learned helplessness

Question
Hi Lee,
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question.  Any advice that you can give me will surely help.
I  have a yorkie that is almost 1 yr old and her trainer suggested that her shyness is from "learned helplessness." I'm not sure how i contributed to this, but more importantly I would like to find out how to change it.  Is there something i could do, a class i can enroll her in, or should i change the way i treat her?
I took her to puppy obedience class and she was quick to learn all her commands.  She is extremely sweet & loving but i notice that she is very indifferent to other people when she is out of her environment.  She is not very outgoing even though she has been exposed to so many different people from day one.  She has become very attached to me and always wants to be held.  At times she seems scared and i really can't imagine why.  
I do want to add that she is very loved in my house.  She doesn't spend much time by herself as my parents are with her during the day.  I play with her every day and i can see that she enjoys it.  I would appreciate any type of advice.  I would love to put her in an additional class but have no idea which one would benefit her.  I am very happy to have this little dog in my life and want to make sure that I do right by her and give her a "well balanced" environment.

Thanks again.


Answer
Hi, Lucy,

Thanks for the question. I'm sorry to hear your dog is having problems.

I seriously doubt, from your brief description, that your dog's behavior rises (or sinks) to the level of learned helplessness. For more on the topic, read the article linked here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness and you'll see what I mean. It sounds to me like her uninhibited puppy energy has been repressed or not allowed enough of a proper outlet (though I think it's great that you play with her every day).

At any rate, I have some questions that will better enable me to help you guys out: How old was she when you got her? What kind of training did they do in her puppy class, a) force, b) food, or c) a combination of the two? (For instance showing the puppy a treat, then pushing into a sitting position before rewarding her is a combination of force AND food.) Were there -- God forbid -- any clickers involved? Does she get a chance to play with other doggies on a regular basis? Was she prevented from playing at her puppy class?

Here's an article I wrote on the importance of play: http://www.tiny.cc/playbenefits It may or may not be relevant, but it's something for you to look at until I hear back from you on my questions.

yrs,

LCK