scared to be picked up

[jennysparking]

Hi, I'm new here, and to be honest, I don't normally use Victoria's type of treat-y training, but I just got a puppy a little while ago who seemed to be scared of being picked up. I saw one of her shows where she used the treats to make a fearful dog more comfortable with being lifted, and since my puppy's fear was relatively mild, I thought, why not try it? It's working pretty good, actually. People always want to pick him up (cause he's so cute), and if he reacts fearfully (running, acting skittish) I whip out the peanut butter, pick him up myself, and hand him to said guest. He then gets his treat, and pretty soon thinks said guest is just the most awesome person in the world. Works for me...

[***Melissa***]

Yes, positive reinforcement def does work, but if you pup doesn't like being picked up, don't let anyone pick him up. Dogs aren't born with a like / need to be picked up by humans, but most of them learn to tolerate it. But it's not something they necessarily like, so don't force him to like it. But yes, sometimes you NEED to pick up your dog, for whatever reason, so it's good to use treats to help him get used to that, but do try to keep it to "I need to pick him up", and not "I/whoever wants to pick him up". If he's not comfortable with other people picking him up, don't let them.