shy girl

[nick's spirit]

We saw Holly at her breeders, with her parents, they were all outside dogs, and she was a friendly puppy. When I got her up to Alaska, she was a changed girl. Very frightened and anxious. As I tried to socialize her she would hide & not go for rides to see any people. She was like this for her first year. We were ready to put her up for adoption, her breeder didn't want her back.
Then we figured we were the kind of people who would rescue her, and went to another plan. Her veterinarian & we decided to try Prozac. Holly got less anxious. She is 4 years old now, still on her Prozac. She still does not enjoy people petting her very much, but loves us and her 2 Aussie room mates. Especially our 17 month old who Holly mothered & plays with and is also the Alpha girl in the pack. Holly is not agressive towards people or dogs. She is our 3rd Pyr, and they all have been so different!
Just wondering if anyone else has ever had such a shy Pyr?

[Jewel]

I have a shy dog as well, and thought I share my experiecne. I have a pyr mix who would rather not meet new people if he can help it (and the thing is he looks like a white golden so people are attracted to him). We adopted him at 8 weeks, so we know his aversion is not due to abuse. We tried socializing him by taking him out to public places, but at times he can get freaked and growl at strange hands trying to pet him. But we are continuing to work with him, including enrolling him in agility (a sport where he doesn't have to deal with people in the ring, but the exercise builds his confidence). He is generally okay around people so long as they ignore him. So we tell our friends not to look, speak or pay any attention to him when they come to our house. In time he would approach the people on his own to sniff them, but even then I tell my friends not to try and pet him and allow him to sniff and walk away on his terms. He is 4 yrs-old now and has learned to let some adults who approach him in a calm and casual manner to pet him. We've noticed that those people who he accepts petting are those who do not stare at him straight in the eye, make high pitched cooing noises, or reach out directly at him. He is still very skittish of children and, as we do not have children, I am not sure I'll be able to help him overcome that.

[nick's spirit]

Thanks Jewel
I thought Holly was the only Pyr who would rather not deal with people. But I guess if one considers what the breed's job is...flock guarding and being alone & in charge. I guess it shouldn't be unusual that somePyr's would just rather not be around people. I have noticed that Holly likes to approach people on her own terms when they are not lookimg at her, and you are right, there is no stronger draw than a big, cuddly, looking dog!

[fluffylove]

These are not typical pyrs, but it does happen. Make sure your pyr feels safe and knows you are in charge. Many people think being alpha means rolling over, it is much more than that. Being in charge means "Don't worry girl, I'll keep you safe" in a dog's mind. If she stressed do not pat her. Best thing is either ignore or put her in her safe spot. start off slow, don't 'bite off more than you can chew sort of thing"
Be calm, patient and consistent. If she is absolutely horrible with people, go to quiet places where you may see one or two people, DO NOT have them come up to her. Calmly walk her to them, tell them to stay still and not do the hand gestures that freaks them out. Let her walk up, sniff them and move on. NEVER have the people do the hand thing, that is not how dogs should be meeting people. Walk up, sniff pants and keep walking. People can crouch down and ignore her, no eye contact to help with her bravery. I have a puppy from very shy/timid lines. Due to the 'dominance' hierarchy in the household you wouldn't know she was shy! We don't pin/scold etc just let her know we are in charge and that we will keep her safe with the bark busters methods.
My puppy was cowering in a corner shelf of a store, underneath things. She would run away from loud sounds, scarey dogs, or funny people. If she was scared, I would walk up to the thing she was afriad of, and with her knowing I was 'alpha' she settled right down investigated and was fine from then on.
Consistency but don't do too much.
Hope this helps.

[nick's spirit]

Thanks fluffylove. I have noticed that Holly responds better when she goes up to people, and they don't make the first move. We never force her to meet any people she doesn't want to. The way I look at it, is that she is not an agressive girl, I've only heard her growl a couple of times, and that was at a puppy she was correcting. She is becoming more interested in food, not exactly food motivated, but if she feels secure enough, she will take a treat from friends. She's a funny girl, loves her belly rubs in the morning, and her walks and she plays well with our 2 Aussies. She barks and looks fierce whenever the someone is at the door (love her deep bark) but she's really just a big loveable, cuddly girl to us.

[Jewel]

Hope you will be able to make progress with Holly. My male seldom takes treats from anyone other than my husband and myself. The only exception is at Petsmart where he doesn't mind taking treats from the cashier, indeed, he begs for treats there! But I think having the counter between him and the cashier helps as from his point of view, they can't really reach him. We will continue to work with him and I hope that one day he can improve to the point where I am able to board him. The two times we've been on vacation after we got him we had the good fortune of a friend coming over twice a day to feed the dogs. The first year we went on vacation, I did a lot of homework inviting my friend over several times to spend time in our house with the dogs. Everything was fine that first year. The next year I didn't have as much time and didn't invite my friend over to familiarize her to the dogs as I thought they already knew her. When we were gone the second time, he was so scared of our friend that he wouldn't come in the house if she stood at the door. She had to open the back door, step back into the house and wait until he felt brave enough to come in. Then he'd slink in and wolf down his food then run right back to the backyard again. She couldn't lure him in with treats as he wouldn't take treats from her hand. Our other dog, a female, was the alpha dog and she loved our friend, but the alpha dog's trust in our friend had no influence on the him. To us, he's a wonderful dog, totally loving, intelligent and very obedient. He just doesn't trust anyone else.