Timid Dog

[Luvmydanes]

So we got Jasmine about 3 weeks ago and she was really scared. I figure it would all wear off once she got settled. Well she is settled and she is still really skittish. I dont know what to do. Even when she goes out to go to the bathroom, she'll come up to the slider when she is done and if we open it, she will run off. She wants to come in but wont. Also, we haven't put her on a run, so she has started getting comfortable with her surroundings and roaming a bit more, and if I cant see her, I will call her to come in, and as soon as she sees me outside looking for her she is gone. She runs off. Its actually kind of starting to make me mad. I have to just wait it out, and I dont want her to think it is ok to not listen. Any suggestions? We are starting to put her on a run when she goes out and taking her out on a leash to potty from now on.

Kandi

[awo]

Sounds like your dog is playing games with you.  Our saint Dudley does the same thing.  He wants us our there with him.  The only advice that I can give you is not to go to the door so fast.  I know he is new to your household and that will take time.  You might want to give him/her a treat when they go outside, like a biscuit.  You don't have to do this everytime, but it's just to let him/her that it's okay and you don't have to be there every minute.  Hope this helps.

awo

[poofynewfy]

Good luck...

[Jason]

Kandi

How old is Jasmine? She looks fairly young, but does she have a history?

Oreo has been timid since I got him (he was almost 2 though). I didn't know much about his past history and there were no external signs of physical abuse/neglect, but it did take him a bit to warm up to me. He's 8 now and he is still very timid around some new people, bold dogs and loud noises. I swear he will jump at every marginally abrupt noise he hears. Not just thunder and doorbells and stuff, but the toaster popping, cabinet doors shutting, a dropped shoe, crying babies etc. Maybe the noise of the door abruptly opening is scaring her. Does she hang her head or jump back  when all this happens?

On the other hand, if she is wagging her tail and prancing during this event, she could just be messing with you. If this is the case, she needs the treat as incentive to come in.

Jason

[Luvmydanes]

Thank you all for the suggestions. We are going to petco this morning. Come to think of it, Dane is on a pulley type run when he is outside and the second he tries to run away when we call him, we just step on the part connected to his collar and he instantly stops and lays down. So that is a great idea.
Jason - Jasmine is 12 weeks old. She has acted this way since day 1 when we got her. And she doesn't prance around when we open the slider, she jumps, her ears go back and she runs off the porch. Its just frustrating, you know? My husband and I were talking last night, and when we thought about it, Dane was the same exact way in the running away from us when we would go outside to get him, and Shaun would have to get him in a corner of the yard to get him. He wasn't in touble, we just wanted him to get him to to come in. Once he said that it made me feel a little better, cause Dane has since grew out of that. She is a lot more jumpy than Dane is, and I'm not sure why, but I think with work, she will be just fine. I also think some kind of tie out will work best when she is outside instead of giving her free roam of the un-fenced yard. She needs to learn boundries anyways.
Also, Thanks for the tips about the vics on the roap ends! I had never thought of it, but Dane is an escape artist!!! Even with those tie outs, he chews the end (and it might take weeks) but eventually it wears thin and it breaks and he is FREE!!! lol....so we will be using the vics trick. The bitter apple didn't phase him.

Kandi