Moobli
Well-Known Member
My shepherds are surprisingly relaxed at the vets, but we do a lot of play and training away from stressful situations and I get them to focus on me (using high value food or toys) if there is something they aren't sure about. If strangers approach, I will get their balls out and get them to watch me or play until I can tell said stranger to back off. Previous dogs were socialised differently, so I had people throw treats towards them, took them places as pups and let strangers fuss them etc as I thought it would help them be relaxed around people - with varying degrees of success. I decided on a different route with the current two and have followed the idea that everything good comes from me. They have been taught there may be other people/dogs/cars/livestock/whatever in the environment but they are not relevant to us and are just in the background.