Puppy Power

A few months back, I learned a good lesson in humility from the most unlikely of sources: a passel of puppies. In addition to the local strays, owner-surrenders and an occasional Humane Law Enforcement seizure, our local shelter transports dogs from overcrowded shelters and rescues in the south, and places them for adoption here, in the northeast.

A recent transport included ten or so young puppies scheduled to go up for adoption within a week or two, and as part of their brief stay at the shelter, we included them in our puppy playgroups. The play groups are great mentally and physically for these little ones and are an important part of our general enrichment program.

Trying to work with shy dogs on a deadline is like a person jumping off a cliff, hoping to fly…

We were fortunate to have several volunteer dog walkers on hand to escort the puppies from their kennels to the play yard for their first play session. It should have been easy; all we had to do was leash them up and walk them over to the yard.

Of course, as soon as the volunteers started coaxing the pups out of the runs, chaos ensued. Puppies balked, ran away and struggled out of handlers’ grasps. The most fearful of the puppies ran to the back of the kennels and out the door to the outside of their runs, and no amount of begging or bribery could entice them to come to the volunteers.

The techniques that were ultimately successful with our puppies can also be employed with most fearful dogs, whether a shy shelter dog or the pup laying by your feet.

10 Steps to Successfully Coax a Shy and Fearful Dog

1. We stopped the noise.
Some of the bigger dogs were understandably excited at the sight of the Parade of Pups going on right outside their runs, so we asked them to go inside. The barking stopped and the puppies were able to walk independently to the yard.

2. We slowed way down.
These puppies needed us to take our time, lower our energy level and get used to us before they would approach.

3. We left our egos at the door.
We squished ourselves up to occupy the smallest space possible (away from the puppies) and talked baby talk while wriggling our fingers near our bodies to entice them to come to us; embarrassing for us, but quite effective for the puppies.

4. We let them approach us.
Strange looming adults, obviously on a mission, wouldn’t endear us to some of the puppies, who would retreat as we moved forward.

5. We didn’t reach out and grab.
It was hard when the pups were RIGHT THERE in front of us, but until they were willing to let us slip the collar over their heads and stay near us on their own, we continued to stay small, talk gibberish and dole out yummy treats.

6. Once the collar and leash was secure, we didn’t put any tension on the leash at all.
We used our voices, bodies, and other, more confident puppies to entice them to come with us. When the puppy stopped, we stopped, knelt down and asked to puppy to come to us. It took a while, but each puppy could walk at his or her own pace, without being pulled or dragged.

7. We adjusted the route.
Some of the puppies were afraid of walking by various pieces of equipment, so we detoured the best we could and encouraged them to walk a different, less scary path.

8. We took the time we needed.
What should have taken a few minutes took significantly longer, and expended more of our (human) energy and problem solving skills than we first anticipated. Trying to work with shy dogs on a deadline is like a person jumping off a cliff, hoping to fly; not only it is a physical impossibility, it shouldn’t even be attempted.

9. Treats didn’t always work, but trust did.
Some of the puppies were happy to scarf down treats, while others were too stressed to eat. The food may not have motivated them, but learning to trust us (in that context) got them leashed up willingly and out the door.

10. A change in environment often brought us back to square one.
The puppies would walk out of their kennels, but would freeze at the door to the corridor (and the exterior door, and the exterior walkway and the wood chip path, etc.). We stayed calm, knelt down and and made it safe for them to approach us before taking any more steps.

As always, if any dog freezes, lifts his lip, shows the whites of his eyes, growls or snaps, stop what you are doing immediately. Call a local, force-free trainer or behaviorist and work with a professional to help you help your dog.

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Photo Credit: Pixabay / Kaicho20