[miniMarvy]

We just got a mini Dachshund, Marvy, and he is scared stiff of me. He's from a breeder out in the country on a farm. And I'm pretty sure he has hardly been around people, not to mention he's 5 months old and not even paper trained yet. We've had him for2 days so far. He, of course, has gone both number one and two on the floor. He is such a scaredy that he sits on the floor and shakes. Any advise on how to let him know that we mean no harm and that we are his friends would be greatly appreciated.

[carolbcac]

Sounds like this little guy has had no socialization whatever. As far as he is concerned, he has been set down on Mars with alien beings. He has missed some sensitive periods during his development when he was supposed to learn about new people and new environments. This is going to take some time, and you will need to be very patient.
He probably has no idea that praise and petting are supposed to be good things. It is likely that the only thing he recognizes as inherently "good" is food. I'm not a big fan of table food, but this puppy's emotional needs outweigh his nutritional ones right now. Try to find something he finds really yummy (cooked white meat chicken without the skin is good and not so likely to upset his stomach.) Cut this into tiny bites--about the size of your little fingernail--and carry some with you at all times. You can buy a cloth carpenter's apron very cheap at about any store, and this is useful to carry a small ziplock bag of his goodies around.
Start rewarding the smallest achievements-he took two steps toward you, he allowed you to pet him, etc. Pair the food reward with praise, so he learns to associate the tone of your voice with something good. Look for times that he is not acting nervous or anytime he shows exploratory behavior to reward him. Never punish this puppy. Reduce the chances of him doing something unacceptable by crate-training him. There are lots of good posts on this list detailing how to do this. Focus on the idea that you are teaching him "what right is", rather than "what wrong is". When he does something unacceptable, just quietly remove him from the situation and withhold the reward.
Before long, you should at least be able to teach him to sit, using the food as a lure slightly over his head until his bottom touches the floor, then say "sit" and give him his treat. Once he gets this far, you have a very powerful teaching method at your disposal. As he becomes more confident, he should start looking for more ways that he can earn a reward.
One other thing you can try is to think of any of your friends who have a calm, even- tempered dog that you could invite over for play dates. (It would be nice to discover a fellow earthling who speaks your native language on Mars!) This dog would be able to model calm appropriate behavior for him. If he really seems to enjoy this, consider adopting a dog with a similar temperament from the shelter for him. An adult spayed female with a laid-back "bomb-proof" personality would be ideal.
Let us know how things are progressing.

[Wondergirl]

Lie down on the floor so you are his size and just hang out, talk with him, tell him about your day. Do this often. Let him come to you. Pet him only when he's ready.

(This works with scared, unsocialized cats.)

[bushg]

Minimarvy... here is a thread with a problem similar to yours... you may find this helpful just click https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/d...-168770.htmlon the link.

[miniMarvy]

Thank you for the responses. I do think that you are right about the fact that not only has he had no formal training but, the only person he knew was the lady who ran the kennels. So I know for a fact that she has not socialized him with anyone. I think that the chicken method sounds like a great idea because he did seem to like chicken. He just seems to be scared no matter what and I think it will take a lot of time but he seems to be responding to us, slowly, but he is. We do have a bit of a problem though. Whenever he gets excited or if he feels frightened he pittles a little bit. So far he's pittled everywhere under the sun... even our bed. Once again thanks for the advice I think that will help us make a break through.

[miniMarvy]

I have also been encouraging him to play with the squeaky toy that we bought him. Even though he won't take it from us I think encouraging him is letting him know that it's okay to play a little. He has tried to play with it a few times but once we look at him he stops. So I think that while we aren't home and he's in his crate he plays with it.

[carolbcac]

There is a book out that I didn't think of until today; you should probably be able to find it on line. The author is Turid Rugaas, a Norwegian behaviorist. I believe the title is something like "On Speaking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals". She is very good at explaining signals dogs use between one another to lower anxiety levels, and how humans can mimic them.

[Gary and Lu Lu]

We just got a mini Dachshund, Marvy, and he is scared stiff of me. He's from a breeder out in the country on a farm. And i'm pretty sure he has hardly been around people, not to mention he's 5 months old and not even paper trained yet. We've had him for2 days so far. He, of course, has gone both number one and two on the floor. He is such a scaredy that he sits on the floor and shakes. Any advise on how to let him know that we mean no harm and that we are his friends would be greatly appreciated.

I have an almost 4 month old female mini doxie. I began crate training her from the moment I brought her home. In her bed I have a wind up alarm clock wrapped in a towel, and a tee shirt that I have worn, that has my scent on it. I have had no problems with her being scared at all. The wind up clock and my shirt gives her the sense of her mother's heart, and my being with her. Crate training is the key. I take her outside every time I open her crate door and she comes out. She had only one accident in her crate and I think that was because I wasn't giving her enough play time to burn off her energy. These dogs need a lot of love and praise. What you do in the first couple of months is the key to their success. I have heard my doxie bark only 7 times, since I have got her, she's not scared, feels safe. The environment you create for your dog helps shape them. I began socializing my dog with people and other dogs from the moment I brought her home. She is doing great, when she see's other dogs or people she acts normal and calm. She is a big clown, loves to play and I see to she get's the attention she needs. One thing I recommend with this breed of dog, is that you see how the mother/father act and what type of home they come from. I purchased my doxie from a family that has both the mother and father in the same house. The dogs behaved remarkably well with each other. I really lucked out getting my Lu Lu. House training was a lot of work, but it has paid off. Good Luck.