# Scared/timid in new surroundings?



## Braccarius (Sep 8, 2008)

If this is just happening now and its only occured twice I think you might be overreacting just a little bit. Even my super confident Harley has had some off-days where he's feeling unsure of himself (though they are very few and far between). They go through moods and have bad hair days just like us and if you didn't make a big deal of it, I'm sure he'll come around. He's still a puppy and confidence will come with age.

_____________

Newer surroundings make all dogs react differently. Mirabelle was just like your Joey was on this one instance, very timid when she went into new surroundings or met new people or dogs. She would tail tuck when she met new people or went new places and her expression/body language were obviously distressed. 

My solution with Miri was a fairly easy one... I had Harley there to keep her calm and show her the ropes. Do you have another dog that yours plays with or a role model you can bring out with you? This dog would preferrably be one that is calm, happy-go-lucky, excited to meet everybody. I found it helped Mirabelle immensely that Harley was there for two reasons.

- Everybody was focused on HIM. She got to sit back and not have people grabbing at her or trying to pet her while she was still too timid.
- With Harley being calm, it was rather hard for her to find a reason to be fearful. Especially when he was just eating up all the attention and seemed to be just loving it. He was a perfect "role model" and his lack of fear really rubbed off on her.

If you HAVE to fly solo with Joey and he's being timid then there's a few other things that you can try. 

- Set up some of the people at a "new" place with treats before he gets there. Also, tell them to completely ignore him until he's comfortable. 
- Play games with him in new places. I hid treats all over my work when Miri was a puppy and made her sniff them out. Her tail came out and went up while she was "working" on finding them despite all the people she was wandering around.
- Try not to comfort him when he's really timid. Sometimes this can reinforce the behaviour.

Again, I think this might be a phase for him and he'll snap out of it! Have fun with him... this is my favourite age for a dog!


----------

