what I mean, my brother comes down here and helps me out some days depending on what he's doing. It took her about four weeks of seeing him two days a week to not dart the other way from him when he came in, basically about eight days of exposure. He had it a bit easier, because with the cable she couldn't go far, so he could pet her and let her know he was not a threat. With most customers though, she will bark at them if they try and reach their hand over to pet her or introduce themselves and it's kind of embarrassing. One particular customer has come in weekly for four months bringing her treats each visit and she still will scamper away from him and softly bark until he sets the treat on the ground and walks away.
Is there a way that I can help her get over this fear and shyness around new people? She has never bitten or shown aggression, just a kind of nervousness. She also has had no bad experiences with anyone that I know of, and I'd like her to be able to stay at the store with me when possible, but sometimes I feel like I'm juggling helping customers, and controlling her which is a difficult ask especially when there's more than one group in the store.
Any advice or tips? Thanks so much in advance!
TL;DR - My 1.5 Y/O female dog does not like new people, and does not warm up to people unless she has a lot of exposure to them. How do I help her understand that people coming and going into the place I work at are not a threat?