Stranger Danger

A period of Stranger Anxiety in human babies is normal. Yes, it can hurt feelings and embarrass parents when the baby is shrieking like a teakettle because Grandma wants to say hello but there it is — biology is powerful.

Puppies can go through something very similar. Friendly and happy can turn to suspicion almost overnight, as if a switch was turned while everyone was sleeping.

Humans, eager to share their so-cute puppy, may well miss or ignore the signs of Stranger Danger and fail to protect the puppy from the forwardness of well-intentioned strangers. Worse, humans may think the puppy should be forced to interact with scary people so she can “get over” it.

So the first thing to keep in mind is that young mammals can indeed have normal development that includes Stranger Danger. The second thing to remember is that a Berner, according to the Breed Standard, “…may remain aloof to the attentions of strangers.”

A Berner puppy that prefers not to engage with strangers — and shows this by not engaging with said stranger — is being aloof with strangers. S/he may also be reflecting the normal developmental process of Stranger Danger, which is actually a process of awareness/discernment — a good thing.

Three generations: Claire, Capella, Sparkle

All that is to offer reassurance that a puppy who doesn’t love everyone is okay; it is not a problem to be fixed. AND we want a puppy who is confident and not shy — so how do we proceed? Here are some thoughts…

Forcing a puppy to interact is a TERRIBLE IDEA. If you want to create a shy puppy — do that. Force doesn’t mean holding the puppy down and allowing Auntie Susie to pet the puppy — force can be much more benign. Just remember — no means no, even in a puppy.

Confidence comes from mastery. Let the puppy master strangers one puppy step at a time. If the puppy doesn’t want to interact but is fine in the stranger’s presence — Yay! Reward that with YES (or click) and a cookie.

Puppy looks at the stranger — YES (or click) and cookie.

Puppy sniffs person — YES (or click) and cookie.

I like to teach a reliable hand touch — puppy bonks your hand and gets a Yes/Click and cookie; this can be transferred to a stranger when the puppy is comfortable. Person holds out hand and puppy bonks — and gets a cookie from you or if comfortable, from the stranger.

The goal is a puppy that is comfortable and relaxed around new people — that happens when a puppy is not terrorized by the new people, and remember: the puppy is the one who gets to decide what and who feels terrorizing.

Barking at a stranger says, “too much, too soon” in puppy language. S/he needs to be removed to a distance that feels safe. The build up to Stranger Mastery starts at the place that feels comfortable for the puppy.

Training the puppy is the easy part — it is managing other humans that can be tough.

If a puppy is concerned about a person, that person needs to completely ignore the puppy — no looking at the puppy, no talking to the puppy, no feeding the puppy, no petting the puppy — just ignore the puppy. All of those things — looking, talking, feeding, petting — are steps; doing them all at once constitutes flooding for a concerned puppy, and flooding is a Terrible Idea.

Bottom Line: Stranger Danger happens. It is a normal thing. Berners do not always love everyone — that is okay. Don’t let anyone force attention on your puppy. Start from a place of safety and work on having a relaxed puppy around strangers by reinforcing desired behavior.

If a puppy barks or tries to get away — you blew it. Not a huge deal — just info so you can do better next time. We are, after all, only human.

Maybe Not Too Feral

As some know, before a dog enters a tracking test, she has to pass an equivalent track under a judge or an approved evaluator. Our local test closes tomorrow so I set up a certification track this morning with a judge — the appointed location was in the middle of no where.

I was a bit puzzled when there seemed to be quite the procession on the mountain road to the middle of no where with a school bus in the front. The bus never stopped to pick up kids and so that was more confusing. Imagine my surprise when the whole line of us arrived at the same remote spot — yep, a school nature adventure in the meadow where the track had been laid.

As dozens of kids and adults frolicked on what was to be Pozy’s track, we made a new plan. Instead of a lovely meadow, Pozy ran a certification track in the forest.

That was brand new cover for Miss Pozy but she did it and is now certified to enter a tracking test. What a good girl!

Last But Not Least of Birthday Week: Kitsap

Welcome to June. We will have another birthday week later this month but today we finish up the Wildflower Updates by catching up with Birthday Boy, Kitsap…

Baby Kitsap (Sage)

Bridget shares:

“Kitsap brings us such joy. While it is hard to compare with our memory, we are pretty certain that Kitsap is the biggest boned and strongest of our four Berners, all boys. He stands about 27” at the withers. I’m guessing he weighs about 95 lbs, our last formal weight was at 9 months where he weighed in at 90 lbs. He’s got a great Swiss cross. He loves to give me a full Berner greeting when I come home. In the attached photo, I am 5’5” tall wearing clogs and he has no problem putting his front paws on my shoulders.

Folks may enjoy the photos in front of and in the bookcase. When first came home he would lay on the bottom shelf, now he is longer than the case.

We were scheduled to take our Novice Trick Dog test as part of our end of our Fundamental Obedience class, unfortunately the instructor certified to administer the test had vertigo that day. We probably have 15-16 of the tricks on the list. Now that the semester is over I plan to get my husband to video and submit to earn the title. Speaking of classes, we successfully completed basic obedience, fundamental obedience and are currently in a novice competition obedience class. He’s great at healing, figure eights, sits, and downs, and has an awesome come. His challenge is stand for exam and distractions more generally. He’s hard to predict one stranger is a great friend, the next one needs to be barked at.

Kitsap went camping for his first birthday. Hanging out at the campsite and sleeping in a tent was just fine. Given it was only 40°F overnight he very much appreciated the insulating interlocking rubber mat squares like Mary-Ann’s that we used to line his portion of the tent floor. You can see how bundled I am pictured with him on the porch of the lighthouse.

Kitsap is an only dog, still he has several playmates. He plays weekly with Hasley, an English Springer Spaniel. When they meet each week best to be out of the way as the run toward each other with serious gusto. He also regularly enjoys playing with Windsor, a standard poodle, Freye and Ellie, both labradadoodles, and Jake, a German Shepherd. He loves to chase a ball and goes through his tunnel with gusto. We have started weave polls and with a set of three have no problem, getting ready to add three more. He loves to table and walk on a retaining wall to simulate the dog walk.

Kitsap is definitely a water loving dog and will jump right in any stream or pond given the opportunity.

He’s a handsome boy who gets lots of compliments whenever we are out and about.”

Kitsap is indeed very handsome and I am grateful for his amazing life — thank you to his wonderful family.

That concludes our Wildflower Birthday Week. I want to thank each and every family for giving all of us the chance to catch up on how well the Wildflowers are blooming.

Please have a terrific day — even if it is not your birthday.