I bought a male apricot poodle at 10 weeks old. He was kept isolated in a cage his whole life. He had never touched grass and had no interaction with humans on a daily basis. He is now 4 months old and appears insecure and distrustful of strangers. Any advice on how to break him of his insecurity in addition to a lot of TLC?

-- Anonymous, June 07, 1999

Answers

Claudette, your boy is about 10 mos old now. Have you received any replies about him? From your description, he may be what is call kennelshy, needing very badly to be socialized. I wouldn't try to "break" him of anything, just make interaction with humans and new situations as rewarding as possible. Set him up for success!

What variety is he? Toy, mini, SP? How does he react to family members? Friendly strangers in the home? On walks?

Need more info!

-- Anonymous, December 30, 1999

Hi, I adopted a SP who had been beaten severely. I took her to my classroom and she was wonderful with all except men, especially men in dark coats, so guess who the villian of her story must have been... Anyway, I managed to get her over the Rottweiler imitation she was doing with men by inviting all the men I knew over to my house and having them approach her gently and feed her her treats. Over the course of about a month, she got much better. She's still quite nervous around men unless I'm with her. She adores my husband but he reports that she's wary of other men when he's the only one there. Perhaps this kind of positive conditioning can help! Good luck! Rachael

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2000

RE: Insecure poodle

I know this might sound crazy, but poodles who have been confined have adapted to less freedom. Sort of like people confined in Jails. Once out, the new freedom can be daunting and downright scary. Get a kennel for the pooch. When he gets stressed, he should be allowed to retreat to his room for security. No one should be able to go pull him out. Once a safety zone is established, he will calm down and become more social on his own. I would not try a fast fix to this one, as the pup can be damaged. Also, you may find this temporary solution will come in handy for bed time, sending him to his room for bad behavior, etc. Just like kids. I do not have to discipline bad behavior as my pups have to sit in the corner for a time out. Try it. This way the adapting happens on both the human side as well as the pups.

-- Anonymous, February 09, 2002