Shy puppy

Pepper

My puppy pepper, is about 9 months old now she's half schnauzer, half chihuahua...When we first got her we were sure to introduce her to a lot of people and took her on walks to get her used to people and noises...Well right now, she acts like she hasn't been socialized at all. She barks at dogs, and children, and people...She's shy and fearful around people and kids, and just hides behind me when kids try to pet her, or barks and runs after them...Like, will literally sprint across a field to just bark at them...I don't get why she does it, she was around people all along...But she likes men, she'll bark at kids and women to go up to a guy, but she won't go up to a guy if their are kids near him...I don't know if she's just terrified of kids for no reason, because she's never had a scary experience with them...Help =DD lol thank you =]

alphadoginthehouse

Are you sure about the kids and no bad experience? What may not seem bad to you could have scared her. She doesn't look real big so it might not take much to scare her. You might need to think back to when she started to act like this and you may remember something that seems insignificant to you. You will need to start at the beginning and work her gradually back to where she was (did that make sense? ).

Good luck. I wasn't really much help.

Pepper

I always made sure the people would sit and be quiet and let pepper go to them, and shes not that shy when people are in the house, only when we are outside...

ohrats9

Tabitha is doing the exact same thing at 8 months! I am simply making sure to continue socializing her and showing her nothing is scary by never reacting to her when she acts like a freak. I either ignore her completely and keep going, ignore her but place my body between her and the "scary" thing or tell her to leave the room. I never tell her she is a good girl and I never act like anything is wrong. I act like I normally do so she'll see nothing needs to be worried about. Only once was she having such a hard time that I took her away from that area. But it was done in a way that was totally in control so she wouldn't think I was also worried.

I never force anything on her. No one needs to pet her. If people get pushy (you know the type: OH! Don't you worry!!! Animals simply LOVE me!) I get firm. With the people. lol.

As for kids, when she gets nervous, she is expected to walk away from them or get behind me. My dogs are taught to go away from the thing bothering them instead of making any decisions that might get them into serious trouble with me. They can either leave the room or get behind me. They usually get behind me when we are out and that is fine with me. I would rather take on the thing they are nervous about than have them take it on. It isn't their decision to make anyway.

I was told dogs have two fear periods and I often wonder if that is what is happening. She is coming around and I am not overly concerned. The Nothing in life is free method helps us tons. So does training outside and as much exercise as we can muster.

TooneyDogs

She doesn't know how to handle it and she's telling them to back off because she's afraid. She's still young so keep doing the meet and greets. To make things easier for her you should do the greeting first and then she gets to say Hello.

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Pepper

ookkaay, because today, I went to her favorite park and my friend was there babysitting, and its fenced in so I let her off the least so she can run around. Pepper would go up and smell the kids, but she would pretty much just sit by me with her tail between her legs and not really do anything...They kept trying to pet her and hold her, but my friend was actually just like, no you don't need to pet her...So I was like okay...but still after an hour she wasn't any more comfortable with them, even though they were just sitting there, but then when they got up and started to run around she freaked out and chased after them...And I thought she was going to mentally scar one little kid who was with her dad because she came sprinting at them like she was going to kill them, then stood like 4 feet away yapping at them even though they were just sitting in the grass, should she be on her leash all the time, or just when I know there are going to be people at the park? And I was wondering if I should bring some of her treats always with me so people can give them to her so she associates people with good things. I also tried one of the metal choke collars, not for the choking aspect because that could hurt her since she's small, but just because of the noise the metal makes when it snaps...sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't...someone suggested a shock collar for an 8 month old puppy! I was like....nnnoooo!! Thanks for the help =]

Kathyy

This is where trick training is good. If the pup can show off a cute trick and the audience admires the clever pup then she may get it - people are fun. It helps my shy boy. He was so thrilled the time we had a run off in agility and people were clapping and cheering. He would have shrunk away if anybody had tried to pet him! And he is eight years old.

Instead of just observing the scary kids do something she likes when they are around. A really good toy comes out, a really good game, a good treat. Do some fun learning stuff.

Kids are scary. They are loud, run, jump and approach her the wrong way - straight on and too fast - even when she is giving clear [to her] signals they are not wanted. She is tiny and they are huge.

I wouldn't have a scared dog loose among the scary things. Not fair to the poor kids even if the pup doesn't do anything to scare them. I won't let my timid dog go near strollers with babies in them, he barks too loud.

I am sure she is in a fear period. Your very difficult job is to recognize when she is out of her comfort zone and back off. Look at the tail carriage, the ears, the eyes, how her tongue is, the way she is moving. *I* think I know when my dogs are in trouble but it is hard stuff to learn. You have to back off as soon as you notice a problem, way before she starts yapping or the tail goes down.

Putting her in with the kids was overwhelming. That technique is called flooding. It didn't help. Try treats, toys, games at a greater distance next time. Oh, smart friend for keeping the kids from petting her!

My shy one goes past a busy skateboard park to get to HIS park. He is doing very well around the big noisy teenagers now. The wheel noise is fine by him too. The kids all ignore anything but their own business which is very helpful. Max can walk by kids on the same sidewalk without going behind me to sniff them, bark or anything. Now I am not saying he will be fine around teenagers elsewhere but it is a good thing anyway.

MyCharlie

I agree with these guys - she is probably going through her second fear period. Charlie got bad like that around 7-8 months. We're still working with him (he's 9 1/2 months now).

You asked about bringing treats. I think that could help, but you should probably treat her before she gets too close to the kids. Like when she sees a kid at a distance, treat. See another kid, treat. Kid moves around, treat, etc.

Charlie is also the same way about movement. My daughter can have friends over and he'll bark at first but then after a while he's fine. Then they get up or move their bodies, bark again.

We mostly try to redirect him with a "look" or "sit" or whatever to return the focus to us and away from the person/thing causing him to bark.

As for whether or not she should be off leash (like in the park you were talking about) is a tough call. On one aspect, if there was any question that she may bite I would say DEFINITELY keep her leashed (which I'm sure is obvious lol). Otherwise, as long as you are able to call her back to you, like if she is barking and scaring the children, I think it might be better to leave her off leash. Dogs are sometimes more reactive on leash because they can feel trapped. So I think you will have to play it by ear.

Has she taken any obedience classes? That can be really helpful for them, help to build their confidence dealing with situations as well as your confidence in dealing with her! Stick with it - I have read that this can be the most difficult time period to get through. But as long as you keep working with her, with time she should get better.

Pepper

ahhh all that makes a lot of sense, thanks!

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