[Gina_1978]

Milo & Bella are sibblings (from the same litter) and we have had them since they were 6 weeks old (I know this is not the norm is the US,but it is here so please dont flame me for this - every dog I have ever owned has come home at this age and we´ve never had a problem ).
Milo has always been super affectionate,happy go lucky,easy going,and although he´s not the bravest little dog I´ve ever known,he adapts very well to all new situations and he´s pretty much a wonderful little furkid.
Bella has been raised in the exact same way,yet she´s so fearful (very much so infact),she doesnt trust people,she even has a hard time trusting us,she´s skittish,she´s uptight..
We couldent even put her on the ground on walks until very recently,and even now,she will freeze if she sees a shadow (we´re having to walk her at night when there´s less people around) and if she sees a person,she begs to be held.
We´ve been wanting to try walking them both without a leash,but Bella wont come when she´s called,she just looks at us and backs away.She also does this at home which is very frustrating,because if we had ever hurt her or caused her any harm,we´d get it..but why does she fear everything (even us) so very much when I know for a fact that she has never been harmed? (I know their breeder personally,she is a friend)
She sometimes acts like she wants to play,and she´ll come bouncing and barking with a toy in her mouth,but once she´s within arms reach,she stops and backs up

When we pick her up,her arms flail around desperately,she´ll act like she wants to be petted but then she wont come anywhere near us,she will sometimes come and sit right next to one of us,but if we reach down and touch her,she´ll move...I dont get it and this upsets me so very much because being as we havent done anything to cause this,i dont know how to fix it.
Are some dogs just like this? Will she eventually come around? She´s not submissive by any means,infact,Milo is the submissive one of the two,Bella is most deffinately the alpha (she eats first,if she´s on their bed,he wont sleep there,if he´s asleep somewhere and she comes along,he´ll move,she hoards all the toys and he wont touch them,she pees over his pee on the pee pads etc etc),I honestly dont understand her behaviour at all,it´s as if we only have one dog because she´s completely detached herself from everyone

 

[juliemule]

Some dogs are nervous. It's not always the environment, many times genetics. Littermates vary, this is why you hear puppies are a crapshoot.
There are many things you can do to improve it, but many with nerve issues are not going to be brave dogs. Don't baby her, don't make a huge fuss, just act as all is normal, and take your time with her.

 

[Abbylynn]

Leeo and Blu Boy are siblings. They were raised the same exact way. We got them at 12 weeks old. They turned out to be total opposites in personality.

Leeo was never listening and was extremely stubborn and dominant over his Brother and also did not want to share anything. He had no recall ... always ran from me. He was not completely potty trained until almost 1 and a half years old ... whether it was because he was not fully developed (he was the runt of the litter) ..... I will never know.

Leeo listened to "nothing" except "time to eat!" I thought he was a living nightmare! He turned around to be the best listener and so very intelligent ... once he was about 1 and 1/2 years old. He became my heart dog! Lol! It was a rough year or so!

Blu Boy was the calmest dog I had ever seen! Never fussed, always listened, and potty broken before a year old. You could pick him up and he was like a rag doll ... however you placed him ... he stayed! Lol! Blu Boy still is this way.

No two dogs are alike even if they are from the same litter and are being taught the same exact way.......

Your pups are still young ... they have much time to learn and change. They are still babies. Just keep doing what you are doing ... and maybe in time your little girl will be all you dreamed of ... just give her time and training. I wish you luck ... siblings when they are pups ... are more than triple the work! I know!

Also ... pups do go through fear stages as they mature .......

 

[CptJack]

Leeo and Blu Boy are siblings. They were raised the same exact way. We got them at 12 weeks old. They turned out to be total opposites in personality.

Leeo was never listening and was extremely stubborn and dominant over his Brother and also did not want to share anything. He had no recall ... always ran from me. He was not completely potty trained until almost 1 and a half years old ... whether it was because he was not fully developed (he was the runt of the litter) ..... I will never know.

Leeo listened to "nothing" except "time to eat!" I thought he was a living nightmare! He turned around to be the best listener and so very intelligent ... once he was about 1 and 1/2 years old. He became my heart dog! Lol! It was a rough year or so!

Blu Boy was the calmest dog I had ever seen! Never fussed, always listened, and potty broken before a year old. You could pick him up and he was like a rag doll ... however you placed him ... he stayed! Lol! Blu Boy still is this way.

No two dogs are alike even if they are from the same litter and are being taught the same exact way.......

Your pups are still young ... they have much time to learn and change. They are still babies. Just keep doing what you are doing ... and maybe in time your little girl will be all you dreamed of ... just give her time and training. I wish you luck ... siblings when they are pups ... are more than triple the work! I know!

Also ... pups do go through fear stages as they mature .......

This description makes me fear for my future with Kylie. But only for a little while. (And I'm sorry for your loss.)

 

[Abbylynn]

This description makes me fear for my future with Kylie. But only for a little while. (And I'm sorry for your loss.)

Lol! CptJack - If Kylie comes when called ... you have half the battle mastered! Leeo was just bored and stubborn! I did not realize how much he could possibly learn ........ He really was the best dog I have ever owned.

Thank you for the condolences ........

 

[cshellenberger]

A lot of what you're describing sounds like a fear period, these things happen and it's up to you to help her through it. I'm on my phone right now so it's hard to link but if you go to the training forum there is a sticky on desensitizing fearful dogs, the technique is sound for most fear issues and can be modified depending the fear/situation. As Julie said, don't coddle her, be confident so you can build her confidence via positive association.

 

[Jenness]

The first time I took my Bella out for a walk as a pup she was so terrified when she saw a person that she scrambled into a tire-well of a car that we were walking past to hide. Her nails were so dug in out of fear that I had to pry her out of there!

It is so important not to enforce these behaviors by trying to comfort her when she's scared. First and foremost DO NOT pick her up! There is a difference and a fine line between showing your dog that they are safe with you, and accidentally reinforcing their fears by picking them up, or petting them when they are scared... By picking her up you are telling her that she there is actually something to be fearful of.

I would work on training your dog to give you eye contact. There are lots of articles online that can teach you how to do this with treats or at meal time. It's really simple and a good way to teach your dog to bond with you and trust you.

When you go on walks or whatever you do when your dog gets scared, try to just wait it out and let her face whatever silly thing is scaring her. When you see the signs that she is starting to relax, wait for eye contact and then reward her with praise, affection, or treats work really well if your dog is food motivated. Just be very careful that you do not reward while they are scared/anxious because this would do the complete opposite thing that you want. For example if you drop a broom and she freaks out and runs away make her face her fears and show her the broom. Let her smell it and check it out, when she realizes there is nothing to fear and is no longer scared you reward her.

Like I said Bella was so scared to go outside for walks as a pup but you have to just push through it. Eventually they see that nothing bad happens when they walk past that person with the weird hat or the garbage can that is laying on the side of the street But def. try the eye-contact exercise I found that so helpful and really will help her to trust you more as well. Good Luck!