Friday, February 25, 2011

Puppy Shyness - Train Your Dog to Overcome It

By Stan Beck


Puppy shyness is a typical problem that most dog owners face in the ordinary course of their pet-raising life. Experienced dog owners and experts relate that there is at least one shy puppy in every litter, most especially the toy dog breeds. The further said that puppies which carry this type of behavior need to be treated a little differently from the rest of the litter, considering that it has a special personality.

As days go by and your shy puppy grows, they will develop the tendency to be dependent to their owners to reinforce them in every a majority of aspects of their day to day existence. But this kind of dependence will have a negative impact on your pet as it may tend to develop aggressive behavior if the attention it so desires is threatened by another pet or individual. Experts call this condition as aggression induced by fear.

It might be good to give your puppy some kind of assurance that you are always around to shower with the attention and protection it needs when it feels withdrawn and scared. But experts say that your act of constantly giving your pet the attention and reassurance only reinforces puppy shyness, which is a negative behavior. While it is true that it is difficult to resist stroking or caressing your puppy when it needs your reassuring touch, you have to make that firm decision to help your pet to overcome its negative personality. Always running to your puppy's rescue each time it is afraid or feeling timid is just like telling it that it is just alright to be scared.

Helping Your Shy Puppy Change

Feeling the urge to reassure your pet every time it feels scared or timid is difficult to resist, but as a concerned pet owner, you should make that difficult stand to resist the desire in order to give your dog the confidence it needs to face the real world without being dependent on its master. This is possible by training your pet and through your consistent stand to resist the urge to be your pet's perpetual protector. One of the things to you need to do to make your pet develop the positive attitude it needs is to find ways to remove its feeling of fear and timidity.

Below are tips that can help you eliminate or reduce your puppy's shyness:

1. Ask your friends' cooperation to ignore your puppy's barking which is induced by fear. By simply ignoring your puppy's you and your friends are actually teaching it to learn that there is no need to feel afraid.

2. Make your pet used to meeting people by keeping it by your side each time you have a guest coming. Yu can keep it from hiding behind your legs by securing it with a lead. The experience of being with people without getting harmed or just staying there without being soothed of stoked will make the puppy understand that it doesn't really need reassurance because there is nothing to be afraid of in the first place.




About the Author:



No comments: