Last week we talked about Linus A Shy Timid Dog and his training. This week we’re going to continue updating you with the things we worked on in training class to help make Linus a more confident dog. Hopefully this will help anyone else out there who’d like to work with their shy, timid, or nervous dog.

Linus’s Week Before Training Class

A couple things I might mention that may be effecting Linus’s normal behavior is my puppy sitting duties. The past couple days I’ve been puppy sitting two dogs. A 14 week old yellow Labrador Retriever and an 11 year old Miniature Poodle. I wasn’t too concerned because in general Linus gets along with dogs in his own house.

Yellow Lab

The 14 week old yellow Lab is Ace and is a puppy in training with Guide Dogs of America. Ace came over on Monday and Linus was not immediately thrilled. I could tell Linus was not afraid, but more overwhelmed with Ace’s energy level. After about 5 minutes Linus decided it was time to play and would just knock Ace down as Ace sprinted around the house (he had the zoomies).

I can tell Linus doesn’t like it when Ace barks. I’m not too sure what it is he just kind of looks at me like: “Do we have to have another one of these little puppies?”

Miniature Poodle

Linus is afraid of Quincy the Mini Poo. Quincy only stayed over for a couple days and did not like Ace at all. Ace wanted to sniff Quincy’s butt, but Quincy wanted no part of Ace and just barked or growled at him. As soon as Quincy started growling Linus decided he would just ignore Quincy the entire time he was at our house.

Good thing for Linus Quincy pretty much just ignored him as well.

How To Train A Shy Timid Dog – Week 3

Even with all the distractions of new puppies and older dogs Linus performed quite admirably at week 3 of training. Once again our goal is to try and integrate Linus with the group. He doesn’t seem afraid of the other dogs at all. He seems more concerned with everything else around him including other dogs, basketball players, tennis players, racketball players, bikers, and families walking through the park.

• After talking about how our week went we worked on our heeling to get the blood flowing. Linus and I walked at the rear of the group and followed all the way. While walking by the basketball court Linus got scared by an errant basketball and kind of shuddered. We were advised by our trainer to constantly praise and give Linus treats during our walk around the court to try and keep his mind off of all the activity happening around him.
• Sit, Down, and Stay. We worked on these commands near the basketball courts. Linus and I stood further off to the side and worked our commands.
• Sit, Down, and Stay in the grass with treats littered everywhere. Linus and I were part of the group during this exercise. He did a great job during these exercises.
• Formal Recall. We worked on formal recall in the grass. Basically just like last week…have your dog in a Sit-Stay walk about 20 feet away from your dog and call his name. This time Linus wasn’t too enthusiastic about coming. He slowly trotted over to me and took his sweet time. He looked a little concerned with all the other dogs watching us. We did it a second time, but this time I showed him a handful of treats then ran from him. Slight improvement, but still not much enthusiasm from Linus. I need to work on this exercise with Linus with distractions.

All in all I think it was a successful week. Linus has met some new friends (Ace and Quincy) and hasn’t acted aggressive with either of them (although he is just ignoring Quincy). And during class he’s becoming more a part of the group.

If you have a shy, timid, or nervous dog let me know what actions your taking to try and build your dogs confidence.

Linus is a shy timid dog…quite the opposite of my guide dog puppy in training, Stetson. Now that Stetson is gone we plan on taking Linus to the same guide dog training classes Stetson attended.

Stetson attended six guide dog training classes (each classs was 6 weeks long) during his time with me. It was my goal to get him as much training as possible before we took him in for formal training. The Guide Dog’s of America requirement is that we take our puppy’s to a minimum of two classes: 1 puppy class and 1 basic obedience class. Stetson was an over achiever and attended every scheduled Orange County GDA class while he was a puppy in training.

Linus is not training to be a guide dog…he’s just attending class with the other guide dog puppies in training.

A Shy Timid Dog

Linus has taken a total of three training classes: 1 puppy class and 2 basic obedience classes. Recently, I have noticed that he will do several things when he see’s other dogs that he doesn’t know.

• Sometimes he would shy away/hide behind my legs
• Sometimes he would bark and lunge
• Sometimes he would just go up and sniff the other dog

More recently he’s been barking and lunging at dogs he doesn’t know and I do not like this behavior. I’m not positive what the best steps are for Linus, but I knew that I needed to get him back into training class where he’d have the chance to interact with well behaved dogs and puppies.

<– Linus is on the right. Stetson has the bandaged foot.

Several months ago we worked on Linus’s behavior and it was told to us that shyness is a hereditary problem and that Linus most likely inherited this from his mother or father. Linus is a shelter dog and we never knew too much about his mother or father, just that his mother was an Australian Shepherd mix, his sister was almost twice as big as Linus, and she was tri-color. I’m not positive, but Linus may have been the runt of the litter…does being the runt have anything to do with being shy and timid? I’m not sure.

Guide Dog Training Classes

Linus started guide dog training class a little over a week ago and has already attended two sessions. Most of the dogs are Labrador Retrievers and are either a guide dog puppy in training or a career changed guide dog. My main goal with this class is to get Linus used to being around other friendly, well-behaved dogs. He already knows his basic obedience.

Week 1

During the first week of class we mainly stayed along the outside of the class and did all the same training exercises that the other dogs and puppies performed. We (our trainer and me) wanted Linus to be somewhat close to the group, but not to the point where he was uncomfortable. As we progress through the weeks we will move Linus closer and closer to the other dogs in class.

• I was advised to constantly praise Linus and give him treats when he wasn’t showing any fear during our class sessions. Basically, I’m constantly giving Linus treats which seems to serve two purposes: It’s a reward for not being afraid and it keeps his mind off things going on around him. A dog or puppy will not accept treats or food in a scary situation.
• All the dogs went for a walk and worked on their heeling. Linus just stayed off to the side while each dog walked past him.
• The dogs did a weaving exercise where all the dogs sit in a line while one dog weaves in and out of the stationary dogs. During this exercise Linus first just watched from the sideline and then we just walked along the sideline rather than weave.

Week 2

The goal during week 2 was to try and move Linus a little closer to the other dogs and let him get more involved in the exercises.

• During the walk Linus and I worked on our healing at the end of the pack.
• We stopped near the basketball court and worked on our sit-stays and down-stays. Linus and I kept a little bit of distance from the basketball courts and the group, but we worked on the same commands.
• We left the basketball courts and worked on the command “Leave It”. While our dogs were in either a sit or down our trainer, Ramona dropped french fries right in front of their noses. When the french fries fell to the ground we gave our dogs the command “Leave it” and the dogs are supposed to leave the french fries. Linus and I just observed as the other dogs worked on this command.
• Finally, we worked on the command: “Come”. We attached a line to our dogs, put them in a “Sit-Stay”, walked twenty feet away, and gave the command “Linus, Come!” or just plain “Linus!”. Linus did well with this command and just came straight to me while the other dogs watched.

I’m very pleased with Linus’s progress. During his two training classes he hasn’t shown any aggression towards the other dogs. However, he doesn’t seem completely comfortable. He has definitely shown improvement from week 1 to week 2.

Do you have a shy or timid dog? What do you do to help improve their behavior?