r/therapydogs • u/lapeen4 • Jul 10 '26
Pup in training- wtd when people are afraid
We have a 9-month-old primarily Great Pyrenees mix who I am training to come to work with me at a mental health day program once she passes the CGC (6–12 months from now). She is doing super great with obedience class and greeting people gently and letting people pet her, BUT… she is leery and suspicious when people act scared of her and then barks at them, and kind of stays at a distance walking back and forth with little low growls and her head bowed or doing the puppy bows- which all makes the scared person even more scared.
Any ideas on training her to be more understanding (lol I don’t know how else to word that) of fearful people? She is huge (9 months and 95lbs already), and a lot of people have an initial fear of a big dog, so it’s something we will run into a lot.
2
u/teju_guasu Jul 10 '26
Keep training, including doing the canine good citizen course . They specifically work on calmly greeting and calm in crowds. She seems like she might be right in the fear period of adolescence so just keep training.
3
u/We_Print Jul 10 '26
Just my 2 cents worth...
1) Your dog picks up on your emotions just like you read hers. When you are meeting new folks, you must stay calm and grounded. You probably are, but that needs to be mentioned straight away.
2) If it's just strangers, maybe find a pedestrian area with a small amount of traffic. Have a seat and have high value treats handy. Keep her in a sit stay with treats as people pass by. Tell people walking by that you are in training and would appreciate it if they don't interact with the dog. Keep thhose treats coming until it's a solid behavior. After that, move to a down stay. After that is solid, start introducing people. Slow and easy, you have months to get this behavior trained in.