Building dog's confidence.

[Brittney]

I have started taking my almost 2 year old ridgeback mix to the dog park in my area. It's off leash and she does really well, but gets spooked easily.

If I am up and walking around with her, she will come out of her shell a little bit and sniff other dogs and people, and run around, but as soon as I sit down and another dog comes near me, she gets really protective over me or she just freaks out in general. She never plays with the other dogs, but will tolerate them as long as I am with her walking around.

I would really like to just sit and read a book and relax and let her run around and get exercise. But when I sit, she is glued to my side and just whines.

This was our 3rd time at the park, we go every Saturday, and she did better this time and was actually flirting with a guy for me haha.:thumbsup:

Anything I need to know to help her gain confidence and explore and play on her own?

 

[3CsMommy]

Until she's totally comfortable off leash there, you probably shouldn't just sit. If you move around and make it fun to be there at the park with a ball, a frisbee, etc., she'll get over that territoriality faster. Plus, having a game going will make it easier for her to make other doggy friends because they'll have a common interest: the ball, the frisbee, whatever the fun is. (Obviously if she's toy possessive, though, that won't help as much as it can for non-possessive dogs.)

The key to keeping dog parks safe is learning how to read dog body language and personally, I took the stance that since everyone else seemed reluctant to do anything more than be lumps on a log, it was up to me to help a couple of the other more "go get 'em" dogs start the fun for everybody. If a calm, active human directs their energy toward playing and getting along, you're far less likely to have to break up fights.

Because yours is a hunting breed (Did you know that just 2-3 Ridgebacks have been known to take on and kill full grown lions in Africa?) she probably needs A LOT of exercise. Is it possible for you to get a mile or two on her paws before you take her to the park? She'll be a little tired and that also makes it easier to help her avoid confrontations.