# HELP! 5mo. old puppy (super submissive and sweet) needing SOCIALIZING with SWEET dogs



## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

HELP! 5mo. old puppy (super submissive and sweet) needing socializing with SWEET dogs (CENTRAL INDIANA)

My baby Lou is the sweetest thing, my vet said: "she will never be an agressive dog, she just doesnt have that in her, she is a completely submissive sweetie".(I asked him, since she is going to get so big) Example: first time at the vet, he was sticking something inside her ear that hurts (she had an infection) and some dogs would growl or try to bite and she licked him "telling" him it hurts.. awww 

Another example, when I was potty training her (ive only had her for 1 month) and she had an accident in the housse and I yelled: "NO!" and she would immediately run and lay on her back, tummy up with her little tail wagging fast, kinda like: "sorry momma, sorry!" hehehehe and of course, I'd give her hugs and kisses cause she is too cute for me to stay mad at her for more than 2 minutes. She is doing great with potty outside now. she lets me know when she has to go.

*IMPORTANT POINT: she has been recently attacked by 2 small dogs a few days ago, (the dogs were REALLY going at her, I cryed for days) tghey didnt hurt her because their mouth were small and her coat is thick and long,(and she is big for her age) but she cryied loud and SHE DID NOT BITE BACK. 
SHE REALLY NEEDS TO MEET NICE/FRIENDLY/SWEET/SUBMISSIVE DOGS, SO SHE LEARNS NOT TO BE SCARED OF OTHER DOGS.*

She is shy, but I tell her "It's ok" and she knows what that means and after a few minutes she lets people pet her and lick them a lot (when we are out of the house) A 2 year old boy petted her yesterday and she licked him even though he was jumping around and making noise which made her skittish, but she still wagged her tail, let him pet her and licked his little hand.

Any People that come in our house she knows are friends and she is not scared of them or shy at all.

She has barked at other dogs but ONLY when they bark first, I taught her to sit down next to my leg and observe when she is worried/scared of something, and she does. UNLESS what she is afraid of takes off in our direction, then she wants to flee, of course.

so, if there are any "sweet dog" owners out there, that would like to help my baby Lou, Id trully appreciate it. I tried to find "dog groups" in the area but found nothing. Lets socialize! (even if slowly) 

MANY HUGS FROM ME AND LOU TO ALL..... THANKS!!! 
pictures below show her submissive/sweet personality
The picture sitting up on the couch shows her size now at 5 months old.


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## rubymom (Apr 24, 2010)

Aww, wish we lived near! Ruby would play nicely with your girl! Keep trying to find positive experiences for her and she will become more confident before your eyes!


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## Poodlelvr (Mar 13, 2010)

I'm not anywhere near you or I'd bring my two over to meet your girl. Are there any good training classes anywhere near you. I've taken two of my dogs to Puppy Kindergarten classes mostly for socialization. I've owned dogs for many years, so I don't need help with basics, but I liked the idea of letting my puppies interact with other dogs and humans in a controlled environment. In both cases I think I made the right decision. In the puppy classes the trainers asked us to let 2-3 well matched dogs off leash for a few minutes(among other things). I'm lucky to have a place I respect in my area. Before you take your girl anywhere I'd observe a class and make sure I like what they're doing.


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## MaryLynn (Sep 8, 2012)

Aw she needs a boost in confidence! 

Remember, you can also give her this boost too. Play lots of games with her, and challenge her intellect regularly. My boy is super shy, too, and it really helps!


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Rubymom thanks so much for rhe sweet message it made me smile! Ive been having trouble with people in general, have been extremely disapointed in humanity in general, and messages like these trully help me not feel so sad, thank you so much!!! 


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Poodlelvr thank you!! Wouldnt it be nice if we could meet ( all you guys that responded) I really appreciate it!! Yes I am definitely considering puppy classes but in this 1 month that Ive had her she has only been in a vehicle a few times and it took me 2 hours to clean it up afterwards LOL uf ya know what I mean, she gets motionsickness and drools so much and vomits, one time she even pooped (but on the way BACK HOME she slept most if the way and only vomited a tiny bit when we stopped the truck as we parked it) so..... I may have to take her to a few short rides first, to somewhere fun (if I can cone up with something) so she us not so scared in the vehicle and gets used to the movement... But it is in my plans to get trainning classes with other puppies, will it be too late if I wait 1 month? She will be 6 months old.... THANK U ALL. 


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Marylynn I spend almost 24/7 with her  watching her every mood to train her and give her lots if love . We play fun games like hidding the toy under my legs and she digs and shoves her face and paw under my leg trying to get the toy!!! LOL She totally loves it, its her favorite game  we also play fetch till she gets tired hehehe and other , i take out to potty everytime she "asks me to go" and we also gi outside just to sig there abd watch people walk by and when she us calm I give her cheese.... Etc etc etc Do you have any more suggestions that may help? Any info us always welcome!!! Thank you :-D


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Grrrrr sorry for all the typos! I try my best , but Im horrible at typing on touchscreen LOL


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## Marcoislandmom (Mar 15, 2012)

By telling her, when she is frightened, that everything will be OK, you are encouraging the same activity. You are absolutely right that you need to socialize her, however stop comforting her and be matter of fact as though nothing much happened. You might try puppy kindergarten or training ... and remember, every interaction should be matter of fact, not comforting.

As long as there is no injury, there should be no response, be it potty accidents (where no is construed as a recognition therefore reinforcement of bad behaviour) to shyness (where "it's OK and everything will be fine") will be received as encouraging the shy behaviour.

Really, puppy school would be her best bet; find one where postive interaction between puppies is reinforced. Any that end with AKC star puppy are probably better designed programs.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Sophy had terrible car sickness as a pup - she started drooling before she even got in, and was sick on every journey. I worked on desensitising and counter conditioning, spending lots of time just sitting in the car reading, and feeding her the occasional bit of chicken. After a few days we progressed to driving a few yards, and eventually to driving down to the river for walks. Ginger also helped - and she loved the gingernut biscuits! I still try to avoid driving on twisty roads, or sudden starting and stopping, but on the whole once she stopped being frightened by the car the sickness improved enormously.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

fjm said:


> Sophy had terrible car sickness as a pup - she started drooling before she even got in, and was sick on every journey. I worked on desensitising and counter conditioning, spending lots of time just sitting in the car reading, and feeding her the occasional bit of chicken. After a few days we progressed to driving a few yards, and eventually to driving down to the river for walks. Ginger also helped - and she loved the gingernut biscuits! I still try to avoid driving on twisty roads, or sudden starting and stopping, but on the whole once she stopped being frightened by the car the sickness improved enormously.


FJM, that sounds like a great plan, I had though of that myself, but ... I love my truck (its really my perfect truck LOL) and she has "trashed" it every time...(took me 2 hours to clean it up) and the XL crate wont fit in the other truck (smaller interior space).. So... Mmmm, hubby also said he would _prefer_ to not have "that" happen again... OK... I love Lou and yes.. you are right its the best way to tackle this issue... hey! I will buy a plastic cover for the seat and floor!!! haha woot!!  Im glad it worked for you and your puppy, THANK YOU!


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

I have been taking her to puppy classes  and hired a trainer as well.

She does fine at petsmart with all the dogs around, she is skittish, but the trainer there said she is not scared, just unsure.

The private trainer brought 2 of her dogs in my house, Lou was fine!! :-D
She acted curious and after a minute or 2 she started wanting to play like jumping a bit, the other dogs ate her food, played with her toys, she didn't care one bit!! Im sooooooooooooo happy!!!!

Just wanted to post this here 

She does jump back sometimes (if a dog comes to sniff her too abruptly).. LOL 
But she sniffs their butt and approach them as well, 

I also took her to a groomer, that leaves the "friendly" dogs loose in this room with glass walls. where they can see the dogs, and Lou was there with big and small dogs, when I went to pick her up, she seemed comfortable and confident!

YAAAAAAAAAY! but like I said I gotta keep reinforcing it... on thursday Lou is going to meet my 2nd favorite dog in the entire world. His name is Colt he is a 100 lb English labrador! (Lou is 6 months old and she is already his size H and L), just not as heavy, she is thin and long legged. Colt is all muscle! LOL) I hope they will be best friends 
pictures below :


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## AngelsMommy (Nov 3, 2012)

I am happy to hear that Lou is doing so well. 

I hope the car sickness is a thing of the past as well. If you do have any more problems, my mom had to use Dramamine on one of her poodles. It worked like a charm, he grew to love travel he just had a tender tummy. 
But even in his later years if we forgot the Dramamine it had bad results. The vet assured her some dogs just need a little help that way. 

My sis was the same way, you did not want her on a curvy road without Dramamine.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

AngelsMommy said:


> I am happy to hear that Lou is doing so well.
> 
> I hope the car sickness is a thing of the past as well. If you do have any more problems, my mom had to use Dramamine on one of her poodles. It worked like a charm, he grew to love travel he just had a tender tummy.
> But even in his later years if we forgot the Dramamine it had bad results. The vet assured her some dogs just need a little help that way.
> ...


Thanks so much! :-D

Yeah... she has been able to make short trips to petsmart's classes on sundays (about 6 or 7 miles away - only 3 turns LOL) If I sit on the back seat while hubby drives and I keep her entertained by giving her tiny pieces of cheese every so often, she doesn't gag as much, but some days she'll lay down and almost fall asleep which is great, but then again if we hit the breaks a little too hard and she slides a bit in her crate she sits up and gets a lil antsy and sometimes gags, but she has not vomited in a while... A couple times I drove her (by myself) and she was in her crate in the back seat, and she didn't vomit at all, not on the way there or on the way back. I drove like I had a coffee cup on the dash board HAHAHAHA people behind me probably thought I was 100 yrs old or somethin..

we'll keep working on it..and if it doesnt get better we will definitely use the dramamin and go anywhere and everywhere!! 

Again thank you so much!


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## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

One of my puppies was carsick every time going to her obedience classes. She outgrew it and now travels long distances and just sleeps.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

petitpie said:


> One of my puppies was carsick every time going to her obedience classes. She outgrew it and now travels long distances and just sleeps.


Great to hear that! Thanks for sharing that, it makes me feel optimistic 

My schnauzers i had years ago were small, so they laid on the floor almost under the seat and passed out for the entire road trips...

I hope Lou gets there, but as I said above, thank goodness there's dramamin if she doesnt !


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

petitpie said:


> One of my puppies was carsick every time going to her obedience classes. She outgrew it and now travels long distances and just sleeps.


Great to hear that! Thanks for sharing that, it makes me feel optimistic 

My schnauzers i had years ago were small, so they laid on the floor almost under the seat and passed out for the entire road trips...

I hope Lou gets there, but as I said above, thank goodness there's dramamin if she doesnt !


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## Catriona (Nov 16, 2012)

Car sickness usually comes down to balance in puppies. Get her walking along planks of wood, walking up and down steps, lay a cardboard box on the floor, cover with a blanket or something and get her to walk over it. It will squash down as she does, so she will have to work on her balance. Anything that helps her with her foot placement and balance, get her to go on. DO NOT force her onto things, let her do it when she feels comfortable, just throw food on and around whatever you're using and let her go find it all! All this will be a great interactive game for her as well that will really help her confidence. If you have space set up a mini obstacle course with loads of different things for her to walk on and climb over. Hope that gives you a few ideas and helps! Lou is such a cutie!


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Catriona said:


> Car sickness usually comes down to balance in puppies. Get her walking along planks of wood, walking up and down steps, lay a cardboard box on the floor, cover with a blanket or something and get her to walk over it. It will squash down as she does, so she will have to work on her balance. Anything that helps her with her foot placement and balance, get her to go on. DO NOT force her onto things, let her do it when she feels comfortable, just throw food on and around whatever you're using and let her go find it all! All this will be a great interactive game for her as well that will really help her confidence. If you have space set up a mini obstacle course with loads of different things for her to walk on and climb over. Hope that gives you a few ideas and helps! Lou is such a cutie!


Thank you so much! That is great info! and it makes sense too.. I will work on that :-D


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## Lily's-Mom (May 31, 2012)

Wish I were closer - Lily could use a doggie friend too.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

Lily's-Mom said:


> Wish I were closer - Lily could use a doggie friend too.


awwwww <3 I wish so too! Lou is a sweetie (she is just shy/unsure) but I'm sure just they'd warm up to eacho ther in a few minutes and have tons of fun together!


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