The American Beagler Forum

Ive got an 8 week old female puppy thats as pretty as she can be but anything and everything scares her.

Im talking about things like sitting a bag of dog food down, shutting the gate to the pen, closing the lid on the feeder, just about anything.

Is there anything I can do to help her get over this or should I just give up on her?

I cant imagine that she'd ever make a rabbit dog if she's scared of things like this.

the best thing i think you can do is giver her time.. start with low noises and get louder.. also ive heard of a tape that has music with gun shota and other sounds mixed in,, maybe someone else will know where to get it.. I know i have one pup that was scared of loud noises at 8 weeks and now at 5 mos i can shoot a 12 ga around her.. I think her seeing that the other dogs wernt scared helped.. I never do anything quiet around pups.. bang food pand slam doors ect

My best female was like that when she was a pup. I tried giving her away. To this day she is leary of things around the yard and sudden noises close to her. Get her in the field and there isn't an ounce of shyness in her. Total different ballgame. I have seen this in other dogs too. I call it "yard shyness"
Give her a chance.....if she's like that in the field after you get her running..then I'd start worrying.

Thanks for the replies.

I do the banging doors, etc. too and that scares her too.

Im gonna give her a little while longer before I make up my mind but my wife with a guy that wants a beagle for a pet and he might just end up with her.

I had a female that was 3 mos old and would'nt even come out of her box if I was around,I got feed up and gave her to my son.One week later it was a different dog,within a month she was'nt scared of anything.
A child will make a animal become social,They have no choice!!!!!

Chris you sure are right about that and another thing that I have found besides constant handeling is play a radio in the kennel. It gives them a constant different noises and people talking.

At 8 weeks old it is a whole new world for that baby and is trying to understand her environment and I am sure it is very intimidating to her.

How did things turn out with the pup. I have taken shy or scared pups and wrestled with them put them on there back and let them up and give them a treat. and wrestled a little more and another treat. and maybe if he is in the house put your head down and let him get you. just like a kid I know it sounds a little crazy but it works.at least for me,

I ended up giving her away.

She wouldnt even come out of the doghouse sometimes she was so scared.

I gave her to a doctor that my wife works for (they already had one beagle as a pet) and they say she's gotten better but that she's still pretty shy around new people, etc.

Hey Ark- hello from Arky- where you live at? I'm up at Corning, extreme NE corner, near the MO line. I had a pup like that once, she never did come out of it. One night she dug out of the pen and i never saw her again. I've been told by a lot of people most of these shy pups never will fully get over it. I think you did the right thing!

I live in Cabot if you know where thats at.

Yeah i know Cabot, i go through there to and from work.

CHRIS WHITT wrote:I had a female that was 3 mos old and would'nt even come out of her box if I was around,I got feed up and gave her to my son.One week later it was a different dog,within a month she was'nt scared of anything.
A child will make a animal become social,They have no choice!!!!!

I had a 10 month old male that brought home that was extremely shy. I turned him over to my 4 year old son and 3 weeks later I have a totally different dog in my kennel.

Im glad it worked out for you but my experiences with shy dogs havent been that good.

Ive been able to get em to where I can catch em but thats about it.

I consider that a major fault and wont keep one that I have to work to catch.

Lance wrote:My best female was like that when she was a pup. I tried giving her away. To this day she is leary of things around the yard and sudden noises close to her. Get her in the field and there isn't an ounce of shyness in her. Total different ballgame. I have seen this in other dogs too. I call it "yard shyness"
Give her a chance.....if she's like that in the field after you get her running..then I'd start worrying.

My best dog is the same way. I don't like it and if you saw her here in the yard you would say she is no good. Scared to death of everything. Turn her loose in the woods and she's a different dog. I bred her to a male that is the same way. Believe it or not, her pups are bold and friendly. I handled them a lot as young pups.

I handled them a lot as young pups.

Youll have alot less problems in the future if you do a bunch of that when theyre little imo.