11 week old pup nervous of people including me!

votejohn

Hi there,

I posted this already to an "ask the expert" site and didnt get a very positive response, so gonna throw it up here!!!

Hi there,

I got a Siberian Husky puppy a week ago today. She was 10 weeks old when she was gotten for me. I work full time as a dog walker, and have studied Canine Studies, Canine Psychology, and animal grooming, so I know quite a bit about dog handling. Unfortunately, she was a surprise for me, and I obviously had no imput into choosing the breeder.

She was bought from a breeder who did not socialise Bella, my pup, much. She was kept in a large outdoor pen with her litter mates, and there were a lot of dogs around, so she did receive a lot of dog on dog socialisation, but that's it.

Bella lived in the countryside, so was not exposed to urban stimuli such as busses, crowds, loud noises etc., and her only experience of humans was when the breeder came to feed them. She was not handled at all.

I have had Bella for one week, and she does not seem to have come on much with people. She is in her element with other dogs, and so happy, but she has no interest with people.

She is a pretty confidant dog, and is not too nervous of new experiences, she may shy away from a truck, but she recovers quickly.

I dont know if im expecting too much from her too fast, but I want to do everything in my power to ensure that she becomes a well adjusted dogs, and I know how vital these early days are in her development.

With people, she will come and take food from their hands (i have been asking friends and family to do this), and she will relax in their company (eat, drink, sleep), yet if anyone attempts to pet her, play with her, pick her up, call her, etc she has no interest or runs away.

As I said I am a dog walker, so Bella is with me 24 / 7. She follow me around the house, and if I move rooms she will get up and follow me, however, if I pet her or pick her up, she will shy away from me too, and as far as I can see, there hasnt been any progress in the past 3 /4 days. She is too timid to come when called, which is scary because if she gets loose i've no way to get her back,

It was suggested to me that since she spends so much time with other dogs, she has decided that they are her pack, not humans, but that couldnt be the case, could it?

Any advice would be seriously apreciated, I have been searching the net for tips since I got her, but nothing seems to have worked so far!

Obviously you apreciate the urgency, as I really want her well adjusted during these development days!!!!

Thanks so much for your time!

All the best,
Nanci and Bella!

peasant

I'd say as she is following you around, the battle is half won already.

Just don't force yourself on her too much, let her come to you on her own terms.

Try making yourself interesting. Sit on the floor (at her level) and do intriguing things behind your back, out of her sight. Food would be the obvious thing here ...make sume rustling noises with packaging, unwrap some treats (tin foil and kibble will do just fine) let her come and investigate, give her some. Then start saying her name when you give her food and hopefully after a few sessions she will come when called. Then you may be able to progress towards touching .

lrushe

The fact that your pup is following you shows that she has a level of trust in you, don't break that by trying to push her too far too fast or setting her goals to be achieved in a certain amount of time, patience is the key when dealing with a nervous dog. I have had nervous pups in the past and spent months sitting on the floor with them watching TV rather than on the couch! Also don't feel like you need to have a stream of people meet her, a few good experiences with a few people can be much better than a lot of mixed experiences with lots of different people. You should restrict people from over fussing her, when they come into your home they should ignore her and let her approached them on her terms, then they can show her quiet, calm affection without too much eye contact. Nervousiness is one the hardest problems to overcome in a dog and Huskys can be a stand offish breed anyway so all I would say is give her time and don't expect too much at once.:o

spiderdog

she sounds lovely, a week is a very short time for a pup to adjust to so many new experiences.......sounds like you`re doing the right things!!
what `expert `site did you look for advice on??

votejohn

thanks for the advice guys, hopefully she will come good!

the site i got the answer from is here

http://www.allexperts.com/user.cgi?m=6&catID=701&expID=47841&qID=4801944

votejohn

thanks for the advice guys, hopefully she will come good!

the site i got the answer from is here

http://www.allexperts.com/user.cgi?m=6&catID=701&expID=47841&qID=4801944

wexford202

My friend has one of those dogs, which is weirdly enough also called bella!!!!!!

She has her nearly 4 years now and got her when she was 11 months old.

The dog is nervous around people especially men and never grew out of this.

It is so bad that it will pee on the floor when a man walks into the room. Also sometimes if a woman walks into the room.

She wasn't abuse das I know her last owner which I really wouldn't think did her any harm as he gave her for free to a good home.

I wuold relaly bring her to a class of some sort soon just to make sure that this doesn't progress into something more serious.