shy golden

Question
For two months I have had a beautiful shy golden. Now, I know she was
probably left at the breeders without the necessary socialization.  She is
friendly in the house, allows most people to pet her if they wait and give her
treats. She acts like a regular puppy--runs around and loves her toys.  

When we take her for a walk she is ok if nothing spooks her but panics at
loud noises, an unexpected car--everthing. If we travel several blocks she
MAY do just fine but as soon as she knows we are returning home she begins
to pull, tug and try anything to get back home.  We have tried various collars.
We talk to her, we turn around in figure eights.  Still she wants to go home.


Answer
Hi Lucy,
You need to go really slow with her. I hope when you say, "various collars" you are not referring to abusive collars such as choke or prong collars. I never like those, but especially for a fearful dog. You need to go REALLY SLOW and have a lot of patience. There is no way to speed this process up. If an animal is scared of something, you need to introduce that person, smell, event, sound, slowly and pair it with wonderful treats. If she stops taking treats, you are going too quickly. Think of a person that is afraid of spiders. You would not put the spiders on the person and expect him to be comfortable instantly. It could take a long time.

It is similar with dogs. If she wasn't socialized properly, you need to do remedial socialization and be REALLY patient.

Good luck.