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Help!! very nervous and anxious Mastiff

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Angus

1005444		 
 
Barked: Mon Jun 29, '09 1:59pm PST 
I'm not sure what to do. I'm hoping this is an age thing. Angus will turn 10 months on 7-1-09. I've NEVER seen a dog so scared of his own shadow, or new people that come into the house. He is absolutly loving and a true velcro dog. But when I walk him, he gets freaked out at everything, ie: the cars that go by, the people that go by, and or yard signs. He tries to get away as soooon as he can.
At the house if someone comes over, he freaks out, he will pee all over, and sometimes POO!!. He has been thru basic obedience classes at our local petsmart, He did GREAT at the classes but get him out of him compfort zone per say, he get nuts. Please help.

Bio: we got him from a breeder at 7 weeks. Angus's dad was GREAT! but his mom was very protective of the pups so she had to be put away.
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Posh

Pup-Pup		 
 
Barked: Tue Jun 30, '09 5:26am PST 
First of all welcome to Dogster and the Mastiff community! Sorry to hear about your woes with Angus. I think this is beyond obedience class (although obedience classes are great) and perhaps you should contact a dog behavorist, and the sooner the better. He is still young so that is in your favor! Unfortunately this is a trait that is found in some mastiffs. Good luck and we send our support! way to go
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Effie May

Supper Size		 
 
Barked: Wed Nov 11, '09 8:25pm PST 
Hello,
I rescued Effie a year ago. She had been abused, neglected, and not very well socialized at all. This is what I did. I would not pet or talk to her – basically ignore and not give her any of my attention when she was under stress or whenever she would have a freak out moments. (If you do you are rewarding that unwanted behavior.) I mean this dog would jump 3 feet sideway if the wind blew.
She also gets walked everyday, but she has to ether stay beside me or behind me NOT in front. This will help to establish you as the leader and with most dogs that have a lot of anxiety this helps them fill safe. Because a pack leader in the wild takes care of the pack, they are their protectors.
After I had her complete trust (in my case about 4 months) I would take her places that would challenge her fears. The local Tractor supply store, Petmarts, Pet Co, and Lowes. You will get a lot of can I pet her. To this I always replied: that she was a still in training and it would be best not to at this time. Everyone understood and gave her, her space. After about 2 months of once a week, at lest, socialization at work and through local stores she started to go up and introduce her self to strangers!!! Very big step for this dog!!
It took about a year and a lot of patience to get Effie where she is now. Now she is doing great and not showing a lot of symptoms of her past. She is living in the moment and enjoying life. Before she was not really fully living.
I have to also say that if you have or can find a model dog (a dog with the behavior that you want for Angus) for Angus to hang around with that would greatly speed up your progress. Effie May was living with 4 other confident dogs and their positive influence on her was amazing to watch. Even to this day she is more confident and comfortable when at least one member of her dog pack is with her.

Good luck to both you and Angus,
Maranda and the gang
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Bam-Bam, CGC

Lil' Rubble		 
 
Barked: Sat Dec 12, '09 7:54am PST 
I am a little late, but in case someone else with the same problems reads...
Mastiffs are prone to having multiple fear stages. One around 9 weeks, one anywhere from 7-18 mos, and potentially one more around age 2.
A lot of folks will tell you to try to work them through the fear, make them face the fear, etc. I am very close with a behaviorist who works a lot with mastiffs and has dealt with a lot of fear period cases. She suggests keeping them home, or otherwise away from their fear, and give them time. Her theory is, "If you're an arachnaphobic and I throw you in a room of spiders, what is going to happen? Are you going to trust me ever again? Are you going to get over your fear?"
I know many a mastiff folks who have listened to her advice with great success. Mastiffs are such sensitive dogs as it is, and throwing them into a situation like that could get a very unwanted reaction from a very big dog. Just love on your boy and keep him out of situations that are scary to him, and try again in a few weeks.
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Gatlin

1085115		 
 
Barked: Tue Dec 29, '09 4:09pm PST 
Your Mastiff at 10 Months old still has allot of puppy in him, and they are known for jumping around quite often when they're that young. My Mastiff is fifteen months old, and he used to do that allot, Even though my Mastiff is 15 Months old he still jumps around, but not nearly as much. I took Mine to the Vet today, and he had a great checkup. The vet told me that he was going to be a huge one, because he hasn't even caught up with his paws yet, and still at the clumsy stage. He weighed in at 156 pounds.
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