My boxer dog Lollipop is very much the same way. We got her when she was just 9 weeks old and she was a bit skittish then. I thought she would grow out of it but it seems to become even more fearful, especially of men/boys. I try to take her out and socialize her as much as possible. Some days she is more courageous than others. There are times when she'll walk by one man without tension and the next minute she will be scared to death where she would jerk at her leash. I just don't know what else to do to help her overcome her fear. If only I knew what causes the fear or low self-esteem.

As I am typing, I am still fighting back the tears from Luna's story. That is exactly what my husband and I are working with, with our 1 year old American Pitbull Terrier, Dozer. We took him at 5months old from a friend who purchased him from an ADBA registered breeder. We really do not know what happened during his first 5 months of life. He was/is terrified of anything and everything: shadows(including his own-no joke), trashcans, children, men, birds, cats, voices from neighbors back yards, loud bangs, sudden noises...it really is a sad situation. He is a wonderful dog outside of his insecurities. He has been through beginning and intermediate training classes as well as taken and passed (amazingly) his AKC Good Citizens Test. It took our trainer all 16 weeks before Dozer would even let him pet him. If the trainer tried to take him for a demonstration, Dozer would immediately try to run behind us and hide. We try to continue to take him out for socialization and capitalize on his sweet, loving, happy, total lap dog, cuddler side, but once outside of the comfort zone of the house, his insecurities take over. When we have company, he hides at the top of the stairs and peeks around the corner. He will come down to carefully sniff - but if anyone moves, he immediately bolts. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears - even for accupuncture!!! I just want my dog to love life and not be afraid anymore.

After watching Cesar with Luna, afraid of everything and everyone
I felt compelled to write in about a dog who I and my girlfriend are looking after for a friend, while she's away. The friend is actually a Dolphin trainer, and much to my surprise her two dogs are completely crazy! The dog (Mylo) in question is a one year old "potcake" (mixed breed) as we say here, highly motivated and absolutely shocked me one day, when discovering he liked to play catch with sticks, we threw a rather waterlogged one into the sea- well,it sank, and to my astonishment, Mylo dived UNDER the water and down to the bottom to get it, through the surf and waves! In all my years of owning great water dogs, I am thrilled
to finally see a relatively young dog do this naturally. All that remains is to try and work with these two energetic hounds
Cesar-style to give their owner a pleasant surprise of two calm
dogs waiting for her when she gets home. SSSCCCCCCHHHT! Thanks Cesar!.
EDDY

For all of you with fearful, skittish dogs I can only tell you what worked for me. I rescued my dog off the side of the road thinking she would die in the car, but she didn't. She recovered from her multiple health issues and physically she was fine. Emotionally was another story. She simply stared at the floor, did not interact with humans or dogs. Over time she got better with my friend's dogs but humans still frightened her, and brooms, and loud noises, etc. When in situations where I knew she was going to react to something strange I would keep her on leash to prevent her from running away and I would ignore her until she was calm and stopped shaking. If I could repeat what frightened her we would expose her to it over and over until she had no reaction and then she would get all sorts of affection. After a while if something frightened her she would look to me for my reaction and if I had none, she had none. For people, she was especially afraid of tall men so I carried dog treats, would ask the man to kneel down because she had less of a reaction, let her sniff him, then offer the treat and wait for her to take it. It was slow going but with time and patience she got over it and now loves everybody. Keep working at it, make it a positive experience with each new person and watch your energy. Looking in retrospect I can tell you that Cesar's techniques work, everything he says is true. Hope that helps you.

Here are 2 excercises for dogs who are food aggressive.

1)Always have your dog sit and stay before he gets his meal or any treat. He only gets to eat when you give the OK. YOU control the food

2)While your pup is eating his kibble, walk by and drop something really tasty into his bowl, like a piece of chicken or hot dog. When he gets used to anticipating something good whenever you get near his food, you can graduate to putting the treat right into his bowl with your hand, and then to picking up his bowl while he is eating, putting in a treat, and giving the bowl back.

This way all the associations of humans being near him while he is eating are positive. Dogs don't bite you when they are eagerly awaiting a biscuit!

i got my 10 week old westie puppy a week ago. although never on a leash before, the first 3 days she was great walking with me, she kept to my side and we just cruised right along. Now, however, i put the leash on her and she just lays down or sits...doing ceasars' technique (collar up higher, short leash, tug upward) does nothing...she still sits. treats only help for a few steps, then she is down again. any suggestions? is it because she has free run of the backyward when we are not walking? help!

I have a 24yr old Lab/Chow mix which has been my attendant dog for 17 yrs now. We thought Desi was going to die a few years ago and a friend gave me a full Lab puppy, Lexie. Well, Desi didn't die but is too old to be my attendant dog now; I'm in an electric wheelchair. I haven't had the funds to train Lexie, but she always seemed very smart but shy and somewhat afraid of Desi. Desi has always intimidated Lexie until recently when Desi became much weaker. Now that Desi has difficulty walking and getting around & is cranky because she is sometimes in pain, she and Lexie have had several fights. Lexie has really hurt Desi a couple of times & I've even had to get someone to pull her off Desi when this has happened. Well, it happened again tonight and I'm very upset, as I just don't know what to do nor have the strength to stop these encounters. I love both of the dogs and want Desi to live out her life peacefully and eventually get Lexie trained to help me. Lexie has never been aggressive with people or other dogs and I'm just at my wits end here. Does anyone have any suggestions? Currently, Desi is in the bedroom licking her wounds & I have Lexie locked out on the patio. PLEASE give me some help!! What a Thanksgiving! I'm really thankful for all my blessings, but would be even more thankful for some help with this problem.

We adopted from the animal shelter, a small terrier mix. We are two retired couple. We followed Cesars advice & my husband walked him before we brought him into the house. My husband walks him 2 miles a day & he has bonded to a degree. He will not come to me at all. Why? I'm calm & assertive, he will let me pet him if my husband is holding him. My husband leaves & he cries, I am able to "shessh" him, to make him stop. I want to love this dog, but it seems impossible. Any suggestions??

why does my dog get so scared with fireworks or loud bangs? i feel so bad for but i dont know what to do he wont stop shaking! please help !

My parents have an American Eskimo who is the cutest dog but the most jealous. My friend went through a divorce and couldn't take him with her because she moved into an apartment building that didn't accept animals. Her Ex-husband was very abusive with the dog and he even had a shock collar so every time he barked he got shocked! I think that's cruel! I talked my parents into taking this dog so he was always the baby but now I have a 6month old and he growls at my baby and has snapped at him. He can't stand the noises my baby makes, it drives him nuts but my dad just laughs it off. What can I say to my dad so we don't get into an argument?
Velda

My boyfriend and I have a 2 year old dachshund named Odie. he is a great dog but when we leave, he behaves horribly! We stared putting him in a cage when we leave just so that he won't destroy anything else but he doesn't like that either. he has broken one of his nails because all he does in his cage is scratch at the latch to try and open it. We have even tried grabbing our keys and leaving and coming back regularly through out the day to get him used to us leaving but it doesn't work! We were thinking about getting another dachshund to maybe help with this problem so that he would have friend to play with while we're gone but we're not sure if it would just make problems worse. PLEASE HELP!!!

my 1 year old black lab mix is does't like to take walks no matter what you do. i tried all he just won't go he bites the leash jumps also just lays down and wont get up then runs back to house farthest i got with him was next door!! what can i do to fix it?