backing up when you reach down to pet

Question
Beshan/shitzo mix--one year old. Want's to come to you but when you reach
down to pet her she backs up. Started about 3 months ago. To my knowledge
she has never been hit. If you sit down she comes over and wants to be picked
up and held.

Answer
Hi Tom,

Thanks for sending me a question at AllExperts.  Your Bichon-Shih Tzu mix is communicating with you as a dog, not a human. Ah, the differences in communication that we have!

In general and for instance, dogs don't feel comfortable with direct eye contact (they have to be taught to enjoy this with humans, as in the dog world direct eye contact is NOT affection - between dogs it is a threat!).  One of the other things that dogs don't typically like is being leaned over by humans, so the fact that she comes over when you're sitting (and therefore, to her point of view less threatening!) makes perfect sense.

See if you can have someone, maybe a professional trainer, show you how to work with a clicker and some treats.  You can make her feel better about being leaned over by starting graduatlly (such as on your knees) and doing a slight lean in towards her, clicking, and immediately treating.  If she's food motivated and likes treats, this will work faster and better than if she's not.  The key is to go very gradually from being on your knees to standing up and going over her with a full lean and pet.  You don't want to move forward with a more difficult step until you can see that your dog is really enjoying and feels comfortable and at ease about the step you're at.

So, good luck with this and realize that it's nothing personal - your dog loves you, I'm sure, but just views body language differently than we humans do!  Actually, if you think about it, a lot of humans don't like being leaned over, either - but if someone handed you a $10 bill every time they leaned over you (analagous to your giving your dog a treat every time you lean towards her) you'd start to look forward to it - get my drift?

Best of luck!

Madeline, NY-NJDogTrainer.com at AllExperts