Wile E.
if I can chew- it, it's food | 
 | | Barked: Mon Aug 13, '07 9:20am PST | |  | |  | | Things we found that helped:
(most of these apply to dogs who are people shy)
-Bringing in another outgoing, friendly dog to show him how to interact with people, and to show him what NOT to be scared of.
-Joining a socialization group for dogs provides him with play with other dogs, exposure to lots of humans while he is in a happy frame of mind, and the chance to observe how these dogs interact with humans.
-Doing the opposite of some of the things training books say to do with dominant dogs - in order to build his confidence. For example, we let him on the couch, and we sit on the floor so that he is elevated above us. This one has really increased his confidence. He's still submissive to us and super obedient, but this has allowed him to build some confidence to the point where we can actually say "no" when he's doing something wrong without him falling apart.
-When something potentially scary happens, we learned not to look at him, he is supposed to look at us to see how threatening the situation is and not the other way around. We keep our faces happy and relaxed.
-We do not pick him up unless we have to. When we do, we say "up" so he knows what we are doing.
-We made things predictable by saying things like "up" before lifting him and "collar" before putting the collar on. He used to panic if we approached, but after learning "collar", he knew exactly what was going to happen so he felt less threatened. He stops, sits and waits for us to approach at the off leash park when we say "collar".
-He sleeps in our room with us to increase pack drive/ bonding. There is no room on our bed for Wilee, but other owners of people shy dogs I have spoken with say that allowing their dog on the bed increased bonding and confidence.
-We attached him to us with a 6 foot leash. The trainer suggested doing this for 6 weeks solid. We have done it for a few days at a time with great success. It helped increase his bond with us and get him out into the open instead of hiding under the table. It helped get him accustomed to every day things and to being near us while we're sitting, standing, bending, washing dishes, whatever. It also helped him become very used to walking around on a leash at our pace.
-Puppy school (once your shy dog is ready). School for puppies is great for shy dogs because there is not as much pressure as in beginners obedience. Most trainers will not allow an adult dog in "puppy class", but some will allow it if you explain the situation. We have found it useful for getting him used to the training environment, and socialization with humans. He loves puppy school because he sees his dog friends every week.
-Obedience & commands. We set him up for success as much as possible while teaching him commands. Training quickly becomes a bummer for him if he isn't succeeding. He gets nervous and may hide. When he's being told "good boy" and getting treats for doing well, he seems to feel pretty good about himself! I suppose because we are his pack leaders he feels more comfortable with us if he's pleasing us.
Getting him to follow commands is a useful way to distract him from potentially scary things making them less overwhelming.
Those are all the tips I can think of for now that may not be so well known. Many of these things apply only once a dog has become comfortable with you. Bringing him to the point of trusting us even a little bit has been a lengthy process. If anyone has questions about specific issues, or has a dog who is still pretty much feral and wants advice and guidance about what to do in the beginning stages, just let me know! We would be happy to share our experiences.
If you have tips of your own we would be VERY grateful if you share your advice!!
Books & internet resources we have found useful for help with a shy dog:
Help for your shy dog: Turning your terrified dog into a terrific pet - Deborah Wood
Animals in Translation - Temple Grandin
The Cautious Canine - Patricia McConnell
Adopting the puppy mill survivor (lots of good info that applies to dogs who were not socialized and who were mistreated before you got them) -
http://www.ilmorescue.org/adopting_the_puppymill_survivor.htm
R ehabilitation of a puppy mill dog -
http://www.anewstartonlife.com/puppymill.htm |  |  | |  |
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