My big BABY!!! (kind of long)

[Zoeigh'n'Me]

Does anyone else have a problem like this. My 14th month old boxer is the BIGGEST chicken ever. When is comes to other human (males expecially) she is so shy and won't even let them pet her until she is comfotable. (which sometimes takes forever). When shes at the store or anywhere in public, people always want to pet her, and she hides behind me or pulls away from the person so far she almost chokes herself!! I cant figure it out. Ever since we brought her home she has been around lots of people. Ive always taken her everywhere with me!! i read all about that fear imprint and 2 fear imprint stages...and she just seems to not be growing out of anything!!!
I must say, around kids she is great and around women she is ussually ok. Not that shes mean or anything (she wouldn't hurt a fly). I just feel bad cause she is sooooo scared and shy. Around people she knows she is GREAT. i tell people how hyper and crazy she is....and they find it hard to belive me. Is this a boxer thing or what???

 

[bored_robots]

Thats kinda weird I suppose from my point of view its not a boxer thing at all. Maddy loves everybody equally, okay me a little bit more, but shes never shy towards males, females, children. If you havent experienced anything of a scary event envolving a male then I don't know I would be inclined to say that where you got her from she experienced something or it could just be something she has about them, a personal thing. Sorry If I wasn't much help but thats what I reckon.

 

[Capone's Mama]

Capone is a rescue and is very shy like Maddy I have no idea why. But what has help him is when we come to a point when someone wants to pet him I make him sit. And tell people to come to him to pet him. It gives him something to think about and this works really well.
Right now when we get in this situation where he is scare and someone wants to pet him he sits down on his own with out me asking and I tell the person that they can come up to him and pet him.
hope this helps kathy & Capone

 

[girls mom]

I have a two year old female that is the same way. She is scared to death of men, until she really gets to know them. One time a guy got in my car while she was in there and she even knew this guy and she jumped in the front seat and got under the steering wheel. Has she ever seen two guys fight or something rough between two guys? I think the reason my girl is scared of guys is because one day a guy came in our house and punched one of my roomates, and she was right there. She ended up hiding under the table. Something traumaic like that will cause it. I also live alone and she is so used to it only being us, she just doesn't know what to think about everyone else. Other then that i don't know what to tell you. I know how you feel though, i take her to my friends house and tailgating during football season and everyone always wants to pet her and she is just so scared. She is my world, and i have to tell people the story because i am afraid they think i am not nice to her. good luck with girl, i hope she comes around.

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Ashley, Cally and Mya

 

[jazzyboxer]

We are working on this same issue. Jazz has been with us a year now, and what we know about her past life for certain is that she was a backyard neglect case, underfed and left alone. She will not approach anyone she does not know, unless it is a small, calm child. The people she has shown the strongest fear of (growls when sees one approaching) are dark hair/complexion males. Who knows what happened earlier?

The best result we have been getting with trying to bring her out of her shell (she is wonderful with our family; just not friendly with strangers), is like mentioned earlier: give her a job to do that distracts her a little from the situation. Example, if we're at the park and someone asks about her, I will have her sit and give her a treat/praise, then she learns to associate meeting a friendly stranger with good things. This is getting a little better, but I am not sure she will ever approach anyone on her own, and that's fine with me. Actually, explaining it has opened a lot of doors to talk about rescue with quite a few people and they are sympathetic when they understand she is the way she is as a product of her past treatment.

Good luck!

 

[Zoeigh'n'Me]

thanx for all the feedback!!! Zoeigh has never experienced a negative situation involving men. One of her favorite people (my boyfriend) is a guy (duh ), and she just adores him. I would think she would like guys. There was nothing in her past (that i know of, we got her from the breeder at 8 weeks) that would point to her problem. that is what frustrated me. Luckily she is not mean at all....just shy. I like that idea of getting her to do something, then letting them pet her. I've tried giving cheese to people to try to coax her into coming to them (cheeze is her favorite thing), but that has never really worked. If anything, she grabs the cheese and runs. the other day i had my uncle try to play frisbee with her. She would go and get it, but drop it, like, 2 feet away and make him go and get it. I can' figure it out. I will for sure try all the suggestions. Im worried cause she is going to a kennel in 3 days. I hope she doesnt' get scared of the people and they in turn play with her less.

 

[BoxerRock]

We have the exact same problem with Carley. I couldn't figure out why she was that way since we've had her since 8 weeks also and I know that nothing traumatic has happened to her. Our trainer strongly believes that Carley was most likely "bullied" by her littermates. She also believes that training and socialization will lead to more confidence and less shyness in Carley and take care of the problem. We're working on it. Good luck to you.
The Rocks and Carley

 

[Sam's Mom]

I have to say that Samson is also shy around men. I wouldn't say that he's afraid of them, just alittle hesitant at first. He's not that way around my husband and I know he wasn't traumatized from the breeder since it was my sister!! I just let him approach the person when he is ready and once he realizes it's okay and I tell him it's okay then he's fine and will allow them to pet him. Around kids and women, he's a big ham!! He's definitely a "momma's boy" and I like it that way!

 

[Jaime&Louie]

Yep, Louie is the exact same way. Women, and kids are fine, but males... at first scare him to death. He will shake, and try to get kind of close and sniff, all the while keeping his body as far back as possible. He hides behind me.. and sometimes if they don't know right off that he's scared, they'll be like "hey, cool dog!!" and scare the pee right out of him. He's tinkled a little from being so freaked out at first. Especially if they wear hats, or sunglasses. Those are a big no no.

 

[clara's parents]

Hmmmm, from my side, Clara is the BIGGEST flirt in the world. She acts like she gets NO love at home at all when she's around other people. She goes nuts for attention. Now she's a big chicken around other things, like loud or sudden noises, or if someone jumps out at her to play with her.

Jessica