apprehensive basenji

Question
Good day, Anne. My wife and I adopted an 8 year old female basenji back in April. Her name is Gypsy and she is a wonderful addition to our family. She was a rescue as she was treated poorly by her former owners. Initially she was apprehensive about my wife and me, obviously. But she has come around and is now very comfortable in her new home. The problem is that she still seems to be a little scared of me. We believe she was abused by a male, so naturally she has a little fear of men. My wife can go up to her, pet her at will, give her a hug, etc. Gypsy doesn't mind it coming from my wife. However, if I walk up to her and try to pet her, she runs away. But here is the thing...Gypsy will not let me out of her sight. She follows me around the house all the time. She will wait for me outside the door when I am in the shower. She lets me give her treats, she lets me put her leash on when we go for a walk, she'll jump up on the couch with me when I'm watching TV. It just seems like she is afraid of any type of affection from me. Again, she lets my wife show affection at will, but not me. Is there any way to break her of this anxiety?

Answer
Sometimes, it isn't that a dog has been abused by anyone.  It could just be that she didn't receive adequate socialization to men when she was a puppy. The optimal age for exposing pups to the things you want them to accept as adult dogs is between the ages of 8-12 weeks, so you can see that some dogs may miss some valuable experience if their owners don't take special steps to have them meet many people and other dogs.  Dogs are naturally more fearful of men - perhaps because they tend to be louder, bigger, and make direct eye contact, something which many women do not do.  You can make progress with this dog by letting her come to you, and not making overtures until she is completely at ease.  A sideways approach, rather than directly toward her, is better, as is NOT staring at her.  Another tactic is for you to be the one to feed her and walk her every day for a while, and have your wife not do anything for her for that period of time.  If she's skittish about having you put her leash on, you can get your wife to attach one for you, and let the dog drag it - that way, you can gently step on the end and pick it up when you want to take her out, rather than reaching over her head (another scary and threatening gesture for some dogs).  A good book on working with such dogs is "The Cautious Canine",  Cheap and well worth getting!