brotymo
Well-known member
Hey, my Lizzie, now 14 weeks old, is quite shy. I believe she is just that way by nature. When I saw her at the breeders, she wanted to cuddle up close to my neck, and she really was ready to get down fairly quickly and go back over by the breeder. She would hang out near the breeders legs, and the breeder's family. I attributed it to all the goings on that day. There was a ball game on TV, and a couple other guests with passionate reactions to the game.
Lizzie took to my big dogs right away, and she loves my kids and likes kids who come over, but is nervous when we are away from home and she is meeting strangers. She is petrified of other dogs. She shakes and trys to climb into my arms at just the sight of them, even if they are paying no attention to her. She tries to hide her face. I don't reward this behavior by cooing over her or comforting her as if she has reason to be afraid. I try to just ignore that reaction, yet don't press her to get any closer. I reward and praise her when she is friendly and "brave".
She literally screamed and ran when she saw the life-sized german shepherd stuffed animal we have (that Bandit attacks in the video I posted a few weeks ago). She had a screaming reaction to another real shepherd that walked toward us in Petsmart about a week ago. I was holding her and the dog looked at and walked eagerly toward us, and she literally yelled like the devil had her by the tail.
She likes people and will greet them when they come to our house, but with her body crouched sort of submissively, and if we are not at home, she is nervous about others petting her. She looks at me and trys to turn closer into me and get closer into my arms. I thought at first she just needed time to adjust, but now I see that this is her nature. Meanwhile, Bandit is trying to say "hi" to everyone, man or beast. There isn't a shy bone in his body! Hopefully, he will rub off on her some.
I have been taking her as many places as I can (but nothing loud or scary) and I encourage others to pet her as long as she isn't afraid of them, so she can get used to others and see it as a positive experience. I have taken her to a friends house who has a sweet dachshund so she can meet other dogs that will be nice and won't intimidate her. That went okay, but she never opened up. She just wasn't AS shaky, and she did finally walk over to say "hi" to the dachshund's owner, then came right back to me. She only smelled the dog once from the safety of my lap.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd like to help her take the world in stride, and I understand she may always be more reserved, but I know that there must be things we can do to minimize this behavior and build her confidence. We hope to be able to show her, but with her current shyness, I don't see how that can happen.
Lizzie took to my big dogs right away, and she loves my kids and likes kids who come over, but is nervous when we are away from home and she is meeting strangers. She is petrified of other dogs. She shakes and trys to climb into my arms at just the sight of them, even if they are paying no attention to her. She tries to hide her face. I don't reward this behavior by cooing over her or comforting her as if she has reason to be afraid. I try to just ignore that reaction, yet don't press her to get any closer. I reward and praise her when she is friendly and "brave".
She literally screamed and ran when she saw the life-sized german shepherd stuffed animal we have (that Bandit attacks in the video I posted a few weeks ago). She had a screaming reaction to another real shepherd that walked toward us in Petsmart about a week ago. I was holding her and the dog looked at and walked eagerly toward us, and she literally yelled like the devil had her by the tail.
She likes people and will greet them when they come to our house, but with her body crouched sort of submissively, and if we are not at home, she is nervous about others petting her. She looks at me and trys to turn closer into me and get closer into my arms. I thought at first she just needed time to adjust, but now I see that this is her nature. Meanwhile, Bandit is trying to say "hi" to everyone, man or beast. There isn't a shy bone in his body! Hopefully, he will rub off on her some.
I have been taking her as many places as I can (but nothing loud or scary) and I encourage others to pet her as long as she isn't afraid of them, so she can get used to others and see it as a positive experience. I have taken her to a friends house who has a sweet dachshund so she can meet other dogs that will be nice and won't intimidate her. That went okay, but she never opened up. She just wasn't AS shaky, and she did finally walk over to say "hi" to the dachshund's owner, then came right back to me. She only smelled the dog once from the safety of my lap.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I'd like to help her take the world in stride, and I understand she may always be more reserved, but I know that there must be things we can do to minimize this behavior and build her confidence. We hope to be able to show her, but with her current shyness, I don't see how that can happen.
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