Quote:
Originally Posted by fourdez  Your dog sounds like exactly like my Ricky. When we first got him, he was
( and still is) very dog friendly, but extremely fearful of people. If we tried to pick him up he would hide in the corner, keeping his head down and shake all over. It was so bad that I hired a Dog Behavorist to come to my home and show me how to deal with this puppy.
One of the exercises she show us was that we had to lay on the floor, so that we were eye level with him, but never looking him directly in the eye. We had to outstretch our hands and call him over, when he came, we would give him a treat until he started to associate a good experience when he came to us.
It took a while, but it worked. He is never going to like other people interacting with him but, he does come to us and plays with us, and snuggles with us and gives us the best kisses in the world. Actually, I prefer that he doesn't go to other people, he is over a year old and weighs only 2lbs 7 oz. I like that he doesn't allow anyone else to pick him up. Good luck !! |
This approach is working with my little rescue Chihuahua, Kozanna. I never reach for her from a standing position, I always sit down on the floor or kneel down or even lay on the floor. When I let her out of her crate, I sit in the floor outside the door and she will come out and climb up on my lap to be cuddled. I do this every time I let her out and she then goes in the kitchen to play. I sit on the kitchen floor with my hands outstretched on the floor and she will come and lick my hands. She doesn't come when called yet, but I hope she will one of these days.