He's Scared of Toys + Clinker Pics

[Mindy Miller]

I'm not sure what Clinker's story is (where he came from or whatever.) He's been an outside dog as long as I've known him. He gets plenty of attention and exercise. He has the run of our 12 acres.

We've started bringing him into the house and he's been surprisingly well behaved. Yay!

What we've been having trouble with is that he's afraid of toys. It's so bizarre. We can throw a stick and he'll go get it and bring it back, but if it's a toy, he tucks his tail between his legs and hides. Our dogs love squeaky toys. They drug some out tonigt and I thought Clinker was going to jump through the window.

I'm gonna get him by himself and convince him toys are fun. He is the most food motivated dog I've ever seen, so perhaps a bit of pb would make them more appealing?

 

[noludoru]

Aww! I love the pics!!!! I agree, Middie does bear quite a bit of resemblance to Clinker in the face. (saw your post in my thread) Another member here, LilyoftheValley, has a Labrador named Lily who also has a really similar face to these two.. LOL! Maybe our three should start a club?

Oh, and I think food would work. Reeeeeeallyyyy yummy food.

 

[goldiefur]

He is soooo pretty! Maybe try some plush toys without a squeaker first then add others later.

 

[adojrts]

What I would do, is make sure he is hungry and do this instead of feeding him his meal. Remove the other dogs. Butcher a toy and take out the squeaky (do this before anything else), then get his food and some very yummy and stinky treats like homebaked liver and let him watch as you fill the toy with his meal and the treats. Don't force him to stay close but don't allow him to leave the room (put up gates or close doors etc). If he panics, just keep moving away from him, but wait until he looks at you to continue filling the toy. Sit on the floor, put the toy near his food bowl and you, and hopefully he will approach. It is very important that he figures out that the food is in the toy (make sure the opening in the toy is large enough for him to easily get the food out). Don't push the toy towards him or hold it in his face. You can even leave the room, let him check it out within his comfort zone.
If he wont approach the toy at all, take some food out by hand and leave the toy on the floor, go to him and hand feed him, keep repeating this, he will figure out that is where the food is coming from.
Once he is very happy to see the toy and will eat from it, squeak the squeaker while he is eating but not too close. As he progresses get so you can use the squeaker right beside him and he doens't have negative reaction.
At that point you can put the squeaker back into the toy and squeaze etc.

Let him dictate how fast you progress and if at anytime he has a negative reaction, go back to the point that he was ok and work at that level for a while (could be days or weeks) and then try to progress again.

Good luck
Lynn

 

[Tess32]

Dogs who never experienced toys during their first few weeks of life are likely to be disinterested, but his 'fear' problem stems from some kind of bad experience during his early life. Or he was so undersocialised during that period that he's afraid of anything really 'new'.

I think food rewards would work, just start slow. Put the toys in the same room and treat him with something really yum. Gradually decrease the distance between him and the toys until he's comfortable and THEN you can start working on getting him to enjoy them

 

[Zoom]

Peanut butter stuffed Kongs with lots of praise?

He's adorable...how big is he? He kind of looks like a cocker/lab mix...a perpetual puppy!

 

[2BlackDogs]

He's beautiful. I think food would work well. My Bear was an outside dog for 4 years before i got him. I got him intending for him to be an indoor dog and he was so well behaived. Just a few little things like begging were an issue but we fixed that rather quick. He had no idea what toys were! It took him some time to figure out he could have toys and they were his. I just kept offering them to him and one day he decided he wanted to play fetch. Been in love with any kind of ball ever since.

 

[Barb04]

He's such a handsome boy. I'd the peanut butter on a toy and just letting him go over to it by himself.

 

[Mindy Miller]

Thanks guys! I'm gonna find the old kong. Roxie and Cassie don't want much to do with it anymore.

Zoom, he's somewhere between a beagle and a lab (in size) and he barks like a hound. He weighs around 50 pounds.