What is it with so many Staffordshire Bull Terriers? Is it a genetic tendency I wonder? Nervous dog Tom is yet another Staffie who is fearful of the outside world and reluctant to walk.
Tom drools when he is scared. He does a lot of drooling on walks.
A new Staffie puppy
The other day they brought home a new Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy. Buster is a nine week old heart-breaker with a coat of grey velvet.
They first brought home something that smelt of the puppy to introduce his scent to Tom.
Tom already drooled with anxiety.
When puppy arrived, the poor nervous dog was really scared of him and drooled continuously. Over the past three days he has improved but still likes to keep out of the enthusiastic puppy’s way.
One surprising development is that the four-year-old Tom, still young, sometimes now initiates play. Strangely he’s not a nervous dog with Buster when they play. He bows and barks to Buster to get him to chase him.
There is only so much he can take though, and then he’s back to his nervous, quiet self and retires.
Buster follows him into the corner and Tom then drools or tries to escape. It’s like he is expecting to be told off or punished when the puppy is near him (something which definitely isn’t happening).
The big outside world.
They have had Tom for five months now and it’s clear he didn’t get the best start when he was Buster’s age.
So this doesn’t happen with Buster, with my help they will make sure he is properly introduced to the outside word of dogs, people, vehicles, wheelie bins, paper bags, buggies and so on. All the experiences should be positive and not ‘too much’. In moderation.
The clock is ticking. Buster needs plenty of early exposure before he is fully vaccinated and ready to be put down on the ground. They will have to carry him.
Poor Tom is scared of so many things, particularly when out of the house. The main priority at present is to get the nervous dog’s stress levels down. To build up his confidence. Then he will be in a better state of mind to cope with Buster and to enjoy his company.
Every time Tom has to face things he is scared of without the opportunity to escape, it makes him worse.
Every day he has to face the ordeal of a walk, particularly as it means going under a scary underpass if they are going to get to the green. This is much too big a price to pay for exercise.
Building confidence in the nervous dog.
They will go back to basics with him and build up the nervous dog’s confidence immediately outside the house, going no further for now. Without this daily stress Tom should then become more resilient around Buster.
Buster fortunately seems a very confident puppy though he hates being alone. After all, he had lots of siblings and had never been alone before. He has adopted a bean bag as his favourite sleeping place, snuggling into it like it’s a pile of puppies.
Patiently and gradually they will wean him into being alone.
Over the next six weeks I shall be helping them with all the usual puppy things, a mix of settling into his new life and pre-empting any future possible problems. We will start loose lead walking and basic training.
Confident little Buster may well, in the future, be a real confidence booster to nervous dog Tom – and even bring out the inner, carefree puppy in him.
About 3 weeks later: Buster is getting a bit calmer, playing nice with Tom mostly and slept next to each other on the sofa yesterday evening :)They both love to play in the snow until it gets a bit too cold for Buster after about 10 mins.
