I just got my new puppy Friday. He is 3 months old. He is so shy. Whenever anyone comes near that is not me or my daughter, he hides (behind the couch, under the futon, behind the tv) anywhere. He is fine if he is being held or sitting in your lap. He is okay outside (even on a leash) but he doesn't like people.
What do I do to socialize him? I want him to be happy and healthy, and he looks so sad. He is so shy. Will he grow out of it or will it get worse?
Please help me help my little guy...
Answers:
Dachshund are not usually shy, in fact, most of them are quite bold.
Yours is probably shy because he is frightened and unsure of his situation,you might be too if you suddenly found yourself in a new family at a young age.
Take it slowly with him, introduce him to new people gradually. Have new people sit down and ignore the puppy. You sit next to them, holding your dachsie. Eventually he will become curious
and start sniffing around the new person - let it be his idea to go to them. When he does, have the new person give him a treat and talk to him gently
and kindly.
Do this over and over. You can also take him on leash to small public gatherings, park, local flea market, or just walks.
Keep treats with you and let newcomers give them to him if he will take them - some dogs won't take things from strangers, that's o.k. too.
Don't let anyone pet him or make sudden moves towards him, that can be very frightening - just let him be around people.
Once your dachshund becomes sure of himself, through your love and positive reinforcement, he should come out of his shyness. You need to work with him and give him time. You might also like to enroll with him in a puppy obedience class, there are other dogs and dog owners there and it is a great socialization method.
Congratulations on getting a dachshund, they are wonderful, smart, loving and loyal pets.
Take him with you whenever you can to socialize him. Parks are wonderful. Let him be around as many different people and other pets as possible. He will be shy at first, but the only way to get him out of it is to expose him to his environment. If you don't, he will become aggressive towards guests that come in your house. Do not let him hide. If someone comes over, get him out of his hiding place and make him "greet" the guest. Always tell your guests to greet him with the back of their hand. Dogs feel less threatened this way, also, never make eye contact until he has become more socialized.
Just give him time. Let him come out on his own time. Don't try to get him out when people come over just let him come out if he wants to. Good Luck!
You should be aware that your little puppy has just lost everything that was familiar to him; his mom, his littermates and the bed and surroundings that he knew.
He is just a little kid and of course he is frightened. Wouldnt you be?
Give him time, be gentle. Know that he will always be smaller than everything and everyone else and that would be frightening in any case.
Put yourself in his shoes/paws, give him understanding and love and do lots of research. Do what feels right.
Find a local trainer and get him into a puppy kindergarten class as soon as possible. Ask your veterinarian or local pet superstore manager for recommendations; often these places will run puppy socialization classes.
In the meantime, have strangers and others visiting the home ignore him until he comes out, then they can offer him treats or toss treats his direction if he won't come close.
Be cautious when taking him new places, not to overwhelm him. Use a calm, happy voice and do NOT comfort or talk to him while he is hiding or being fearful... he may interpret this as "Good boy, it's good to be afraid."
Instead, ignore him if he gets scared and allow him to investigate at his own pace. Praise when he investigates, NOT when he hides.
okay all mini dachshunds are shy in there life time even a little aggressive, your pup is growing up and with that her brain is getting scared of new things, to get your mini to love people socilize like crazy! becareful to socilize with children they are scared greatly with kids, my mini hates kids and will growl and show teeth before he lets a kid touch him but with adults he is timid and fairly okay. but to get a wonderful dog, let someone hold your mini freaking out or not and you stand there and pet her letting her know its okay it will take a couple of tries before she starts to relize its okay and that she isnt going to be hurt, for the hiding you must immediatley bring her out of hiding calm her down and have her confront the person that scares her this teachers her to be her bold couragious self like a mini is suppose to be. it takes time love and patience to get this breed to be its true traits. goodluck!
socialize him, like everyone else has said. he's just a baby and needs time to adjust, too, so don't over do it. i had the same problem with my toy fox terrier :)
my puppy when i first got him was the exact same way. he was completely miserable for about the first three days we had him. in order to break him from the funk he was in. we decided to leash train him and he couldn't have been happier. we took him on walks, to the fair, to petco, to the park. in reality we tried to expose him to as much as we possibly could. and for us it worked wonderfully. see when we first spotted our dog in its pen he was mild mannered and happy go lucky when we brought him home he was so depressed we hed never be happy with us. so you see just keep exposing your dog to new things and get him somethings to chew on or he'll find his own and he will perk up
When I got my mini he had been abused and was very distrustful and shy. He'd never been socialized either. He was three.
Just give him lots of love and encouragement, find him a dog buddy who's not too big and won't hurt him when they play, and take him out to socialize every day. He'll be fine.
After nearly four years of him owning me, he's now much more confident and happy. He loves other dogs and is great with people (once he gets to know them) and he's a happy, goofy little guy.
Good luck. And here's a little mantra to make you smile :)
Dachshund Property Laws
If I like it, it's mine.
If it's in my mouth, it's mine.
If I can take it from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
If I'm chewing something up, all the pieces are mine.
If it just looks like mine, it's mine.
If I saw it first, it's mine.
If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
If it's broken, it's yours.
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