We usually take Lutsen for a walk once I am home from work. We have been going longer distances now that he's going on 15 weeks. There is a police dog in our neighborhood (fully fenced in yard with a sign on their property that reads "WORKING POLICE DOG") and a k-9 unit car usually parked in the driveway.

Lutsen is TERRIFIED of this dog. The dog usually does not stir up much of a fuss as we walk by, he will run up to us, wont try to jump his fence or anything...just stare! Lutsen will walk in front of me every time and scratch at my legs to try to get me to pick him up. I always try to calm him down by having him run through the blvds of snow to get him distracted until we pass the police house.

Yesterday was a beautiful 40 degrees here so we took a longer walk and looped around towards the police house. I was hesitant to walk towards this house again in case of spooking Lutsen but i thought we would give it a shot because there is no chance of the dogs coming into contact. Lutsen looked at the k-9 dog who looked back at him and they held eachother's gaze.

Then, our tough pup slowly walked away! Progress! Ryan and I both think it's probably just because of how intimidating this k-9 dog is, but man he is beautiful!

Puppies tend to go through phases of fear. Gabby had a fear of SUVs for about a month. Where we lived I had to walk in the street because there were no sidewalks and small cars and Trucks would drive by without issue but if a SUV or mini-van drove by she would try to running for her life. Occasionally she would start to run from a car but once she realized it was just a car she was fine. I never understood that fear since it was so specific to that type of vehicle. She got over it eventually. I just never made a big deal about it and she eventually got over it.

Staring between dogs is rarely advisable. Fixation can lead to issues and challenges. With a young pup it shouldn't be an issue but as he ages you don't want the staring to become a problem between the two dogs. Getting Lusten to ignore the other dog would be best. I wouldn't allow him to just stare back at this dog. Working on heel and passing past the dog without hitch is what I would be working toward. You can even take treats, put him in a heel position and walk him down the sidewalk. Treat him for ignoring the other dog. The heel will also work his brain so he has a task to work on and not be so frightened by the area or other dog. Get him to stop associating the area with fear and instead associate it with a job and treats.

The stare down was hardly that long but I appreciate your advice. As i said in my original post I usually do something to take his mind off of it like running through the snow banks. Lutsen is the most mellow pup I have ever met so I think he will be fine. I will definitely use treats as a means of distraction as well.

For future walks I mean! Giving him a job will be good

TwisterII wrote:

Staring between dogs is rarely advisable. Fixation can lead to issues and challenges. With a young pup it shouldn't be an issue but as he ages you don't want the staring to become a problem between the two dogs. Getting Lusten to ignore the other dog would be best. I wouldn't allow him to just stare back at this dog. Working on heel and passing past the dog without hitch is what I would be working toward. You can even take treats, put him in a heel position and walk him down the sidewalk. Treat him for ignoring the other dog. The heel will also work his brain so he has a task to work on and not be so frightened by the area or other dog. Get him to stop associating the area with fear and instead associate it with a job and treats.

To update I did what you suggested and Lutsen did a lot better today! We didn't see the police dog but another neighbor dog showed his teeth and Lu just used the treats and heal as cues. I just didn't want you to think I was deliberately letting Lutsen sit and stare at the k-9 dog...that would be scary!