Afraid of people, help!

[Sweet Sixy]

I have a now 13 week old Australian Shepard. He is such a good boy, he is house trained already, crate trained, knows sit, down, shake and come...he is really a great dog! Now....the problem is that he is VERY afraid of people..but not everyone. I am totally stumped with what to do and everyone that I talk to and everything I read tells me something different. I am very confused and so afraid that he will turn mean :confused: We love him dearly and hope that we can do something to help him before it's too late. Please help!!!

[Glacier]

Lots of puppies go through a stage like this. It's much easier to deal with now than it is with an adult dog. Just keep doing what you would with any puppy--socialize, socialize, socialize. Do not coddle him or try to reassure him when he acts scared. Act perfectly normal, even overly happy. He'll respond to you--my owner isn't scared, so why should I be? He'll come around.

[lv4dogs]

Glacier is right!

I am also owned by an Aussie and it is in their nature to be somewhat standoffish towards strangers and like Tamara stated they go through different stages as well. This could very well be either of the two or a combination. LOTS of patience & LOTS of socialization and he should come around. Enrolling him in a reputable puppy class or basic obedience shold help with that as well as other things, like increasing the bond between the 2 of you, keep his listening skills sharp, gives you both something fun to do & is a great learning experience for the both of you.

PS, not to scare you, even though the breed is known to be standoffish towards strangers they are not usually aggressive and it is something that can be easily "trained out of them" with lots of patience, socialization & training.

The NILIF rules are great. They help build a dogs cinfidence, as well as many other things. Are you familiar with NILIF?

[Karen]

I'll echo the others - socialize, socialize, socialize! Stay calm, and as they said, don't feed into his insecurity by babying him. The more you socialize him now, the better. And a puppy kindergarten class would be a great first step!

[Sweet Sixy]

Thank you all for your respones.
I am not familiar with the NILIF, could you give me more information?

I would also like to add that I spoke more with the shelter today about his past. What I found out was very sad.
He is in fact a purebred and was bred on a local sheep farm. They didn't feel that he was "aggressive" enough to be a good sheep dog, so from week one of his life he was locked in a stall in a barn with several other dogs. Whenever the people did come out the puppies were kicked, hit and shoved around in attempts to make them more aggressive. After about 5 weeks (just before all the dogs were rescued) he was left there to essentially die.
So...that could factor a lot into his fear of people. It broke my heart to hear this about him, yet it astonishes me in the 4 weeks we've had him how intelligent, sweet and loving he still is.
I attached a picture of him giving that cute face! Thank you all again!

[howl4metok]

After having to socialize full grown wolfdogs who had been raised for years in isolation from outside people, I can sympathize with the concern you might have. "all I'm doing, is it EVER going to improve??"
My advice is going to sound familiar...
SOCIALIZE!
I imagine a young pup has grown up within the boundaries of his home with some limited outside contact.
Get him out around people. Maybe early on, if people ask to pet him, you could suggest otherwise. Just tell them he's a bit scared yet, and not used to so much attention. When he gets used to people, over time, you can set the limits where your comfortable.
But remember, dogs can read body language like an open book. If strangers are around and you tense up anticipating his unwanted reactions, he'll read into that. He'll associate strangers with tension and you could reinforce his fear. You need to be relaxed and attentive, and let him know he's safe. With time, the rest will work out.

Big 2 year old Teekon was the worst. It was weeks before he even came up to me on his own.
Just sitting there letting him get used to me was all it took. Then came OTHER people. He's done well, just being where people are at first, then letting people pet him. Once he began to freak we backed off, and tried again later. For every good interaction he got a treat, many times from the stanger. Now he is a perfect gentleman in public areas. It took a year to work it out, but you've got much better material to work with than I did.
Good luck.

[VTJess03]

Sounds like you have figured out part of the problem yourself! Puppies will remember abuse like that for a long time :( My Maggie is terrified of large, bearded men that smell like cigarettes, and we have had her for almost 2 years now with NO abuse tolerated. Just make sure when you socialize the puppy, that other people are aware of the prior situation and introduce themselves slowly to keep from freaking him out.

BTW, absolutely ADORABLE puppy :)