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Our 4lb. Shih Tzu Is Scared Of Everything!! Advice???

17K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  Durbkat  
It sounds like you need to get a pro involved before you have a fear bite happen. I know she's small, but she can still give a kid a couple of stitches. Here are some resources for certified trainer/behaviorists. I'd also get "Scaredy dog" by Ali Brown to help yyou work with her until you geta pro.

http://www.iaabc.org/
http://www.apdt.com/
 
Emmy is a cutie, Tooney dogs is right, petting and fawning over Emmy when she's reacting badly is rewarding the undesired behavior. Try rewarding her when she's acting brave instead. Turning your head and yawning is a great calming signal. Also, on the body language thing, turn your back and IGNORE fearful reactions.

Another booklet you might consider is "Calming Signals" by Turid Rugass. It does a pretty good job of explaining how dogs use their bodies to comunicate and how you can do the same.
 
Actually, the best thing to do when people come over is have them completely IGNORE her and allow her to come to them. Holding her and forcing her to meet them could cause the fear to escalete to aggression.
 
Kids can be scary for any dog. They're loud rambunctious and tend to do things dogs find threatening. Reaching over the head to pet, running up o the FRONT of a dog ect are all threats in dog body language, so of course a small dog will be scared!

Forcing interaction will intensify the fear, it's called flooding and it doesn't work well. Having the kids sit quietly, with their backs to her will work better. Reward her for approching the children on her own, DO NOT allow the kids to reach for her as it could result in her feeling she has to defend herself. Let the kids know they need to be more quiet when they are interacting with her so they don't scare her. As she becomes more confident they will be able to play with her more.

Please get the books I've reccommended and get in touch with a positive based behaviorist/trainer via the certification groups I posted. Understand that if help is not given soon it her fear sould turn to aggression and will be harder to work with.

Here is an articla you might enjoy reading
http://www.doglistener.co.uk/fearful_dogs/fearful_dogs.shtml