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07-31-2016, 11:34 PM | #1 |
Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Texas
Posts: 18
| Yorkie mix fearful of strangers, especially men. Hello all, I recently adopted a little Chorkie who's about 1 years old. He's an absolute sweet heart with literally a heart of gold... but when it comes to strangers, he's a completely different dog. He was very scared and timid when I first met him, so I knew he was just a nervous little guy. However, he's extremely fearful of men. He only growls and barks when he sees a man (usually if they're in our house), and he seems to be more scared the older they are. I'm a student who currently teaches violin from home, so I have the luxury of people coming to my house while working. I've been leaving him out with my students so he's able to be around people, and so far, he's done very well with all my female students. He'll still be very timid and shy away, but as long as they don't stare at him, he will come up to them and want affection. Today, he even jumped up on my students lick and pawed at her! However... it's a completely different story with guys. I had my 14 year old student come over with his Grandpa, and Stuart (my dog) has NEVER been so bad before. He was growling at them, barking, and wouldn't even get near them. He was very curious of my student since he was younger, but Stuart was petrified of his Grandpa. I had to apologize and say that I was trying to socialize him. Thankfully they had rescued pups so they understood. Now, I don't think Stuart would ever bite anyone unless someone (most likely a man) were to pick him up and put their face in his. Otherwise, he won't go up to someone and bite them, as long as they don't force him into a situation where he's scared. He's extremely submissive and would rather run than fight. So I'm having a really hard time with him getting comfy around guys. He's currently been with us for a little over 2 months, and the only male he trusts is my dad. He is still very shy with him at times, but he's the only guy that Stuart even remotely trusts. He'll greet him shyly when he comes home, sit in his lap, and occasionally give him kisses. I've been having my dad feed him at night so he associates men with food, which means good things! And training wise, I've been trying to get him out of the house and take him to pet stores, just to experience everything. I have my brothers try to socialize with him and feed him treats, and basically just try to introduce him to everyone. I see a slight improvement with females (he warms up to them a lot quicker) but he still stays far away from guys. What is a good, non-stressful way that I can help him with when overcoming his fear of men? I've looked into some videos that showcase this problem but I don't think those will help with this situation. He's only 6 lbs, so he's such a fragile little guy. I don't want to end up doing something too intense, and make him hate guys even more. I'd appreciate any help for my baby boy. We aren't sure of his story, but I do think he may have been abused, specifically by a male. I know Yorkies/Chihuahuas tend to be scared of men/kids if they weren't socialized properly, so that's definitely not helping his case. He even shys away with me sometimes if he thinks I'm upset with him, so he's an extremely sensitive dog. He acts as though he's been struck before, since he will cower at times when he think he's done something wrong. So it's important that I find a very laid back, gentle way of training him from his fear. Hopefully he'll learn not to be so scared of the world. Also, he's learning lots of obedience training using the clicker method, so if that could help with this type of training, that'd be awesome! Thanks again! And here's a picture of my little man! |
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