Sad Day - Need Your Help!

[Ileana]

Gracie was never very friendly, despite two rounds of puppy training for socializing purposes, a positive reinforcement training program, and tons of love in a very stable and quiet family. She obeys commands quite well, in 90% of cases, where external stimuli are not very strong.

But today at the mall, in the parking lot, she growled at a person who petted her - a first! A very saddening and concerning first. All my dogs until now were trustworthy, calm, playful, entirely non-threatening. My peace of mind is gone, and so is my trust in Grace. This has come to a point where I don't think we're qualified to handle it ourselves anymore... we need your help!

If you have knowldge of a good dog (boxer) behaviorist or trainer who can help that would be great. We can travel if s/he is not local (we're in Kentucky), or we can send videos of her behaviors. We need help getting Grace to be a decently sociable dog. While I can understand she may never be a dogpark dog, I do want to make sure we're doing anything possible to revert these worrisome tendencies.
Some more facts:
- she is very soft-mouthed and has never bit anyone, not even in play
- she seems quite an anxious personality, barking very loudly if someone passes by our car, or even looks at her in traffic.
- we've had her since she was 8 weeks old, have never laid a finger on her.
- she has a very strong prey drive
- she has been clicker-trained, and we've followed the protocols in "Click to Calm."
- she is now 14 months old

Please help... she is a wonderful boxer girl and we'd love her to be on the best possible boxer behavior. Any advice and referrals welcome and appreciated!
Thank you all !

[EAO76]

My peace of mind is gone, and so is my trust in Grace.

If you are anxious when people approach then she will be too so you really need to squash this. She will definitely feed off your energy. Dogs like people have all sorts of personalities and she may never be the same as your prior dogs but that doesn’t make her bad. Also if this is the 1st time she growled maybe there was something about this person that Grace did not like or trust. We were taught in a reactive dog class to allow our dogs to sniff a new person (while the person totally ignored the dog...i.e. don’t make eye contact & don’t reach towards the dog). The dog will usually give a clue w/ their body language if they want to interact w/ the person. If the dog retreats or seems uninterested you should not force it.

Again all dogs have different types of personalities. Some dogs are shy. Of course you can improve her reactions by doing some conditioning and positive reinforcement. And seeking the help of a QUALITY professional cannot hurt (especially since she is so young). And I think it’s commendable that you are so conscientious. However to some degree you need to accept her for whom she is. Just like you would a shy child. I have two special needs dogs (with issues much worse than what you describe) and I spent a ton of time/money training, rehabbing, etc and there were improvements but I really started to enjoy the dogs the most when I accepted that they will never be the typical social butterfly that some dogs are. The worst thing you can do is constantly force her into interactions she is not comfortable with. And in regards to the growling all she was doing was telling you that she was uncomfortable. She wasn’t being aggressive she was simply communicating.

[joannaryan]

Very well said EA076! I agree with you 100%. Don't give up on Grace I think she will be fine. Joanna, also from KY!

[Ileana]

Thank you both very much!

Not giving up on her - not ever! What made the incident bizarre and scary was that she was pulling to go interact with that person, then she climbed up with her paws on her (also a first), then growled in her face (as she was leaning down to pet her) like it was the end of times... It sounded scary for a play growl, but I am not totally excluding the possibility. I just hope I'll be able to find a good behaviorist to see her interactions and give me a word of advice...

Thanks again!