Need some advice about pup

[Urban Borders]

Yes! That is exactly the feeling I get with her, it is so hard to put it into words. It's like she is detached, just does not know how to connect or communicate with people. And exactly that, she just bobs through life without getting excited about anything at all. Dogs she is also fine with, appropriate body language and play with everything from toy to large breed dogs. She used to be terrified of people, but now she is very comfortable around strangers. But it's like she thinks of people as trees or pieces of furniture or butterflies...you are there, you can be sniffed or chased or whatever, but you are not something that can interact with me meaningfully. Whereas most dogs, even anxious or untrained ones, seem to quickly make the connection that people have things of value, and interacting with them can give be of benefit. The issue with her is that I haven't found anything that holds real value for her.

 

I'm going to use some of the suggestions folks have offered, try and increase the value of her motivators. We're also going to only work inside in low distraction environments or outside on a line without other dogs until she becomes more focused on people. The frustration I can't do much about :-) except just tell myself I have no expectations whatsoever. Odds are, she'll find something she likes as she matures, and hopefully we'll still be able to do agility someday. I just won't be able to start with the foundation I thought I would be starting with.

 

 

I posted elsewhere one time regarding my, now 2.5 year old, as she was when she first came to us. We thought she was deaf for the first 2 weeks we had her. The only reason we decided she wasn't was because she showed interest when she could hear the other dogs bark. She had little interest in anything else, barely would take treats. We named her Indy for Independent. She spent a lot of her time just looking around or sleeping, totally detached from our world. We started labeling her autistic. She did enjoy interacting with my other dogs. Eventually I started playing my version of crate games with her. She spent a good deal of time in her crate for a few weeks at about 3-4 months old, very little interaction with the other dogs, just enough to keep her in their pack, all fun would come from/with me. I hand fed her her meals working towards rewarding any good behavior that she offered... I also used a clicker. She was a little more food motivated then it sounds like your pup is, but initially this had to be built, as she could take it or leave it in the beginning. She had NO play drive, no interest in toys at all. One day she started showing a bit of interest in me pushing her and playing with her physically, which lead to her tugging on my shirt sleeves, something I normally would not encourage but at least it was something, I did encourage it and at times it continues today ! It took until she was 7 months old for her to hang on to a toy for a very, very short session of tug. We thought she had absolutely no drive but was, and is, the sweetest dog. I NEVER thought she would end up having what it takes to be a decent agility pup.

 

What am I learning? Each dog is different, finding the motivators can be a real challenge, frustrating and exhausting, patience is my friend and I am not a patient person. She entered her first trial in January and came away with High In Trial Novice. She now loves to "train" but we call it and treat it like play. I allowed her to grow at her pace and I am thankful for the lessons she has taught me, it has made me a better doggie friend and trainer. Had I of forced her, I think I would have ruined her. Oh and she has the best recall of any of my dogs... who woulda thought.

 

Hope this story helps.

[border_collie_crazy]

another thing to consider is that she may never be motivated by "normal" things, think outside the box, Happy's 2 biggest motivators, things that get her really charged up, is compition and rapt attention. I could stand in a feild with a disc just me and her, and she will half heartity run after the disc, but she would rarly catch it and NEVER make a jump, but when a passerby would pause and watch, she would glnce over and suddenly, leap through the air and catch every single disc, person gone? she would drop the act. in Flyball, she was one of the fatses and most sought after dogs in the region..and without a dog running against her she was one of the slowest. other dogs got charged up for the tug, they would run their best for that reward at the end, Happy was willing to run just to run(she never cared one wit about a tug) and as a reward I would throw her a ball at the end, but without that other dog to run against, she never bothered to actually try that hard. this was the biggest issue was had in agility, the ball reward was "ok" and she had seen other dogs do it, so she COULD do all the obstcals, but she never had focased attention on her and there was never any direct dog/dog compitition, so she never bothered to try very hard.

 

sometimes you need to taylor your idea's to the dog, evereyone told me that because of Happys issues, the only thing I should even bother trying with her was agility, and I got her wanted to do agility, as it happenes that not what worked for "her", so I taylored my plans.

 

another with the outside the box motivators, with my othjer BC,. Misty, its knowing she is near me, I spent years trying to teach her not to pull on a leash to no avail, till I figered out that when she pulls on the leash, she knows with abolsute confidence that I am with her, so I thought outsude the box and tried something differnt, evertime she pulled, I not only stopped moving, I dropped the leash. all of a sudden pulling meant she LOST contact with me, and she has been one of my best loose leash walkers ever since lol

[Urban Borders]

Basic PE only. Dentition normal. Vaccinated, de-wormed, and started on heartworm preventative. No blood work, because she seemed to be grossly healthy. Considering the BAER, even though it is now completely obvious that she has at least some hearing (orients to odd noises and whistles). She didn't even do that when she first got here; it seemed like she was so ill-attuned to her environment that she didn't respond to loud noises, and that was why we wondered if she was deaf. No she will respond to those same noises with an ear flick or by turning her head.

 

BAER test and have you had her vetted? Teeth? CBC?

[Urban Borders]

I want to meet your dog Happy. She sounds like she is the most wonderful character

 

another thing to consider is that she may never be motivated by "normal" things, think outside the box, Happy's 2 biggest motivators, things that get her really charged up, is compition and rapt attention. I could stand in a feild with a disc just me and her, and she will half heartity run after the disc, but she would rarly catch it and NEVER make a jump, but when a passerby would pause and watch, she would glnce over and suddenly, leap through the air and catch every single disc, person gone? she would drop the act. in Flyball, she was one of the fatses and most sought after dogs in the region..and without a dog running against her she was one of the slowest. other dogs got charged up for the tug, they would run their best for that reward at the end, Happy was willing to run just to run(she never cared one wit about a tug) and as a reward I would throw her a ball at the end, but without that other dog to run against, she never bothered to actually try that hard. this was the biggest issue was had in agility, the ball reward was "ok" and she had seen other dogs do it, so she COULD do all the obstcals, but she never had focased attention on her and there was never any direct dog/dog compitition, so she never bothered to try very hard.

 

sometimes you need to taylor your idea's to the dog, evereyone told me that because of Happys issues, the only thing I should even bother trying with her was agility, and I got her wanted to do agility, as it happenes that not what worked for "her", so I taylored my plans.

 

another with the outside the box motivators, with my othjer BC,. Misty, its knowing she is near me, I spent years trying to teach her not to pull on a leash to no avail, till I figered out that when she pulls on the leash, she knows with abolsute confidence that I am with her, so I thought outsude the box and tried something differnt, evertime she pulled, I not only stopped moving, I dropped the leash. all of a sudden pulling meant she LOST contact with me, and she has been one of my best loose leash walkers ever since lol

[Amelia]

Hello all,

 

Urban Borders, how old is your dog? And, are her parents and grandparents working dogs, or sport/pet dogs? When I say "working," I mean do they engage sheep more days of the week then not?

 

Reading your posts, it seems that you are trying too hard to motivate her in some way to do something, and in so doing causing her to shut down. There are some dogs that will not be coerced by any means to do what we want them to do, and they are better allowed to be what they are, and live in a way that's comfortable to them.

 

I'm not clear what your goals are for this dog, but not all are cut out to meet our expectations. I've moved on more than a few that didn't fit my program. Maybe she's just cut out to be a beloved pet, and companion. That doesn't make her bad.

 

Border Collies were not created to be food/toy motivated. They were created to be keen and useful around livestock. No traits were bred for, except those that made a dog useful. I always marvel at using food to train a Border Collie. Of course they can be if they're reasonably intelligent. I just can't imagine why anyone would ask something of one that required that type motivation. It's like asking a leopard to change its' spots.

 

For me, if I had a dog that wasn't motivated by either stock or food, I would quiet my expectations, remove all training pressure, and either let grow mature/confident before trying again, or find it a good home as a cherished pet.

[mickif]

I just won't be able to start with the foundation I thought I would be starting with.

 

I tend to skim when I read (remember, no patience ), and so I may be mistaken, but didn't you say she will play with toys and chase you? There are a ton of foundation games you can play with these tools, flat work, circle work, etc., run fast. You just might not be able to teach the foundation in the order you might with another dog . How does she do if you hold your hand on her chest, push back a bit and take off running? Will she chase you then?

 

Just my 2 cents...

[Urban Borders]

She's not quite 3 months. Her parents both work sheep more days of the week than not, both were/are open level dogs. But then again, so did my older girl's parents and grandparents, and she turned into a wonderfully food and toy motivated agility dog. And yes, she (the older one) is quite smart :-)

 

I have wondered though...it's certainly not like they're dogs bred to retrieve, or even work for food. Mer seemed to "overcome" that. Obi though, I can see working stock...she is very responsive to movement, and seems to be a very soft dog. She learns quickly at some things (she's only ever had one accident), but those things are not ones she's learned by any sort of reward. However, I only intend to do agility and not stock work, and I got her for the purpose of doing agility. I don't know, everyone recommends only getting a working bred dog, but maybe I should have gotten a sport-bred one, whose parents are already shown to be good at that activity? Or a rescue, but after years of looking I never could find the kind of dog I wanted in a rescue in our area.

 

And she is either shutting down or she just doesn't care in the first place. I've given up alot of the expectations I had for her, we just aren't doing the things that people I know with sport bred puppies or Goldens or Shelties are doing. I will just have to give her some time, I certainly am not giving up on her yet. If, in a year or a year and a half she still has no interest in doing what I got her to do, if I can't convince her to have SOME food or toy motivation and trainability, then we will revisit the issue.

 

 

Hello all,

 

Urban Borders, how old is your dog? And, are her parents and grandparents working dogs, or sport/pet dogs? When I say "working," I mean do they engage sheep more days of the week then not?

 

Reading your posts, it seems that you are trying too hard to motivate her in some way to do something, and in so doing causing her to shut down. There are some dogs that will not be coerced by any means to do what we want them to do, and they are better allowed to be what they are, and live in a way that's comfortable to them.

 

I'm not clear what your goals are for this dog, but not all are cut out to meet our expectations. I've moved on more than a few that didn't fit my program. Maybe she's just cut out to be a beloved pet, and companion. That doesn't make her bad.

 

Border Collies were not created to be food/toy motivated. They were created to be keen and useful around livestock. No traits were bred for, except those that made a dog useful. I always marvel at using food to train a Border Collie. Of course they can be if they're reasonably intelligent. I just can't imagine why anyone would ask something of one that required that type motivation. It's like asking a leopard to change its' spots.

 

For me, if I had a dog that wasn't motivated by either stock or food, I would quiet my expectations, remove all training pressure, and either let grow mature/confident before trying again, or find it a good home as a cherished pet.

[Urban Borders]

Oh, that's such a good idea! I don't have any patience either (well, what little I have, my older dog taught ME ). Just because Obi can't do the basics doesn't mean we can't learn other things together. She is very motion sensitive, which is hard to use as a reward, but I can get her learning to stay on one side and circle, even to crosses on the flat. I don't think she's stupid, she's just very very hard to motivate/reward.

 

And she's fearless; I had her up on the agility field to move equipment, and she started climbing the teeter on her own, and started jumping over the ground bars that hold the jump stanchions together. No prompting, she just thought it was fun. When she gets older, she can start doing groundwork, and even now she could learn to run across a board or through a tunnel. Not alot of reps to stress her joints, more just silly tricks, but we need something that we can use to build a relationship here!

 

I tend to skim when I read (remember, no patience ), and so I may be mistaken, but didn't you say she will play with toys and chase you? There are a ton of foundation games you can play with these tools, flat work, circle work, etc., run fast. You just might not be able to teach the foundation in the order you might with another dog . How does she do if you hold your hand on her chest, push back a bit and take off running? Will she chase you then?

 

Just my 2 cents...

[Pippin's person]

She's not quite 3 months.

 

Repeat this to yourself for a few weeks and try and enjoy her as the baby she is.

[mickif]

Oh, that's such a good idea! I don't have any patience either (well, what little I have, my older dog taught ME ). Just because Obi can't do the basics doesn't mean we can't learn other things together. She is very motion sensitive, which is hard to use as a reward, but I can get her learning to stay on one side and circle, even to crosses on the flat. I don't think she's stupid, she's just very very hard to motivate/reward.

 

And she's fearless; I had her up on the agility field to move equipment, and she started climbing the teeter on her own, and started jumping over the ground bars that hold the jump stanchions together. No prompting, she just thought it was fun. When she gets older, she can start doing groundwork, and even now she could learn to run across a board or through a tunnel. Not alot of reps to stress her joints, more just silly tricks, but we need something that we can use to build a relationship here!

 

Oh, she's just a baby dog! I would take a deep breath and just enjoy her for the moment. Sounds like she has some great assets already, 3 months old, climbing a teeter!!!? Maybe the world is just a bit too overwhelming for her, too much goin' on, especially if she is motion sensitive. Humm, maybe she just doesn't have time for treats right now.

 

Continuing the story... Indy did not have any drive, she did not go through a tunnel until she was almost a year and then only twice. I did not want her thinking that doing anything slow was the right way to do it. In fact, the only "obstacles" she did were one set of 2 x 2 (for entries), running fast on a board and Susan Salo's jump training with the jump bumps until 13 months of age, none of this starting before 6 months and very little of any of it. We spent much of our foundation training on flat work, turns on the flat, rear end awareness games, run fast to my side and "line up", etc. Did spend time on her contact end behavior, 2o2o, but no where near equipment, just a short board. No "official" obstacle training until 14 months of age. In contrast to my other dogs, who started much earlier with obstacles, Indy has much better skill sets then they do and all in all is my best "trained" dog. Her contacts are rock solid, her jumping is beautiful and efficient, weaves were easy to train and fast, attitude good and getting faster and faster as her confidence continues to grow and she becomes more mature. It will not matter if my next dog is "in the game at a young age, or not", I will follow what I ended up doing with Indy again. This is something she taught me too .

[RoseAmy]

Just can't keep quiet any longer. Gonna say something and most aren't going to like it.

 

Lighten up..it's a three month old puppy. Let her be a puppy let her grow up and develope in her own time and way. Bond with her and teach her manners.

 

Every puppy is different accept that and go with the flow.

 

Just seems to me that nowadays everyone is so wrapped up in seeing how fast they can get their puppies trained that they take the fun out of being a puppy.

[PSmitty]

Repeat this to yourself for a few weeks and try and enjoy her as the baby she is.

 

Yes, this.

 

The pup isn't three months old yet, and you've had her for 3-4 weeks? I just feel way too much expectation here. Get her hearing tested if it will make you feel better. And then enjoy your puppy! Play the name game with her, with whatever motivates her (tug, babyfood, or something yet undiscovered), she'll learn her name, and I'm sure everything else in her own time, at her own pace.

 

ETA: If I could, I'd "like" RoseAmy's post, too.

[PSmitty]

Reading your posts, it seems that you are trying too hard to motivate her in some way to do something, and in so doing causing her to shut down. There are some dogs that will not be coerced by any means to do what we want them to do, and they are better allowed to be what they are, and live in a way that's comfortable to them.

 

I'm not clear what your goals are for this dog, but not all are cut out to meet our expectations.

 

And ditto this, too.

[Root Beer]

She's not quite 3 months. Her parents both work sheep more days of the week than not, both were/are open level dogs. But then again, so did my older girl's parents and grandparents, and she turned into a wonderfully food and toy motivated agility dog. And yes, she (the older one) is quite smart :-)

 

At 3 months, it really would be very reasonable to hold off on the foundation work that you were planning and focus more on building confidence, and food motivation.

 

Food motivation can be learned. While not as blase about food as your pup, Speedy was not terribly food motivated at first. He used to get bored even with eating his meals (which was . . . interesting . . . in a multiple dog household). But he learned and became quite food motivated.

 

And she is either shutting down or she just doesn't care in the first place. I've given up alot of the expectations I had for her, we just aren't doing the things that people I know with sport bred puppies or Goldens or Shelties are doing. I will just have to give her some time, I certainly am not giving up on her yet. If, in a year or a year and a half she still has no interest in doing what I got her to do, if I can't convince her to have SOME food or toy motivation and trainability, then we will revisit the issue.

 

Changing expectations along the way is part of the game. It might not seem that it's one that others have to deal with, but most handlers do at some point.

 

Your puppy could hit adolescence and her attitude toward food could change dramatically. Or you might be able to build that motivation using some low key games.

 

Or you might focus more on toy drive in your training. Honestly, without one or the other, there are things that become more of a challenge, but Agility training is still do-able. Tessa has no toy drive, so we use all food. I miss the kind of motivation that toy drive can provide with her. But we are still finding ways to get the job done, and done very well!!

 

But, as others have said, at 3 months I wouldn't really worry that much about it. Let her be a puppy and develop at her pace. You have loads of time to get the kind of foundation you want.

[Urban Borders]

I will admit, that it's been a few years since I had a pup. I guess the ones I've met recently were all either geniuses or had very good trainers as owners. I really didn't think it unreasonable for her to learn her name in the first month, but maybe that was not a good assumption. And I really did think she'd have some treat she would like, but maybe she is just the least food motivated dog in the world. I think that's the most disappointing thing for me (but hey, as mentioned, that could change).

 

Like I said, not going to give up on her or anything. Just going to take whatever she gives me. It's not that I'm pushing training because I have a goal or a time frame for getting her into agility. That is silly, and if I have my way she won't see full height obstacles or jumps, or do sequencing of any sort, til she's well over a year old. I just like interact with my dogs only by training; don't really like taking them for a walk, or cuddling on the couch, or whatever else folks do.

 

THAT is why I wish I could have found a rescue dog. But no rescue in their right mind would give a drive-y dog to a grad student (at the time), who rented rooms in two houses (one in the city, and one in the boonies, just for Mer), and who was gone ten to twelve hours a day (fortunately, the job I ended up at allows me to bring the dogs to work, even though we still have to commute out to the boonies on the weekends).

 

After getting turned down multiple times, I decided I was going to just get another puppy, and cross my fingers she didn't have the ortho issues Mer does. So that, dear readers, is what I did And now I have to make it through the next year, with an intelligent adult dog as my light at the end of the tunnel.

[Pippin's person]

How do you know she doesn't know her name?

[gcv-border]

......don't really like taking them for a walk, or cuddling on the couch, or whatever else folks do.

 

 

And maybe this is exactly what Obi needs to help her trust you and begin to build a strong relationship with you??

 

It does sound like you have put a lot of pressure on a young pup. It may not be perceived as pressure by 99% of the pups out there, but for Obi, maybe it is pressure. Forget about what other people do with their dogs. You are in this for the long term. Short term results are meaningless.

 

One saying I have heard is: "You may not get the dog you want, but you get the dog you need." or something similar. It sounds like Obi may help you become a better trainer and gain more insight into the canine mind.

 

I think that this (the saying) can be applied to the first dog I got to try and do agility with. She was a mixed breed rescue (maybe part Sheltie?). A very sweet dog, but excrutiatingly anxious and fearful to the point that she could barely focus in class. After 2 years in a beginner class, I don't think we ever did more than a 6 obstacle sequence (only once), and she never got over the teeter. There were many other skills she could not learn due to her anxiety. In hindsight, if I had been a better trainer, she may have come further. Because of her issues, I believe I have tried to learn how to relate to dogs better, how to understand them better and how to be a better trainer.

 

Jovi

[Maralynn]

Border Collies were not created to be food/toy motivated. They were created to be keen and useful around livestock. No traits were bred for, except those that made a dog useful. I always marvel at using food to train a Border Collie. Of course they can be if they're reasonably intelligent. I just can't imagine why anyone would ask something of one that required that type motivation. It's like asking a leopard to change its' spots.

 

Dogs don't have to be bred for food drive to have it. So if your dog has it, why not use it and channel it?

 

My keen, talented, 100% working bred dog would work all.day.long for food. I've trained everything from foundations for SAR work to stupid pet tricks using food. It was quite natural to use it since he loves food and has since the day I got him.

 

 

I'm not clear what your goals are for this dog, but not all are cut out to meet our expectations. I've moved on more than a few that didn't fit my program. Maybe she's just cut out to be a beloved pet, and companion. That doesn't make her bad.

 

Absolutely agree with this.

[Maralynn]

I got Kenzi to train for SAR work. I love focused dogs with a good deal of work ethic that WANT to work and BEG to train. And I'm not a snuggle with the dog person.

 

In rescue Kenzi showed most of the traits that I was looking for.

 

And guess what? she is a total snuggle bug. Craves physical contact. So I have snuggle time with her (probably not as much as she'd like, but I do meet her halfway!) She likes being goofy. So I started being silly with her sometimes. I started bikejoring with her because she loves to pull so much.

 

She is softer than Kipp and isn't as driven. She over analyzes then worries that she might be doing something wrong. Yup, it can frustrating. So then I just quit and do something to end on a high note. I've changed my training approach a few times with her now. She is still in training for SAR as she enjoys the training and keeps making progress, but I've considered washing her more than a couple times and may do so yet.

 

I didn't end up with the dog I wanted. But she is a sweet dog that makes me smile and laugh. I have learned a ton from her and I have come to enjoy the dog I got. And we started making some nice progress in the direction that I want go after I backed off a bit with what I wanted and paid more attention to the dog she is.

 

Just my experience

[mickif]

I didn't end up with the dog I wanted. But she is a sweet dog that makes me smile and laugh. I have learned a ton from her and I have come to enjoy the dog I got. And we started making some nice progress in the direction that I want go after I backed off a bit with what I wanted and paid more attention to the dog she is.

 

Like!

[juliepoudrier]

Maybe this thread from a few weeks ago would interest you.

 

J.

[Gloria Atwater]

......

 

Like I said, not going to give up on her or anything. Just going to take whatever she gives me. ....... I just like interact with my dogs only by training; don't really like taking them for a walk, or cuddling on the couch, or whatever else folks do. .....

 

 

Hi there ~

 

I think I'm going to be a big off-putting, as well, and simply say, for goodness sakes, relax! She's not yet 12 weeks old and you've had her for less than a month?

 

Personally, at that age, sit and come are about all I ask of a puppy, and if you don't like to interact with your dogs on a casual, non-training level, I think you may need to re-think. I'm with the person who said you may be inadvertently putting too much pressure on her to learn, just now.

 

Look, my boy, Nick, whose picture is my icon here, was a very mellow, laid-back puppy. He was an "old soul" from the day I picked him out. Sure, he'd play, but he wasn't a bouncy, happy, cuddly puppy and not that much of a food hound. All his baby photos are of this serious little guy with a solemn face, and to this day he doesn't lick or want full-body hugs. But, I kept him with me as much as I could and simply interacted with him as many ways, as many times as possible during a day. Today, Nick is my shadow.

 

I'd recommend that you slow down a little and back off the structured training sessions for a few weeks. You've already got as much as I ask of my pups, in that time-frame. Plus, my own pups didn't get training sessions, they got training moments. All day long, I'd grab a moment here and an instant there, to ask for and reward a behavior. I didn't take them out on leash and give them a little class. It was casual, random and relaxed.

 

You might try that with your girl. The walks and hugs that you don't do may be exactly the one-on-one interaction she needs.

 

If you want to be the center of her world, then you have to become the center of her world. That means more than just training sessions.

 

Good luck.

 

~ Gloria

[G. Festerling]

I happen to fall in the group of people that wholeheartedly believes that training is essential to get to know your dog all the way. As well as the other way around.

However, your comment about it being your main way of interacting (and that is how I perceived your comment in regards to cuddling and playing) troubles me when it is just a baby. A tiny baby at that. How much fun is that!?

There is a million and one ways (so many great suggestions already) to increase her drive, find a motivator and a custom training method. But to me personally, tons of sitting, cuddling, goofing, rolling around and being just simply there has to be huge in a tiny tykes first few months. 3 months?

[SS Cressa]

I could be wrong but... couldnt she still be partial deaf? If she only respond to high pitch noise that doesn't mean she can hear you.

 

Just curious how was she like at the breeders? What did the breeder say about her? What were her littermates like? Did you do any temperaments test on her or toy or food test? What were her parents like? What were they like as pups? How much did the breeder interact with the litter?

 

As for treats eventually there most likely will be some treat that rocks her world. One of my sister dogs refused most treats(heck we had to convince him to eat his own food daily) turn out to love bologna. We found it out around his 1st birthday we he actually was begging while we were eating a bologna and cheese sandwich.

 

Good luck with her and if you dont want her or if she is too much i will gladly take her!

[PSmitty]

I just like interact with my dogs only by training; don't really like taking them for a walk, or cuddling on the couch, or whatever else folks do.

 

And maybe this is exactly what Obi needs to help her trust you and begin to build a strong relationship with you??

 

It does sound like you have put a lot of pressure on a young pup. It may not be perceived as pressure by 99% of the pups out there, but for Obi, maybe it is pressure. Forget about what other people do with their dogs. You are in this for the long term. Short term results are meaningless.

 

EXACTLY.

 

Urban Borders, I can't remember the whole story, but I seem to recall your pup came to you very shy and not outgoing. You picked this pup in spite of that (good for you!), but you have to understand that you've probably got some work ahead of you because of both her inherent shyness, and quite possibly how she spent her first 8 weeks. If you don't think things like playing (for playing's sake, not training), cuddling, walking and just being with her are worthwhile interactions, then I'm just not sure what else advice any of us can give you. Any dog, but especially a young puppy, needs more than training from it's human.