We adopted our 7 month old lab/german shepherd puppy about 2 months ago- she was a stray with no history from the humane society except she has a fear of men. I'm assuming it was previous abuse, but we don't know for sure. We saw that she was very timid and shy toward my boyfriend in her kennel, but warmed up after about 15 minutes when she was allowed to approach him on her own terms and with treats in his hand. We fell in love with her and brought her home in lew of her fear hoping we could change that, and since then she's been very hot cold with him. If He approaches Her, to hook her up to let her out, pet her, give her treats, to take something out of her mouth, get in bed when she's laying there already (but only sometimes in the bed case), et cetera.. she submissively urinates. But if She approaches Him, then they can play, wrestle, and cuddle and she's very warm, goofy, and cuddly with him. She's also frightened by any males we encounter on our walks and makes a great effort to be as far away from them as possible. I don't know if this makes a difference, but when we brought her home, I was off work for about a month so we spent every day together. I house trained her, and taught her her basic commands, while my boyfriend works 50 hours a week. She also ignores his commands and just sits and looks at him, while she listens to me the first time.
Also, she behaves *very* well and rarely has to be reprimanded, and it's been that way since she came home- we lucked out with that at least! When she does need discipline, I'm the one who does it because of her fear. If he does reprimand her, which has been rare, it's with little command or force as it doesn't take much from him. I have yelled at her an bopped her on the butt pretty good a couple times when she gets too crazy (the lab in her makes her less sensitive to touch so you sometimes have to use a little more force than other breeds), but it doesn't seem to phase her, so I thought maybe he had hit her or scolded her too brashly previously. I had him raise his hand to her last night to test it, and she just looked at him-didn't cower or submit, so I would appreciate any advice that didn't include ';he's abusing her.'; She's not scared of him all the time, but it seems to be progressing ever so slightly. She started regressing in her confidence with him before I went back to work, so I was there for all their encounters, and he's never hit her. He's a powerful person (both physically and in his energy) and is somewhat intimidating in nature, but he's really a sweet and calm guy. We would like some advice on how to get her used to him and to like and listen to him, so we can share the responsibilities and have our happy little family.My 7 mo female pup is afraid of men. any advice to get her used to them, especially my boyfriend?
I recommend possibly letting him take the chores of feeding and letting her out once and a while. By letting him do this she'll eventually connect both of you as her masters and friends, and hopefully warm up to him a bit more.
Sometimes puppies that come into humane societys have had bad experiences with men or women in the past. It just takes patience to work them out of their fears. By being around your boyfriend a lot she'll slowly see that he's no one to be afraid of, and link him to food and play.
A lot of times some puppies are born into homes of just women, and men are just like a new species to them. They're obviously going to be stronger and more aggressive then women so dogs (especially girl dogs) are going to be a little weary around them.
When some of your male friends come over have them pet her and talk in low voices. This way she won't only warm up to your boyfriend, but other males as well.
Be patient, eventually she'll come to see him as a master and friend instead of someone to fear.My 7 mo female pup is afraid of men. any advice to get her used to them, especially my boyfriend?
get a new dog
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