If you look closely at Travis' tail, you can see a noticable bend in the middle where his tailbone seems to be broken. When we asked the breeder about it, we were informed that this was a birth defect; although I always suspected mistreatment. "Take him out of the cage," our son said, "I want to hold him." And the breeder did. Then, I said to our son, "are you sure you want this one?" "Oh, yes," he said, as he held him close to his chest. "Why," I asked. And he responded, "because he is different." We did not really know what each of us was referring to until after he got Travis home. My son was referring to his tail, while I was referring to his personality or temperment. I you see, had noticed a very stiff, untrusting Beagle when I tried to pet him. He seemed fearful, and was. Out of any of the animals we have ever owned, Travis is the most shy. It might take him, weeks, months or years to get used to people but when he does, he is just like one of the gang. You just can't yell at Travis or make fast movements, because if you do, you will undo any progress you have made with him; which might bring you back to day one. He is an extremely fearful dog and one who requires special attention.
Travis is exceptionally shy. He is tense and very fearful. Mostly of people. It even took a long time for him to get used to us, but eventually he did. Travis requires special attention in other areas as well. For example, he does not respond well to stern or strong commands. Yelling will set him off. Instead, we tend to be very soft spoken when dealing with Travis. One has to repeat things often with a shy dog, so owner patience is essential. One must also gain their confidence and trust. This is accomplished through time and effort, and also by not lying to the dog. In other words, don't bait your Beagle with a treat only to scold. This is the wrong approach with a shy Beagle.
Another downfall is that they are always on their guard and ready to do battle; especially if they are around aggressive animals or threatening situations. The fight or flight response is perhaps the best way to describe the personality temperment of a shy animal. In other words, a shy beagle might fair well with a patient adult owner, but I personally would not choose a shy animal as a child's playmate but only because young children are often unpredictable and may need more guidance than pets. Owners ought not mistake shyness for timidness --- they are not the same. Shy beagles do respond favorably to soft spoken, non-threatening situations and people, however. Love, affection, patients and most of all consistancy are the keys.
The best way to break a dog out of its shyness is to desensitize it. In other words, the shy dog has to be reprogramed. Now, some shy dogs are fearful of other animals, other people or objects; and it will be up to each individual owner to ascertain which things effect their dog the most. To do this, the owner must introduce the Beagle to the objects of its fear. At first for a few minutes and then as the days and weeks progress for longer periods of time. At such times, the owner must show an air of confidence and emotional support. By that I do mean, the owner should be in a relaxed mental and emotional state. If you do this with confidence and consistancy the animal will mimic your behavior and actually pick up on your cues.
In the Homecoming for example, Travis got spooked by the mere sound of a camera clicking. This is but a small example of something that can effect a shy dog. Now, the normal human inclination might be to feel sorry for the dog by not taking pictures. But if we took that course of action everytime our dog got spooked we will have given over our dominance to him. Instead, we continue to take our pictures, but before we do we try to seek the help of another who will sit or stand next to Travis and assure him that camera clicking is an okay sound. Either I, or our son will take turns at this, for example; the one controlling Travis while the other takes the pictures. As we proceed at this juncture, soothing Travis is not done by petting or stroking, but just by showing an air of gentle confidence. We are assertative in our stance and also of our mental posture also. So that the message given is, "we like taking pictures." Do this the same way you would a homework assignment and eventually your Beagle will allow you to take pictures without being fearful of the noise a camera. In other words, even if there is no film in the camera and you don't want to take any pictures, just do a pretend a couple of times a day and your pet dog will respond.
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