new puppy

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newjerseylab
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:32 pm

new puppy

Post by newjerseylab »

I just got a new puppy, she is a collie and 10 weeks old. I took her to my vet and the vet went to pet her and she backed away. the vet said that she is shy and I really do not want a shy dog. I had one and was looking for more of an outgoing dog. do you think it is too early to tell her personality?
Erica
Posts: 2697
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:35 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: new puppy

Post by Erica »

Think about it this way - the vet is a new person, much much larger than your dog. You were probably in a new environment she wasn't familiar with. She was probably unsure of everything and was being cautious. I won't pretend to know, however, whether a dog's personality is apparent at 10 weeks old.

From what I've gathered, though, you can't be sure with puppies, as they have a lot of experiences to go through that will effect their adult personalities. An outgoing puppy with a bad experience during his fear period may end up being a fearful dog. A shy puppy who is trained carefully and in a way that gives her confidence may end up being bold and fearless. While there are parts of the personality that are genetic, the way you raise it can, I think, greatly affect their adult personality.
Delta, standard poodle, born 6/30/14
Suzette
Posts: 1518
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:45 am

Re: new puppy

Post by Suzette »

When I got my sheltie years ago, I went against all guidance (at that time) that said never pick the shyest one in the litter. She was. Very much so. But I took her anyway because she stole my heart. I never regretted it! She was an amazing dog that grew to have no shy or fear problems what so ever as an adult. But I agree that a lot (not everything) has to do with the rearing, the socialization and the attitude of the owner how a puppy will eventually turn out.

My puppy right now (who is 16 weeks old) has never liked anyone coming at her head with their hand straight on. She isn't shy at all, but will squint her eyes and back away if you come straight at the top of her head. I think this is true of most dogs. So is it possible your vet approached your dog this way? If so, then it might be no more than that. She just didn't like his approach.
My avatar is Piper, my sweet Pembroke Corgi. b. 5/11/11
newjerseylab
Posts: 48
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:32 pm

Re: new puppy

Post by newjerseylab »

how did you help your sheltie? many the vet did approach her in a scary way.
emmabeth
Posts: 8894
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:24 pm
Location: West Midlands
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Re: new puppy

Post by emmabeth »

I wouldnt judge her character at this age, based only on her behaviour with a vet. Vets smell funny, and she may either have never met one before, OR she HAS and her only experience was something unpleasant.

There IS time to make a HUGE difference in a dogs personality at 10 weeks old - get loads of visitors round (a few at a time not all at once). Make them sit down, on the floor ideally and give them rewards to chuck her way. Do not allow them to touch her, make eye contact or speak to her, or try to lure her to them, let HER make the approaches.

Do this a lot (and without any people who will do something you told them not to!) and she will soon start to think people, especially men, are AWESOME.

You need to do similar things with vets, go to the vets office and feed her treats, go home. Go there, have the vet nurses toss her treats, go home. Go there, have a vet toss her treats, go home.

All the things you want her to be confident and happy with as an adult dog, teach her now, at a pace she can handle with lots of high value rewards - and really REALLY limit the opportunities for there to be an unpleasant experience.

If you are not used to collies, they ARE sensitive dogs and it doesnt tend to take much to turn a happy, confident collie pup into a nervous one, so even if you had the brashest, most confident pup in the world, one unthinking vet or stupid guest doing something scary can set that back.
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
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