Misha improving with strangers

I wrote a few weeks ago about how we have a new gardener. I decided to take this as an opportunity to get Misha used to a strange the right way. Something new for me. I learned when my stranger cousins came over that Misha has a different attitude meeting people out front as opposed to the front door, so they've had all their meetings outside.

He has been here about four times--every other week. So, it's been two months give or take.

I have a routine. When he arrives, I get her excited that someone she likes has come over. Then, I take her outside to greet the truck and smell around. She meets the gardener, too, though at a distance. Then, we take a short walk around. I bring her inside and she gets one of her soft treats in her treat ball.

At first, she was awful. She barked every time she heard his voice. The second time he surprised us by arriving two hours late so I wasn't fully ready. She barked when she heard his voice, but not as much. The third time was much better, though she was terrified when he brought the mower off the truck and would not look at him. She wanted to flee. She came in the house, had her treat, and seemed to settle down.

So, today, we did our routine. I took her out front. She kept her distance. She seems to be afraid of the truck and the gardener now. We took a little walk. Then, I brought her in to reward her because she did not bark at all. I needed to do something on the computer. I had her on leash so she wouldn't run to the door and have a bark fest.

Do you know what happened? She fell asleep! She didn't even think about the gardener once we were in the house. She was too tired. LOL

I think that is a definite an improvement. She is now able with some work to relax while he is outside. I'm not sure she is ready to be off leash while he is here though.

I'm not concerned about her being afraid. When she is afraid like this, she runs and hides. This is the same thing she does when my brother comes over. For some reason she has always been afraid of him even though he has always been nice to her. When he comes over she hides in her tent. If she does this with the gardener, without the barking, I would be happy. I don't expect them to be best friends. I just don't want her to bark the whole time he is here or to attack him.

So, it appears my experiment is working. We'll see in another month or so. Maybe the gardener can be outside and Misha inside and we can all be happy.

 

Good luck, Melody.

By the way, have you tried asking the gardener and your brother to go down to Misha's level and have her smell him (or the back of his hand). I'm sure it will make it a lot easier for Misha to match a familiar smell with a familiar sound. Given that's how they introduce each other in the dog world, It might just speed up her learning process. Hopefully the barking will stop sooner than you expect and she might even stop running away.

 

Congratulations Melody.You must be pretty chuffed. I hope you succeed in your endeavour.
I took Mishka to the vet on Monday and suggested the vet put a muzzle on Mishka when she was going to examined her.Mishka instead got a tummy rub and let the lovely new vet proceed with checking her out.
I was also quite happy of my dogs behaviour.

 

haopee, I have tried that with my brother. The strange thing is he and Misha got along well at first. Then, at some point she became afraid of him. I can't pinpoint any event. He has never been mean to her. Maybe he played too rough with her at one point. At any rate, she doesn't even like to be in the room with him. Even if he ignores her like the trainers say to do, she is never curious enough to come up to him.

We had a funny incident a year ago. My Mom was in the living and looked behind the TV stand. There was poop on a shelf (it is a ground level shelf) in the back of the stand! We both were baffled because with all Misha's crazy problems she has never pooped in the house. Later, it dawned on us what had happened. We had a family birthday party a week or so before. My brother was sitting in the chair closest to the TV watching football. Misha must have gotten "trapped" behind him. She had to go so bad that she finally decided it would be better to poop behind the TV than to run past him. We laughed so hard when we thought of this!

Argon, That's really great news. My Veterinarian told me something when I had to take in Misha for an anal gland rupture last Spring. I explained that Misha was terrible at the Vets because of a traumatic time at the emergency clinic. They decided to give her a sedative so they could do what they needed to do. But, when I returned she was holding Misha in her arms. She told me some dogs are "less restraint" dogs. She explained that some dogs are easier to work with if you don't try to muzzle them. They used a towel over her head! It looks like your Mischka does a lot better than Misha!

If this works with the gardener, then I think I have the answers to meeting strangers. Start outside the house where she is less protective, then work inside.

 

It's great, Melody! Congratulations . My Homer still doesn't tolerate any visitors. My grandparents visit me once a year so he considers them strangers and he hates them, he barks like crazy all they long if they're in the house . And today I discovered that he hates our new postman - he tried to bite him

 

Well that's good news that Misha is starting to improve around your gardener. Apparently you did the right thing in preparing her and putting her on a leash. I know what its like to have strangers around the home such as delivery men and city workers,which make your dogs agitated, but this is a rarity around my home, so it can be handled. In your case you had to figure out a way to get this under control because the gardener was coming back often. I hope Misha gets over her problem with your brother. You would think he wouldn't be considered a stranger to her, so who knows why this is happening.

 

Claudine, Misha is terrible with the postal carrier, too. But, so was Sierra. It is natural, I think. Dogs look to us for clues. The postal carrier, FED EX delivery person, etc. are people who come up on the porch but are not invited in. Dogs see that as an intruder. Sometimes we pass the postal carrier on our walk. I switch sides of the street. It is not worth terrifying the poor woman!

Pafjlh, it has become the running joke in the family. He has really tried to befriend her. It's sad when someone quivers and shakes at your mere presence.

When she had her hood on after a medical procedure, my brother came to do some work on the roof. Misha was with me and then she was gone. I found her with her head under my Mom's bedroom table with her butt sticking out. She figured if she couldn't see him he wasn't there! She stayed this way until he left.

 

That's great news, I'm pleased to hear how much she has improved!