[InStere0]

A few weeks ago I got a 4 month old female akita from a breeder. When I went to see her for the first time, her and her sister were the last 2 remaining puppies from the litter. At first she was a little shy and her sister was really outgoing, but she warmed up to me pretty quickly. So I took her home and everything was cool for a while, that is until I started showing her to people. When she saw my dad, she wouldn't get near him and still doesn't. She does this little growl and puts her tail between her legs whenever she sees anyone but me. She doesn't stay there very long, she bolts to the back yard or where she can be as far away as possible from people. She doesn't seem to be scared of other dogs cause she immediately took a liking to my other dog (a 2 year old male akita) and she doesn't bark, whine, or growl when she sees other dogs when I take her for a walk.

Last night she did the same thing when 2 of my friends came over to the house. She did her little growl and went to the back yard. My other dog was all over my friends checking them out and just being cool with them. I've tried exposing her to different situations so she can start getting used to how things are, but I don't know what else to do. She seemed ok at first but now this is getting frustrating.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can help her to get over her fear of people?

 

[TooneyDogs]

When you say "expose" her to people and situations what exactly are you doing? By that, I mean socialization doesn't just happen....you have to do the training to build the trust and confidence. You didn't say how you're handling that so, it's hard to guess where you might not be doing things quite right.

 

[InStere0]

When you say "expose" her to people and situations what exactly are you doing? By that, I mean socialization doesn't just happen....you have to do the training to build the trust and confidence. You didn't say how you're handling that so, it's hard to guess where you might not be doing things quite right.

What I meant by exposing her to things like car rides, going to the park, visiting friends who also have puppies....things like that.

What I`m looking for is the right way to get her over her fears. I've never had a dog that acts like this. I'm willing to do what it takes to get her to be ok with people.

I've looked around for training classes but there aren't any in my area. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[TooneyDogs]

The traditional way is to reward and praise any/all displays of confidence/curiosity/boldness. Strangers deliver treats....teaching her that good things come from strangers. Sometimes, scary things mean that you have to work at a distance where you reward/praise her for calmness....not hiding/running away. As that confidence grows, you start to move closer to the scary things....again, rewarding confident behavior.
A big part of Socialization is trying to figure out what causes the fear(s)...sight or sound or both and then working on those things individually before hitting her with two scary things at the same time.