But only when I let her outside. Whenever I try to put the harness on my dog to put her on her lead or leash, she cowers, pees on the floor and then rolls over into the submissive position.
I'm not going to say I'm a saint of a pet owner but I've never hit my dog or done anything that I would make her so afraid of me. Especially since that's the only time she does it. Any other time she's fine. Is there something I can do differently or change to get this to stop?
Is she afraid of the harness? When you're outside with her off leash, like in your yard, is she afraid then too?
Is she a rescue or are you her only owner?
>>2144619
Try finding its favorite treat and everytime you grab the harness you treat her. Also try leaving the harmess next to her food dish. If this doesn't help try using a different method of getting your dog to put on the harness, maybe raised voice is scaring her and she associates the harness with being in trouble.
>>2144632
The only place she can be off her leash outside is at the dog park in our neighborhood and she seems ok. Runs around and places well with all the other animals. She doesn't enjoy her lead very much. She goes out and does her business but then hangs by the door until we let her in.
Got her from a humane society almost two years ago. To complicate things, I did just come back from a year deployment. Lucy (the dog) doesn't ever do that for my wife.
>>2144634
Good ideas. I'll just whistling for her instead of yelling. I never considered that no matter how happy I'm sounding, raising my voice could be scaring her.
>>2144645
maybe she's unfamiliar with you. maybe she's traumatized and your physical appearance triggers it. maybe it's something else entirely.
just give her time and give her treats when she expresses behaviours you want to see and foster.
first get her comfortable with the sight of the harness. put it behind your back, then present it to her and when she looks at it immediately give her a treat if she reacts calmly/doesnt piss the floor.
then work on the length of which she's exposed to the harness and she doesn't misbehave. then work on getting it on her. kikopup has a great tutorial on youtube that covers what i'm talking about and has visual aids and better, more articulate information. just search up shy dog kikopup and something should pop up
Put the harness on and show your dog that you enjoy it. Play with you dog while wearing the harness.
>>2144654
The neighbors already think I'm weird so what do I have to lose?
>>2144619
I would sit on the floor with the harness in your lap. Have her favorite treats. Pet her and say soothing things to her until she's calm. Just continue doing this for however many days/weeks until it's not a big deal. When she's totally cool with it being in your lap while you interact with her, give her treats, etc, then pick it up and let her investigate it. Continue with the treats, soothing words and petting until it's not a big deal. Once she's ok with that, grab all the loose ends so it's not flopping around and unwieldy, and then pet her with the harness. Continue with soothing words, petting and treats until this is fine too. Next up is draping it over her. Once again, petting, treats and soothing words. Step this up to gentle play when she's ready. When this is fine, put it partially on her (easy to shake off) and continue with the treats, petting, play. Make it a game. You guys are having fun together! The goal is to get rid of the threatening aspect of the harness and to eventually make OMG awesome fun times.
>>2144619
if you're lazy and it's not urgent so you won't pay for an expert, there's a slow and reliable way to make a dog like almost anything: associate it with goodies.
by replacing fear with "I'm gonna get fuckin treats!" their mind is occupied by something that's not fear
step 1: set harnass in living room, throw dog treats on it daily. No using it as harnass. If you've terrorized them with the object for a while, it may take a little time, but smell/sight of treats should speed process up.
You can use a word too "oh it's the harnass!" when they go over to get treats off it
step 2: put treats less often, wait for dog to approach harnass area, then treat and say "good boy" or whatever, "there's the harnass"
step 3: make them touch the harness first before any treat. if they're a smart/greedy dog, there's a chance you saying "harnass" alone at this point will have them go look for treats on the harnass. If they're not so quick, make it easier by having them already in the area of the harnass. You can either wait for them to touch it without a command, then reward them, or do whatever to get their attention on it, then if they go over, treat.
At a certain point, the sight/smell/name of the harnass should make their tail wag and their mouth start salivating. Then you can have the dog wear it (even loosely) and not force them to go anywhere, and remind them they get a treat for the harnass.
Unless they also are scared shitless of you or being-outside in general, that should be pretty much the end of it.
>>2144619
maybe the outside scares her
my dog gets a bit agoraphobic
not sure why he doesnt get on with other dogs
and if the farmer is out shooting the gunshots scare him
>>2144619
Stop tying your dog up and fucking it out in the shed.
>>2144645
>I did just come back from a year deployment.
Man, this shit is always so sad. People sacrifice so much when they disappear for duty. I can't imagine not seeing my dogs for a year, and how they might act when I came back. Would they even remember me? What about my kids? I doubt my wife would still be around because she needs a regular dose of excitement. ... I just can't imagine. Really sad for the people that make those sacrifices.
>>2144942
that's normal 90% of the dogs i've known were scared of gunfire. even my dog, who loves to hunt with me, loses his shit over the gunfire and after we've found our quarry and i shoot it he runs like hell to the rendezvous point (which is always some tree he randomly assigns and i have to find him on my way out of the woods)
>>2144955
I didn't fight for your freedumb so you could tell me how to live my life.
>>2144963
This was my first with kids and animals. My wife is amazing and has been supportive of my career choices. It was a little strange my oldest (5) did not like talking to me while I was gone. It was very hard to deal with. But my youngest who was only 2 months old when I left loved seeing me on video chats.
So we tried a little experiment yesterday. I whistled for Lucy and had her harness. As soon as she saw it, cower, pee, roll in it. I stepped away, Lucy ran away. My wife then called her over and she was all excitement and happiness.
I'm going to buy some treats today and start wooing my pooch again.w
>>2144942
>Buy dog to encourage me to spend more time outside
>Doggo turns out to be a loser NEET too
fug
>>2145140
>Welfare queens that think slamming dicks while killing children and farners for oil protects anything besides corporate interests.
Thank you for your cervix.
>>2145146
Thank you for your edgy post. Lord knows the one thing we need is to dumb down the intelligence level around here even more.
I don't have this veteran-worship syndrome the rest of the country does. I am old. To me, "veteran" meant something back when a lot of these soldiers were drafted into war against their will, a war where the casualties were absolutely insane and being drafted was more or less an order to death. This is why the word carries so much weight. It used to mean something different.
Now, it's just a high risk job. You get paid, housed, and your college paid for (that is huge), medical insurance for life and for your kids until they're 18/out of school, job experience, etc. It is a career choice that you're well compensated for. It's no riskier than being a law enforcement officer or fireman. Soldiers are much better protected than during the Vietnam era (1,400,000+ deaths in the Vietnam War. Let that number sink in). It is really not that big of a deal these days.
But that doesn't make a lot of the negative aspects of that career any less sad. Seems there is more horrible stories of things going awry while on deployment than happy reunions. Like this guy and his dog.
>>2145228
>chooses to accept money in exchange for murdering other humans
>deserves respect
Choose exactly one.
>>2145235
>lives in a fantasy world where all situations can be handled by just hugging it out
>sleeps peaceful at night because people like the person you quoted are willing to do the dirty work that you wont, or don't believe in
Pick two faggot
>>2145235
>accept money in exchange for murdering other humans
It's mostly securing areas and peacekeeping, between long periods of just sitting on our asses to keep a "presence". Very boring.
We don't run around picking fights, because fights carries the risk of loss, and death. It's very counter-productive. Everything we do, we do to make fighting a less common occurrence in one way or another. The extremely vast majority of scuffles that break out are not started by us.
>>2145312
>I'd like you to help me figure out what my dog is terrified of me putting her harness on.
Pardon if this has been asked before, but are the variables the same from before you were deployed? Did the dog use a harness before, or is it a new thing? Did you put a harness on him before you left? Is it the same harness?
No one can say what causes a dog to be weird about this things. We, as people, have our own life experiences that trigger weird reactions. Like I burned my legs on the beach real bad one time, now I don't wear shorts anymore.
The focus should definitely be on overcoming it. So we first we need to find the *exact* trigger. Trying different harnesses, different leashes, different colors. If he's wary of you in other situations, maybe it's your soap. Maybe your service changed your "energy" (as Casesar would put it) to one similar of someone that scared him before he went to the animal shelter. Maybe he just doesn't want a man putting a harness on him, or that particular kind of harness, because of a past experience.
So many possibilities. You gotta find out precisely what the trigger is before you can start working on it. It may cost you a lot in paper towels, but the people who think training dogs is a quick process are the ones who put 6 month old dogs up on craigs list.
