Puppy is scared of my boyfriend.

Question
Hi Kristen,

I have a 3 month old Japanese Chin/Chihuahua mix.  He is a very friendly puppy and full of energy.  He has started house training with puppy pads because I tried taking him outside and his paws started bleeding.  They will be healed by next week so I will refrain from taking him outside to avoid reopening wounds or risking them geting infected.

My boyfriend lives 2 hours away from me and comes in every weekend to see me.  At first my puppy loved him and always played with him (like a littermate).  We have both been successful with teaching the puppy tricks (he knows how to sit, lay, stay, and give paw!) but just last week he started acting scared around my boyfriend.  I am always around when my boyfriend is with the puppy so I know he didn't harm him.  I do know that both my boyfriend and I have 2 different styles of playing with the puppy, could it be he did not like the way my boyfriend was playing with him?  There was such a drastic change in the puppy's behavior from last week to this week and it is hard to understand. The puppy won't listen to him right now either (i.e. won't do tricks, won't go to the bathroom) when he was so good at listening to him before.

It is important to note that the puppy is brought to my family's house every weekday morning while I am at work so he is used to a lot of other people (there are 9 people living in that house and they all play with him) and he is very good with strangers, he will walk right up to them and lick their hand.  I can usually answer a lot of training/behavior problems but this one has me baffled!!  My best guess is he knows what house he lives in and he knows he lives with me and doesn't want anything to interfere with that.

How do you suggest correcting this problem?  We did try having my boyfriend give him treats, but he takes the treat from him and runs into his crate, or hides under/behind something.  Any suggestions are a big help as I am completely baffled by this!!

Answer
Wow. I can't believe his feet were so tender, Erin! I hope they heal up soon!

I wonder if maybe your boyfriend accidentally stepped on him or hurt him while playing (unintentionally, of course). At 3 months of age, your puppy *could* be going through a fear period, and anything negative that happens during a fear period tends to affect puppies for a while (sometimes for the rest of their lives!). You say you both have different playing styles; could you explain how your boyfriend typically plays with the puppy? Men often play much rougher than women do.

Let your boyfriend walk him, but you go too, so your puppy can feel more secure. Do not baby him, or try to force him to accept your boyfriend right now. It could just be a simple phase that he will grow out of in a week or two. I also wouldn't recommend letting your boyfriend correct him right now. YOU should do it.