Want some tips on dealing with a man shy pup?

[sgc]

This pup is 6 months old. Bought her because of her breeding & I needed something to keep my other young hound company, but knew she was a little timid. I decided to take a chance on her. Her mother was the same way but is a very friendly dog now & a very good hound. I thought she would learn from the other dog & by me being patient & slow with her. So much for the patience, its wearing thin. Its only been 2 weeks but I've seen no improvements. I've thought of trying to speed up the process by trying other things. Maybe; not feeding until she allows me to pet her while she eats, not allowing her out in the run until she comes to me for me to lift her out of the kennel, etc. I would apprecialte any ideas from someone who's had success with this. What do you think about me trying to find a way to speed up the process? I don't want to use a shock collar in any way because I feel that will just take any hunt out of her later when I get her to the field. She socializes real well with the other 2 hounds. I've tried using meat to intice her; she'll sometimes come get it out of my fingers but then back away quick. I've tried to spend time alone with her in the run but that doesn't seem to be working. Any thoughts?

[yellowdog]

the best thing i have found that has worked with success several times is put her on a tie out and pet her up let her go the length of the chain call her if she dont come pull her to ya and keep repeating sooner or later she will come out of it or she wont ,,,that is the method i have used and if ya got kids sick them kids on her while she is on the tie out let them pet her to death this has worked for me several times over the years ...but i also have seen some hounds never come out of it...just my two cents hope it helps...

[mrwvsportsman]

If you are having troubl catching the pup get about 10 feet of nylon coated cable and put a clip on the end of it. Clip it to the collar and you can catch it much easier. Every time you catch him/her pull them in and praise and pet them up real good. I had the same situation bought one while I was in Iraq and my wife went and picked him up. She didn't know what to look for and the guy pulled one over on her. Got the dog home and they had to crawl in the box to get him and you couldn't even catch him in a 10x10 pen. We have been patient with him and put the cable on him and now he doesn't even need the cable. He is still pretty shy around kids for some reason, but will come to me or the owner.

[cat]

I JUST WENT THRU THE SAME THING. I TIED THE PUP OUT WHERE HE COULD NOT RUN FROM ME AND EVERY TIME I FED HIM I JUST SHOWED HIM ALOT OF ATTENTION. AFTER ABOUT 3 WEEKS HE STARTED GETTING FRIENDLY NOW HE WILL JUST ROLL OVER TO BE RUBBED HOPE THIS HELPS.

[bluegrass]

Stan, in my experience with shy hounds, the best thing I have found is to get rid of them as soon as possible and get another hound to work with...I have NEVER been able to get one out of being shy, and I absolutely would not breed to a shy hound...I have tried with both pups and adult hounds and I have given them plenty of time to come out of it, trying most of the methods listed here, and probably a few that no one will mention...nothing has worked. BTW, this isnt the one you got from Buell is it??

Tony

[Honey Pot Hounds]

I definitly wouldn't use a shock collar on her, she's too soft and that's just going to freak her out more. You are lucky that she is young...could you bring her into the kitchen and crate train her? That way she's in the house, getting fed by you in her safe "den" (crate). She's around the family, getting used to all the noise and fuss of humans.

I think because she is 6 mos. old you have a good chance of an improvment. These beagles really need a lot of positive human interaction as pups and kennel raised pups can be more of a challenge...I'd bring her in the house for a few months and let her sit in her crate and learn to chill out....babygate the kitchen and sit on the floor and offer her yummy treats without staring directly at her. Feed her, walk her to potty on a leash (ya I know, it's work). If you have kids maybe they can help.

We had a 2yr.old male given to us that was so bad that after 2 years I rehomed him...for some reason that home fit him like an old shoe....in your situation you have her puppiness on your side.

Best of luck!

[NorWester]

Here's how I do it and it's basically what has already been written. Honeypot is right.........bring that dog inside and keep it in a crate in your kitchen (high traffic area usually) so it can socialize with everyone in your family if by nothing more than hearing and seeing. When the dog goes out..........you walk it on a leash or put it out on a small chain. If you're going out....load up a crate and bring the dog. An e-collar can be used, but in my opinion unless you do the foundation work you're wasting your time and doing more harm than good for the dog. We've got a pup here that is now 7mths old, we got him at about 4 mths and he wasn't used to being handled and would run if you tried to catch him up or pet him. 3 months of the above treatment and he is a new dog. When he goes out he gets put on his cable run. At this point when I go to bring him in he is out at the end of the run whining and bouncing ready to get to the house. If I turn him loose he bee lines it straight to the back door. I have done re-call with him on a check cord and following that I used the e-collar to reinforce the recall. (I did so at this stage because the pup is started and I'm already taking him out hunting with the pack) It has in no way, shape, or form harmed the desire to hunt in this hound. In my opinion the only trouble you may encounter is that if your pup's mother was shy, it may just be in it's breeding which will make it a lot more difficult to cover up. Our pup isn't shy in that manner, he just wasn't handled much as a small pup (4 -12 weeks). Improvement wont' happen over night but if the pup has it in her to become a decent hound you should see enough improvement that YOU should be able to handle her even if she never does warm up to anyone else.

[sgc]

Thanks for your responses!

[klrconcrete]

Stan, Attention, attention, attention, then some more attention! I would try making her eat out of your hands it may require her going hungry for a couple days to get to the point where hunger overwhelms the shyness and you have a handful of goodies right in front of her, this will entice contact but I dont know if it is a cure or not, but definitely worth the try. Also, I would bring her inside in the evenings and force her to socialize with you and your family even if its only for an hour if there is hope for her these things will let you see it, if a month of this doesnt show any change I would say get rid of her. Keep me informed. Take care Kurt

[DRamey]

THe pup may not have been socialized (handled a lot) when younger so this may be more an environment problem than heredity. The best thing I have ever found to fix this may not be available to you, but it is the simplest thing in the world. Tie her out on a fairly lengthy chain (10 feet or more) and just let a bunch of kids play with her and pet and feed her by hand. I have one that I have to scold now for jumping up on me that absolutely seemed helpless at one time. She has since had pups that the kids handled regularly and none show any signs of shyness. but-nothing is foolproof, but 2 weeks is a very short time. It takes patience. The hound I described above did need the collar for a while in the field, but only after being collar trained on a 100 foot cord. Now she doesn't even sue the collar.

[Jack]

Brush the pup with a hair brush while holding the pup and fussing over it. Play a Radio near the pup. Place on a station where people talk a lot. If the shyness comes from not being handle this seems to do the trick if young enough. If the shyness is bred in I wish I know.

[J.Storer]

take her for a walk on a lead every day with some treats in your pocket , when she pays mind to u give her a piece of treat, do this and I know she will warm up to u.

[T. Sites]

I have had a couple dogs that were shy because they were kept in kennel and never handled. The first one was 5-1/2 months old when I
bought him. I kept him in a 9x9 kennel and had to run him around and around the kennel to catch him. I tied him on a 5' chain inside the kennel because if he got out I didn't think I would ever catch him. I would make several trips to his kennel each day and pull him up to me and squat down beside him. I don't believe it scares them as bad like it does when were standing up. Also i would take a treat for him.(baked pieces of hot dog weiners) He wouldn't eat from my hand the first couple days. When he did I had to be on the outside of his kennel and reach the treat through the wire.He wouldn't eat if I had the door open. Finally he would come over to the fence and let me pet his nose. Then I would give him a treat and go in the kennel and pull him over to me. Pet him a lot and pick him up and hold him and pet him some more and talk softly to him. It took about 2 weeks to tame him down. Also I did like yellow said with the kids.

In about 3 or 4 nights He was starting to open up on wild rabbits all by himself. I didn't own any other beagles at the time. He started easier than any dog I've owned. Iv'e owned him for 8 years now and he's the best rabbit dog Iv'e owned. The time I spent taming him down was well worth it. The second pup belonged to my brother and it was wild too. I tamed it down the same way. Both these dogs were shy because they were kenneled and never handled or shown any kind of attention. Both dogs grew up to be as normal and friendly as any other dog. My male seems to handle as good or better than most dogs I hunt with. Be patient and things should be o.k.

[kodiac]

got one not to long ago that would hunt great but didnt like to be petted and would cower when approached. I put her in a large plastic crate in the kitchen and she got plenty of attention from 4 kids, who also occassionally snuck her into there bedrooms . She is now really social and actually cries for attention from the kids. She doesnt cower like she did and likes attention now.

[wvduece]

good advice n lots of it my grandkids usually takes away all the shyness in the pups i raise i just turn them loose in the yard or let the kids just carry the pups around n wool them to death i have watched my grandkids in summertime playing with the pups n carry the pups up a sliding board n let the pups slide down or just set in swing n hold the pups n ya can hear the kids talking to the pups kids can work wonders with pups i think their a great big help with my pups the pups get all the socializing they can handle then some jb