After 20 years of training puppies = and dogs I have come to the conclusion that you can never change a dogs personality,
They are what they are, just like a person who might be shy, or bold.
= So you must be very careful when picking out your puppy if you want to show him/her in the show ring or obedience work. etc, as a shy and timid dog will hate ever thing about the show ring, they will do everything possible to get out of the public eye.
The worst thing a person can do to a puppy or dog is to try to force them to change their personalities as I fin= d it makes the dog worse, and it's impossible to do, as no one can change a dogs genes.
You can try socializing the dog and= put him/her in a group of people and other dogs, but you will soon realize that= the dog is very uncomfortable and the more people reach out to make her feel at ease, the worse she becomes, and may even start biting just to keep strange= rs away from her,
These Timid dogs can make wonderful= pets as long as you understand their personalities, they are intelligent, and will do most anything= you ask of them at" home", but bring a stranger home and its like they freeze up and all they want to do is find a place to hide, till the stranger leaves
You can try to help this type perso= nality out and take it to puppy class to socialize him/her, but when you see that scared look in your puppies eyes and see the class is not helping him/her, then do your puppy = a favor and take him out of puppy class for this can be torture on a sensitive pupp= y.
So please think before you purchase= that cute puppy hiding behind the couch or table if you are thinking of showing him/her, and you will save yourself a lot of grief in the long run.<= /p>
Hope this advise might be useful wh= en you are looking for that Special Show Dog.
Audrey J Tendam
![](3D"ShyandTimidDogs_files/image001.gif")