What do I do? I have some grave concerns that I thought you might be able to help me with. He is only 13 weeks old. Mickey is very animal friendly, he is not people friendly he won't come to Jeff or I without us chasing him down. He is not interested in anything we do and he is very, very hand shy. Before this gets out of hand tell me what you think. He hides under our bed if we let him. These are the things we have done to make him feel at home and I have done to make him like us. 1. He has his own "space" but on the flip side we have to close the door during the day or he would never come out. 2. I play with him lay down on the floor with him, I've tried treats, praise and to touch him as often as possible. After we've picked him up after kind-of having a rodeo its like he is just resigned to the fact that we are bigger than him and he has no choice but to let us pet him. I am not going to push him but just ignoring him doesn't work because he could care less. 3. In essence we are not doing very well and feel really bad. We don't want him miserable. And we really want to love him. |
Poor little baby. Can you give more information so we can be of more help to you. How long have you had him. 1-How old was he when you took him home. 2- Did you get him from a reputable or other (pet shop, hobby breeder) 3-How many puppies were in the litter 4-Is he food motivated, is there one food that he loves the most, kibble, treat. 5-Does he play with toys 6-Have you taken him out doors for walks or potty. 7-You say he is animal friendly, how did he meet these animals 8-Were they just dogs or cats and other types of animals With these questions answered we have a better view of what may be going on with this lil guy. |
It might just take some time. It took my youngest several weeks to really get comfortable. The worse thing you can do is chase him. Sitting on the floor with treats is a good thing to do every day. Don’t push him to hard or it will overwhelm him. It takes time. |
He was 12 weeks, we think the breeder was ok. She has been in the business for a while. There were 4 puppies and he does play with anything shoes, chew sticks etc. We take him for walks at least once a day on a leash and he can run around in our back yard. We already had a older pug, a cat and a 2 year old yorkie. (He's a pair-yorkie.) He gets along great with them. Do you have any ideas? |
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Thank you for the answers. If your pup has not had all his vaccines he should not be walked outdoors or be in a yard, he needs to stay indoors until he is fully vaccinated. He should get his rabies and distemper shots at 16 weeks old, to take him outdoors without these vaccines he is at risk of getting rabies, distemper and / or parvo. Back yards you have disease carrying animals, squirrels, mice, moles, voles, chipmunks and what ever wild life in your area, stray cats with fleas can visit your yard subjecting your puppy to getting them also. Don't chase after him to pick him up, most puppies see this as a game, in your pups case it is scaring him. Do as you have been doing, sit on the floor and entice him with his favorite toys, have treats with you to reward him when he comes to you. You only have him appox one week, some puppies need more time to adjust to new home, smells, sounds, different human voices. Keep the bedroom closed as you're doing. Just be patient and cheerful he has to build trust in you, he will come around. Please, no more outdoors until he has had his last vaccine, not even your back yard. |
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Thank you He is getting his shot tomorro |
Let him come to you on his own terms. Don't force affection on him. At the same time, you can start training for the "come" command using positive reinforcement. Be extra patient and never show frustration. Always let him know he is free to go and is not being held against his will for affection. When my boys were pups, I would pick them up for a couple seconds and then let them go on their way. Be calm and predictable around him. Talk to him casually as you go about your daily routine. Let him observe you. Sometimes too much enthusiasm and attention can scare a puppy/dog who is trying to adjust to his new home. |
Follow up Hi, I just wanted to say that he had his shots today and was microchipped. It seemed to be a mean thing to do to somebody who only weighs 4 pounds |
Use positive reinforcement Our little Yorkie got very reluctant to come to us after we had to give her medication in pill form. She hated it. I tried to lure her with treats but she would still wait for me to step away before she would take it. Then I remember the best book I ever read from one of the trainers who trained animals for movies, even porpoises and wild animals that are shy of humans. It was called "Don't Shoot The Dog" and was all about positive reinforcement. This trainer had worked with a research group on honing down the reinforcement to an exact science. The thing they found is you have to be consistent in giving rewards and no negative reinforcement at all. If they don't do what you want, you simply ignore them. But here is the kicker: in training with rewards, you must reward every move they make in the right direction. If you want them to come, wait until they voluntarily take a step towards you. The reward must be give immediately (you may have to carry treats on you at all times while training). So one step in the right direction and you immediately give a treat. If they are very shy you may just have to put the treat down and give them space to retrieve it. If they do it again, again immediately reward. Don't try to move towards them, let them come to you and then reward instantly. Within a couple of days of this they will begin to trust you enough to come up and take the treat out of your hand. Immediately you give them rewards (I'd give a few, so they get a bigger reward for coming close to you). Still don't try to grab or do anything to them. Just keep up rewarding everytime they come close. Pretty soon you'll be their best friend. And btw, the researchers used the same method on their kids and they had the best behaving children the author ever saw. It takes some patience, but you can win them over this way. Even supposedly untrainable animals can be trained to do tricks and allow people to come close to them. The book is worth reading. It's written in layman's terms and sprinkled generously with real life experiences training all kinds of animals. |
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Hi and thank you. He is 14 weeks. Do you know when the best time to neuter him would be? |
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