This is my first time posting here but I do read a lot of the posts and they have been helpful with training my rescue dog.
My boyfriend and I adopted an 8 year old pit terrier mix about 2 months ago. He is really sweet and cuddly, easy to train, and overall really well behaved. So much so that I sometimes forget he is an 8 y/o rescue that will have some quirks.
We could tell pretty quickly that he was previously abused wherever he was before the shelter because he used to cower and wince when we pulled the leash and he growls and gets defensive when you try to grab his collar to move him. He doesn’t seem scared from the leash anymore but he is still sensitive to his collar being touched so we have avoided pulling on his collar.
The thing that has come up recently that I am unsure how to deal with is his reactivity to certain strangers. We see people/strangers all the time because we live in a city where there are a lot of other dogs and people and he meets new people and new dogs probably every day. He is friendly and playful to the dogs and doesn’t really pay attention to the people. He has let numerous people pet him and he has been fine and friendly. Kids will literally run up (without my permission) and hug him and hang on him and he, shockingly, doesn’t care and we just go on with our walk.
A couple times though, someone comes up and puts their hand out to have him sniff, he backs away and starts barking and lunging at the person and he goes into defense mode. This has happened twice now and both times it was a taller white guy that was reaching down offering the back of their hand for our dog to sniff and our dog reacted aggressively towards them. Mind you, I am completely fine telling people not to pet him but people don’t always ask so it’s not like the situation will be 100% avoidable. He is rather anxious in new environments, but we take him to new places and I train with him every day and he has built a lot of confidence over the past couple months with us so I have faith that he will get better over time. I’m not exactly sure how to deal with the reactivity toward certain strangers though. Any advice is appreciated!
My boyfriend and I adopted an 8 year old pit terrier mix about 2 months ago. He is really sweet and cuddly, easy to train, and overall really well behaved. So much so that I sometimes forget he is an 8 y/o rescue that will have some quirks.
We could tell pretty quickly that he was previously abused wherever he was before the shelter because he used to cower and wince when we pulled the leash and he growls and gets defensive when you try to grab his collar to move him. He doesn’t seem scared from the leash anymore but he is still sensitive to his collar being touched so we have avoided pulling on his collar.
The thing that has come up recently that I am unsure how to deal with is his reactivity to certain strangers. We see people/strangers all the time because we live in a city where there are a lot of other dogs and people and he meets new people and new dogs probably every day. He is friendly and playful to the dogs and doesn’t really pay attention to the people. He has let numerous people pet him and he has been fine and friendly. Kids will literally run up (without my permission) and hug him and hang on him and he, shockingly, doesn’t care and we just go on with our walk.
A couple times though, someone comes up and puts their hand out to have him sniff, he backs away and starts barking and lunging at the person and he goes into defense mode. This has happened twice now and both times it was a taller white guy that was reaching down offering the back of their hand for our dog to sniff and our dog reacted aggressively towards them. Mind you, I am completely fine telling people not to pet him but people don’t always ask so it’s not like the situation will be 100% avoidable. He is rather anxious in new environments, but we take him to new places and I train with him every day and he has built a lot of confidence over the past couple months with us so I have faith that he will get better over time. I’m not exactly sure how to deal with the reactivity toward certain strangers though. Any advice is appreciated!