Well I think its time I've finally addressed this problem. I figured they'd just get more confident as they got older, but my eskimo (sorry I know he's not a husky XD) is 7 months now and still won't let people pet him. Yuki (the husky) is 11 weeks and she might let people pet her, depending on the person. They are both great with other dogs, when Yuki sees a dog at the pet store she gets all excited wagging her tail, as does Cloud, and they both want to play. But with people, they are absolutely skittish. Tall guys are a definite no. Small kids are a definite no. They won't let either near them. They tend to be best with women, if a lady crouches down for them they might come up, but even then Cloud won't be petted. He won't let anyone pet him, except for me and sometimes my mom. I'm not sure how to get them better socialized with people, as we go to the pet store 3 times a week merely FOR socialization, Cloud's been going to the dog park since he was 4 months old which I go about twice a week now and he loves the other dogs but avoids all the people. I'm worried that they'll grow to be afraid of people, and want to do anything I can now while they're young. Sorry if there's already a forum on this but I'm blind and couldn't find it, any help appreciated ><

Maybe have some people give them good treats before petting them? That might get them to trust them and see people as a good thing to come.

Rocio_Caballero wrote:

Maybe have some people give them good treats before petting them? That might get them to trust them and see people as a good thing to come.

Ooooh thats a good idea! Maybe I could get a few of my friends over and have them practice calling Cloud and Yuki over and giving them a treat once they allow them to pet them? I can't believe I didn't think of that

Callie's fine if we're not near home. At PetSmart she thinks everyone's going to give her treats so she says hi to everyone. At the dog park she's usually too busy playing but if someone wants to pet her and approaches her slowly, she'll allow it. If they reach out quick she shies away. But at home, she's protecting her turf. I purposely had her around our neighbors from the day she came home and now if they try to come say hi she growls and barks and backs away. Not aggressively, but just a warning to keep their distance. I know the difference in her bark when it switches from warning to serious.

I would suggest having people give treats though at the dog park, that probably isn't ideal. Maybe ask people to get down to the dogs' level so they don't feel threatened and you call them over to let them know it's okay? A lot of it could be an intimidation thing. They're still little and people are a lot bigger. I'm sure there's something on the internet somewhere about what body language is intimidating to dogs.

calliegirl08 wrote:

I would suggest having people give treats though at the dog park, that probably isn't ideal. Maybe ask people to get down to the dogs' level so they don't feel threatened and you call them over to let them know it's okay? A lot of it could be an intimidation thing. They're still little and people are a lot bigger. I'm sure there's something on the internet somewhere about what body language is intimidating to dogs.

I do tell people that Cloud's shy and ask them to crouch down when we're at the dog park, but Cloud absolutely refuses to come - even to me. When we're at the dog park he completely ignores the people and solely plays with the dogs, occasionally he'll come up and stand or sit by me but not when I call. He does come to an extent, if he's way across the field and I call he'll run over, but not right by my side, he stops about 10 feet away. If he's on his leash and people approach him he lays his ears back and tucks his tail and sits right by me, I can tell he's afraid but I just don't understand why. We've been socializing since day 1 but all its done is get worse.

I could use some advice on this too. Panzer will come to me pretty well, and knows my house mates and I don't mean to hurt her, but when someone walks past us on lead, or if my house mates (whom the rest of the pack know, love, and respect) try to call her or even leash her she gets super nervous and sometimes downright afraid. I've tried using good treats, but even with straight up rare cooked steak from the human fridge, she's reluctant to take anything, especially as a reward for a command well done. She loves dogs, but I'm afraid her musher must have been fearsome, because she really fears people, despite my best efforts to show her that the rest of her life will be free of the wrath of god. She sees the other dogs are comfortable with people, and she's bonding well with me, but id like her to come around, for her own sake.

I made this post two months ago and it really hasn't gotten much better. Yuki has the same issues now too. Cloud's not afraid of people anymore though, and he will come to me more often now. Today there was a guy at the dog park with a toy Cloud really wanted, I could tell the guy knew what he was doing and let him do his own thing. Cloud didn't want to approach the guy, but he kept jumping in the air for the toy. The guy then crouched down, keeping the toy near him, and held out his hand. Once Cloud let him pet his head, he threw the toy. He repeated this several times. Towards the end Cloud stopped letting him pet him though and then ran off to play with the other dogs. If only OTHER people at the dog park were that intelligent, as most people try to 'chase' my dogs down and only regresses the training Yuki has started to approach a few people on her own, but as soon as they try to pet her she runs away. I will continue to go to pet stores with treats and take this day by day, Yuki will be easy to socialize with treats as shes food motivated but Cloud isn't really motivated by anything so it will be harder with him.

Lucian is the same way. He'll sniff peoples hands, but if they try to pet them, he dodges it. He'll even woof at people a little bit.

Karli does it but doesn't really dodge people, she tries to get them to play with her. She gets just close enough to them where they can touch her, then jumps back into the pounce stance. The treats idea is a great idea!!! But little kids aren't an issue, she thinks that they are the most awesome things ever and wants to lick their faces!!