Shy, timid peke pup

Question
I need help! I recently adopted a 12 week old pekingese puppy, female. She was born, raised, and up untill now lived in the breeders garage. Her welping box was in there, and im pretty sure shes never actually been out of that garage. I was unable to take more than 1 puppy, so I had to seperate her from her mom, dad, and other siblings of varying ages (they all lived in the garage). What can I do to help bring her out of her shell and become a confident dog? Thanks for any help u can give me or any advice!!
Natalie Mark

Answer
Greetings, and thank you for contacting All Experts!
As you may already know, you have adopted a puppy from a backyard breeder. No reputable breeder would raise a litter of puppies inside a garage. Reputable breeders raise puppies in their homes, so they can get the socialization they require and exposure to sensorial stimuli that help the puppies grow into well tempered puppies already used to living in a loving home. Lack of socialization and little sensorial input may lead to puppies that can potentially become aggressive, fearful and antisocial.

You need to work on the lack of socialization she has missed in these 12 weeks as you are still on time. The socialization window in puppies is generally open from 4 weeks up until 16 weeks. But you lose it as every day slips by. This means you will have to expose your pekingese to as many people and other dogs as possible. The elderly, babies, toddlers, the disabled, you name it. Take your puppy with you in as many places as possible, car rides, trips to the country, trips to busy streets, nearby schools etc. But go very gradually so not to overwhelm her. Keep all encounters positive and upbeat.

Have different people say hello to her and tell them to give her yummy treats. She must learn that strangers bring good things so she can make positive associations with them. Invite guests over and have them practice touching her ears, legs, paws, belly and back and give her tasty treats as they do this. This will help make vet visits and future grooming sessions a breeze. You must also help her learn to be handled by you by touching her mouth, ears, paws, belly, ears and making it pleasant by feeding treats.

I would recommend puppy classes to help her recuperate. Puppies are sponges so she may likely learn about the world surrounding her pretty quickly if you can engage her positively. A puppy class is a fun place for puppies and they provide the socialization they need. A reputable puppy class requires proof of vaccination so make sure she is up to date on shots and de-wormed. Do not expose her to un-vaccinated puppies.

Living in a garage, you may find that normal household noises startle her. The alarm clock, vacuum, phone ringing, radio, may put her on edge. Never cuddle her, pet her or baby talk her when she is in a fearful state of mind. Allow her to investigate whatever she fears and praise her for taking initiative. A normal response to a noise should be getting startled and then acting normally within a few seconds. If your puppy goes to hide and does not come out, you know you have a problem.

Since this breeder kept her in a garage, I doubt they did anything for making the potty training process easy. Reputable breeders, start by dividing the whelping area in two areas; one for soiling and one for playing/sleeping/eating. You may find it difficult to potty train her. Crate training by gradually exposing her to a crate may be helpful. You do not provide any details about any particular behavioral problems. If you wish, you may further ask about some behavior in particular and I will address them. Is she hiding, cowering upon being pet, is she on edge from noises? I can provide details on providing advice on any of these problems.

To boost her confidence, you must train using positive reinforcement training which means rewarding behaviors you want, and often ignoring the ones you do not want. You will need to use praise and treats a lot and non-threatening body postures if she tends to cower. You need to classically condition her that strangers are a source of good things, strangers brings treats and lots of praise! Here is a helpful link about socialization:
www.wagandtrain.com/.../The%20Importance%20of%20Dog%20Socialization.pdf

I hope this has helped, again if you want to go into any specifics, I will gladly address those, my very best wishes!