Timid Dog

Well.

You have all seen the pics of Bodhi - she is far from shy

But she is wary of SOME dogs. She will generally either:

a) WOW - PLAY with me

or

b) uuhhmm - not sure about you, where is mum?

She raises her hackles noticably with every dog she meets - love them or loathe them. But she always ends up sniffing the dog in the end.. And she is not aggressive in ANY way.

You can't tell which dogs she is wary of either - it can be any. |Well, usually big slobbery ones. She will scoot out of there way and run to me - I just ignore her and keep walking. And like I say - she will approach any dog in the end.

To be honest, I never even notice it really.

Until some fella came towards us with 2 big slobbery labs today. Bodhi scooted away from them in a timid way, I carried on walking. He walked past and said "ooh - very timid". It wasn't a question - it was a statement.

I don't know why, but this really struck me. And I felt like saying - what?! I just thought, he's looking down on either me, or Bo.

Do you think this is a problem that she doesn't like ALL dogs? She is NOT aggressive, she plays with alot and has a great time... Should I make her meet more, so she accepts them all? I think she has a great balance - I can contol her round dogs, as she is more people orientated... Yet she can play and have a great time chasing about with some.

grrrr... I just felt he was judging! Made me think - should i socialise her more? She is intimidated by say a few dogs surrounding her? But she just leaves the situation - and usually looks on wanting to play.

(oh - and as I turned around she was happily sniffing one of his labs)

I get people telling me things about Hollie, I know her better than anyone yet some insist on a character assesment.

How old is Bodhi? You have no doubt said but I have either missed it or forgotten.

7 months.

She had her young puppy days in the depths of winter - and I will admit she never met as many dogs as I would have liked. It just wasn't possible - noone was out

I'd let her trust her own judgement

She's still only young and her confidence will shine through once she gets a little bit older.Obviously,the more dogs she interacts with will benefit her no end and the 2 Labs were ideal cause of their larger size.

In a way,i wish Vegas was a bit more aprehensive about approaching other dogs cause he just goes off like a rocket to play and he dont fear anything (other than wheelie bins).

Cheers - that is what I feel.

I have never had to worry - she is not stressed by other dogs, and she is placid, so would never turn and snap at one she didn't like. She just scoots outta there!

She is meeting alot more dogs these days - like i say, the sun seems to be bringing more people out!

I have thought about obedience classes, purely for the meeting dogs aspect.. But it isn't an emergency, and not possible till I find some work here...!!

Cassie's exactly the same way with other dogs. She has her 'friends' that we see all the time but people that don't know her consider her timid. I prefer to think of her as cautious and am glad she's that way really

Don't worry about it!
I get told the exact same thing but that's because whenever someone bends down to fuss her while we're out walking she scoots off!

She's the same with dogs though. If she approaches them, fine. If they approach her, it's 'uhoh - not sure about you', her tail goes between her legs, ears go back, back legs bend and she stands there while they sniff her looking absolutely petrified!

I wouldn't worry - there's obviously a reason she's not sure and it's better that she's wary because she will be able to learn that way which dogs to approach and which dogs not to. Takara used to run up to any dog, she once ran up to an onlead dog before I could grab her (we were turning a corner and ended up on top of each other before I could do anything) she wouldn't come back and I was so upset. I apologised profusely to the woman who didn't mind at all thankfully. However, as she's got a bit older and wary of some dogs, she doesn't tend to approach the older, grumpier dogs with so much vigour! She just leaves them be or approaches them slowly to see what they're about.

I'd say it's a good thing Bodhi's wary of certain dogs, as long as she's not aggressive and does end up playing in the end.

Ignore what people say - she's your dog

Takara's exactly the same. I have been dragged across the road once because someone was bringing a wheelie bin down their drive and Takara went mad. She's fine if they're still and upright but if they've been blown/knocked over or they're being moved she goes mad!

Sorry just made me laugh!

People who have met Teagan will tell you she is not shy/timid at all!
But occasionally when meeting people/dogs, she will be wary, and people have commented that she is timid.
I think they just know something that we don't!