Hi,
I am new to this site. I have recently rescued a mini australian shepard from a farm. The owner told me she had little interaction with the dog. She was in a clean, large, outdoor kennel with a male littermate. The parents were on the property, but not in the kennel.
I am looking for advise at this point. We have had the puppy for two weeks. When we got her, she was extremely nevous and would not stop shaking. She ran from everyone. Over these past two weeks, I have spend quite a bit of time with her. I stay at home while my 4 children go to school. I have taken the dog everywhere with me, or as much as I can. She is sad to be crated when I leave. I wanted to introduce her to the world and socialize her as much as possible. She has become extremely attached to me and does not want me to leave her for any reason. My family finds it hard to walk her or play if I am not next to them. She cries at the door when I use the restroom. She no longer shakes and is pretty good when I take time to introduce her to people. We just go slow and I try to have treats for them to give her.
The bigger problem I am facing is that she seems to forget those whe has met. My husband has also spent quite a bit of time with her, but once he leaves the room, he needs to re-aquaint himself to her. She plays with him and my children until they leave and come back. When anyone appoaches her she immidiately growls, backs-up, and tucks her tail between her legs. She will occationally have a nose bump or snap, but does not actually hurt anyone. Scares them though!My family has brought her treats constantly to get her to remember them, but it seems that a few minutes later, it was as if she never knew them.
All of my children and my husband are disappointed that she "doesn't love them" like she loves me. I am getting upset that everyone is mad that I seem to have done something to cause this.
The puppy loves to be picked up, and begs for it all the time, even asks my oldest son and husband to carry her if they are walking her. It is just strange to me that she can be nice and then afraid so quickly.
She is also scared of other dogs and acts the same way to them.
Am I doing something wrong? Is there something else we can do?
I have read your blog on the fear dogs, but I am not sure if we just need more time or another method.
Thanks!

Hi and welcome.
Keep working with her. She's quite possibly going through a fear period. You can google fear periods in puppy development and learn a lot there. Many puppies don't display such obvious signs of fear, but some do. It's also probable that she bonded with her sibling rather than with humans, which means she will most likely come around, but it may take a little longer.
Don't reward the fearful behavior by picking her up at the moment and reinforcing it, but try to ignore it, pretend she's not there when she acts that way. Reward her for coming to you, for being playful, etc. Many dogs bond with one person more than any other in a home. I'll bet she'll eventually warm up to everyone.

I think she'll most likely come around, but it may take a little while.

Does the dog "tuck" its tail and take a defencive posture? Or is it advancing toward you when it growls.

You may try getting down on the floor as you come back into the room. Also when entering, give the dog a small treat.

It's very important that you reed the dog's body language correctly. You can also "google" DOG BODY LANGUAGE

Here is one of my favorite pages. http://www.aspcabehavior.org/articles/50/Canine-Body-Language.aspx

I want to thank you for your encouragement. Our little Tinkerbell has started coming around. I have taken the approach to have treats with me all the time. I give them to everyone else to give her. I always ask people to put their hand or for her to smell it and have get come to them. Its working. She us starting to realize that people can be fun. She is even running with the kids. She is not perfect, but we are ready seeing a difference. She is still momma's girl, but that is okay.
Thank you!

Thanks for the update! It's good to know things are getting better.