Skittish Toy Poodle

Question
I have a 15 month old male parti-poodle (9 lbs) who has been extremely skittish and nervous since the day I brought him home. I purchased him and an apricot female from the same breeder, whom I researched and visited with prior to my puppies being conceived, and when the pups were 4 weeks old, and picked them up at 10 weeks.  The female (4 lbs) is just fine - loves to play and run, and is totally trusting.  They boy, however, is afraid of his own shadow.  He does not like to play, hates the leash (will pull and pull back towards the house), and is just not a whole lot of fun to be with. He definitely does not fit our lifestyle.  I've tried training him, spending more time with him, praising him.  Nothing works. It is so bad that if someone is standing near him and just so much as taps a toe to the floor, it will send him running for dear life.  Is there any hope for him to snap out of this?
Thanks!

Answer
Hello Rosie,
Your best bet is to take your boy out as much as possible and get him exposed to alot of different things.  If he will allow it, see if you can get people to pet him or give him a treat (if he wants to run, hold him the first few times).  Take him out to Pet Stores and Dog Parks just to expose him.  If he doesn't like the leash and collar, try him on a harness.  Lots of praise and any kind of treat that he likes.  If he is a picky eater or doesn't seem interested in regular treats, try something like Liver Loaf or pieces of cut up chicken.  

I have a Red Standard Poodle that totally adores people and thinks that every hand that is down should have his head under it, but he was not always that way.  He was very shy and would even tinkle if someone tried to pet him.  I got him out and exposed him to alot of people and I asked people passing by us to please pet him and give him a treat.  At first, I had to hold him between my legs to have him sit still enough that people could pet him, but gradually he started letting people pet him and now I can't keep him away from people.  
It takes constant exposure and lots of positive reinforcement but your dog will eventually come out of it.  

You can also try doing the Doggie Exam with him:
To do this, start on the floor with him in your lap on his back.  You first get him to relax by rubbing his tummy and giving him a "light massage", then start the exam.  This exercise will help you build the bond between you and him and will let him know that you are the boss because your head is over his.  Plus it builds trust for you from him because he sees that even though he is in a compremising position, you won't let anything hurt him.  
After he relaxes, start at his head and look in his eyes, ears, and mouth.  Make sure that his eye rims are free of foreign objects (ticks, seeds, etc) and that the eye rims are a health pink color.  White color around the eye rims and mouth (on light colored dogs) can indicate a dog in shock or an internal parasite problem.  Check ears for ticks, and to make sure that the inner ear is clean and free of hair and debris. Stick your finger in the ear and gently pull some of the hair right around the outside of the ear.  This will get him used to having his ears cleaned.  Check the mouth and teeth to make sure that the teeth are clean (no plaque) and that there is nothing in the mouth that shouldn't be there (knowing puppies and the stuff they get into)
Get him used to this until he will let you do it willingly.  
Next you can do the body part of the exam.  Do do this part, just go over his coat, lower body and tail.  Check for ticks, fleas, or anything out of the ordinary.  Feel down the bones of the tail and learn how they feel.  This way if he ever injures it, you can describe to a Vet how it feels.  
Lastly, you can do the feet.  Feel down the legs and learn how they feel and also do the toes.  Toes feel really strange, so get used to the way they feel.  You will also be getting your dog used to having his feet handled so that when he gets groomed, having his feet messed with won't be a problem.  
Also play with his toes, go inbetween the toes and tap on the toenails.  If he doesn't mind, lightly pinch the toenails and apply light pressure to his toes.  Again, this will get him used to having his toenails clipped.  
Do this during TV time or when you are just sitting around with the "kids" and make it special for him.  

Give him some more time to see if this works.  If not, we can find something that will eventually help him some.  

If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim