Hi Bif, I wonder if you can help with this. My husband and I are the doting owners of a very shy , 40 lb, mixed breed (hound-something) spayed female dog. She does everything in her power to avoid people, especially kids. We adopted her at 3 months from a shelter; she was still with her entire litter and we were told that the pups had not been socialized to people. She is now almost 2 yrs old and despite our best efforts (having people over to our house, taking her to parks and other people's homes) we have not been able to help her relax around strangers. We don't think she was abused before we adopted her but instead just has a skittish nature. She is the sweetest dog in the world with us and with adults she knows - so far no kids have won her confidence...how can we get her to change her sensitivity threshold? - Margaret

There is an early socialization period of a dog's life in which they learn and respond to human interaction. If dogs are denied proper interaction with humans, some can be psychologically damaged. If she is food motivated, you can try keeping yummy treats by the door and have any people entering hand her one or toss it on the floor close to her. She may begin to learn that people can be OK creatures to be around although you do not want to reinforce her barking if she will only bark at strangers. Make sure any guests in your house make no sudden moves and have guests immediately sit down so they appear to be in a less threatening position. A training technique would be to train her to "speak" or "shush" when the time is appropriate. With strict training she may learn to only bark when someone is approaching your house, not just walking down the street. I recommend getting her into a training class. She will have more opportunity for socialization and you can have a trainer that will work closely with her and give her correction as necessary.

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