[yorkietalkjilly]

A lot of small dogs walk back a few steps or shift their weight over their haunches when you reach toward them, preparatory for a possibly heavy-handed petting session or picking them up, which happens so much to small dogs; or, from that position, they can readily flee, if necessary. It's instinctive with so many small dogs. Others will quite readily turn their backs to you when they know you are about to pick them up. But doing that and shying back, clearly showing all of the body language of avoidance and even fear, is different and you can readily see the difference. Some dogs ears are out to the sides or back, eyes squinting or walled, head turning to one side and a dipping down, tail going down, back hunching a little and the body sways or even flinches from the outstretched hand. That is plain old avoidance that is usually from a fear or shyness of humans.