timid dog

[D1]

have never had to deal with training a timid dog before, she is coming around some as far as me being able to work with her,i just dont want to push to hard and or scold her for something and mess her up. any suggestions?

[Dutch Dog]

make it a game for her at first...get her to where she loves it, then slooooooooowly transfer that into her doing what you want her to do. I am no expert on it, but that is what I have always heard.

[Big Lou]

The best way to train a timid dgo is to take it really easy and slow with lots of repeated sessions. I would expose it to gun shoots at a far distance (100yds or so to start) adn then move closer as time progresses. I would not worry aobut correction. I would get a collar and collar condition her as soon as possible. This will help you reenforce your commands without having to yell or use a verbal repremand. the collar was a big help with my wife's black lab. he is a big boy, but very timid. He has made it through and now is now training for his senior (seasoned) next spring. the colloar on a low setting will alow you to keep your training at at nice low pitched enviroment.

[h2o_dog]

I would try using real birds or maybe even shackled live birds to get the dog excited. If the dog doesn't respond to birds I'd seriously consider looking for another dog.

[goosebruce]

Describe 'timid'. Do certain things make the dog timid (like gun shots, or putting a collar on the dog, or loading in a truck) like maybe the dog had a bad expereince? Or is the dog simply not intrested in retreiving? Some times timid means a lot of different things to different people, and sometimes dogs have more on their mind than you think.

Some dogs love to retreive, as long as no rules are attached. Thats not the atttidue of a working dog, for sure. Some dogs really resent the hell outta being made to do anything, even if they love the same thing is its play. Begging a dog will get you nowhere, so its much more important to decide why this dog is timid. Is the dog not intrested? Scared? Spooked? Or just not willing to play by any rules?

Any time there is a behavior, there is a reason. Take the time to figure out the reason, and the solution is easy. travis