Timid boxer looking for Agility North of Boston Ma.

[dsgordon]

Hi,
I have a 5 month old male brindle boxer Monty.
I have been taking him to obedience training.
We are curently working on his second set of clases as he has completed puppy kindergarden. He has been doing well with his obedience.

Monty is a litlle shy and timid. When meeting new stranges he wiggles that hole body, sometimes crouches with ears back, and even submisive uranating on occasion. (Not for my wife and I only strangers although he gets very exited to see us) I live in a city but my neighborhood is very quiet. When we get to the end of the block were there is a lot of traffic he is also skidish.
But he has no trouble ridding in the car and is not spooked by traffic there.

We have worked on ignoring him when first greating untill he relaxes a little. Tried working with strangers but he is so quite that every loves him.
I have also been letting him win his share when playing tug of war.

Have searched BW about shy and timid and still hope that it might be a fase he will grow out of.

Monty and I have been attending training at our Vet as they also do training.
He is doing well but I will admit he is not always food motivated and is a picky eater to. Of course he is beter at home than class and would rather socialize with peaple or other dogs than get a food reward. Infact he is not timid at class (Was a wimp in puppy class during play time but does not have a problem at all now)

At our last class I brought up the subject again and the trainer sugested looking on the internet into agility to build confidense.

Do you think this is a good sugestion?
Any idea's for a location and trainer north of boston massachusetts.

Thanks in advance.
Dave

 

[boxer]

Getting your pup out and about, and into as many fun activities that bring him into contact with strange people and dogs is great. That could include agility, but only to a degree. You'd need to be very cautious about it's demands on his body at this age. In particular, he shouldn't be asked to do any weaving or jumping until he's mature - meaning at very least 18 months old, but better to wait till 2 years for a boxer

If you can leave those sorts of activities out, then I'd say the rest of the class and activities would be great for him. Continued obedience classes will also help build his confidence, as it will help teach him how to behave and offer lots of opportunities to reward and encourage him

 

[Thomas Liggin]

Indy was not motivated by food for training at first. Tried the various treats including the freeze dried liver, without much luck. Monty sounds like a clone of Indy at training classes.

But, then I was told about string cheese. It is reasonably priced if you buy the 12 pack (I think), may have been a few more or less. You can easily peel strips from them, then offer small pieces from the strips. One cylinder of cheese may last for an entire training session.

Also, try bacon. Cook until crisp, and use paper towels to absorb as much grease as possible. Break it into small (not tiny) bits, and store in a zip lock sandwich bag. Keep a rag or a few paper towels when using. Your fingers may get a little messy.

Some Boxers can be timid as puppies and juveniles. They usually grow out of it. Monty will probably do the same. At five months of age, I wouldn't be concerned.

Indy used to be terrified whenever a large truck passed while we were walking. He would literally panic, and go into a frenzy. He was about Monty's age, maybe a month or two older. I don't remember just when he got past that stage. But at just over a year, he would challenge the trash truck when it would empty our dumpster.

There is not much that is noisier and more startling than swinging the dumpster up over the top of the truck, then the clanging that results when they empty its contents.

He'll go to the chain link fence which is only a few feet from the dumpster, and will bark menacingly at it through the whole noisy process. As it leaves, he proudly returns to the house with his head held high, obviously quite pleased with the results of his efforts.


Tom

 

[Jan]

Agility can be a great confidence builder. You need to find a class that is designed for puppies as too much jumping etc can be hard on the joints.

 

[Kerry Jane]

Great idea!

Agility is a great idea. Check out classes in your area to see what is available. My puppy started going to agility classes when she was 6 months old - but these specific classes started off very slowly, and initially it was a lot of obedience work (related to agility), and a very, very slow start on a lot of the obstacles. Only recently (she is now 19 months old) have we started to do a lot of weaves (which you don't want to do when they are young) and she probably isn't even jumping full height yet.
We had a lab in one of our initial classes that was incredibly timid and by the end of 12 weeks of classes it was amazing to see the difference in the dog. It certainly did build confidence.
I would recommend finding a class that starts out slow, and where the instructor is mindful of the fact (and okay with it) that you still have a puppy who won't be able to do certain things.
It is a tremendous amount of fun!