Tips to Help a Puppy Stop Avoiding Touch From Humans

For this Venice Beach dog training session we were called in to help 7 month-old Mini Alaskan Klee Kai puppy Lulu who shies away when people try to pet her.

Due to the CoronaVirus, Lulu wasn’t able to meet many new people or go to puppy classes which isnt ideal for any puppy’s development. But when you have a breed who tends to be aloof of new people, this can amplify the problem. I advised the guardians to try to carry the high value treats I used in the session when they are out and about. If they can get strangers to give her a treat, this will help a lot.

There is a time liit for Lulu’s guardians to have strangers give her treats and build up positive experiences this way. A puppy starts forming their true personality at 9 months, so until that point, the more positive interactions with strangers the more impactful they will be. Id love to see Lulu meeting and being treated by 10 new people a day until she hits 9 months, but the socializing shouldnt stop at that time. The personality solidifies around 2 years for small breed dogs.

Alaskan Klee Kai’s are notorious for being wary of strangers, but the lack of exposure due to CoronaVirus has certanly amplifed things. Being aloof of strangers is one thing, but Lulu also shied away from touch from her humans at times.

I pulled out my camera so I could share some tips to help the puppy feel moe comfortable with touch so that she didn’t move away when people try to pet her. You can learn how to help a dog stop avoidng human contact with the free positive dog training video below.

The wonderful thing about these tips to help a puppy stop avoiding contact from humans is it works for all breeds and humans. You dont have to be a professional Mini Alaskan Klee Kai dog trainer to do it. You just need some really tasty treats, a calm environment and patience. You have to go slow and wait for the dog to do the work. The human offers motivation in terms of the treats, then waits for the dog to move forward at its own pace.

Arranging play dates with other puppies will help Lulu stop being so fearful of other people as she will encounter some each time she meets a new puppy. This socialziation with puppies can help with her shyness around new people.

At the end of each puppy play date, Id like to see Lulu’s guardians pick her up and place her in the lap of the other puppy’s guardian. That guardian should hold her and place their hands on her sides, but avoid petting her. If she will take treats from them, that will help. But even if she simply sits in their lap for a few minutes calmly, this will help her learn physical touch from humans is nothing to fear. If the guardians have difficulty with this sitting interactions (like Lulu protesting), Id like them to call or text so we can make adjustments. We can help Lulu learn to be accepting of touch from humans and see it as a posiitve, but the groundwork needs to start now and contnue in earnest for the next few months.

We covered a number of other tips in this in home Venice Beach puppy training session so I recorded a roadmap to success video at the end to help them remember them all.