Is shyness "contagious"?

P

pogopup

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Hey everyone!

I am picking up my new puppy Saturday and I was wondering if Pogo's shyness and anxiety will be "contagious" (for lack of a better word) with the new dog? The pup is friendly and has a great head start on being socialized and handled (thanks to the neighborhood kids :smile2:). I know the pup will pick up on some things (only the good things, right? :lol: :winkgrin:), but I'm thinking personality is not a learned behavior-he's going to be either 10-11 weeks old when I pick him up.

I guess I ask because our obedience trainer said he has a great dane that suffers from separation anxiety. He thought through training and another dog who didn't have separation problems, he would be fine. Well, now he has two great danes with separation anxiety. :eek2:
 
It's hard to say. In general, border collies are high anxiety dogs in their own right. I think you may find that the border collie will make a job for itself to settle down the Sheltie. That's what happened when I added an Australian Shepherd to my household. I wanted my Sheltie to be the alpha as she was a little shy and I wanted her to come out of her shell, but the Aussie just came in and took over and they sorted it out on their own. Both dogs settled down more with age around 5 and 6 respectively.
 
Ruckus is crazy. He has aggression issues, and he is very fearful. I was worried that when I got Lynn Ruckus would ruin her. But so far Ruckus's issues have not worn off on Lynn at all. Lynn loves everyone and is very happy go lucky. not shy or fearful at all! If anything Lynn has calmed Ruckus down! Since getting her I have noticed improvements in Ruckus behavior!
 
It really depends on the two dogs in question. If the new pup is impressionable, or begins to look at the older pup as a leader, then the nervousness could certainly be contagious. If the new pup already has a confident and outgoing demeanor, then it may be beneficial to assist things so that the new pup is being seen as the role model for the other pup. Herding breeds in general are very atuned to their family members and read them very well. That aspect plays a huge role in my training methods, and can be manipulated quite easily to get desired results. But, the down side is that the dogs will read off of each other and if one dog is seen as being scared, then another dog that looks up to that dog may follow their lead.

What you can do to head that off, is to ensure that the new pup looks to you for guideance and not your current pup. Then use the new pup's attitude and confidence to bring the old pup out of their shell.
 
Agreed

I think Dayna is absolutely right. Gabe is shy and usually withdraws if we have more than one visitor to our home. Even treats weren't enough to lure him away from his "safe" room. About two weeks ago we got our Belgian Tervuren pup, Linc. He's 18 weeks old now and he's a mess! :biggrin2: I made sure Linc's breeder knew about Gabe's idiosyncrasies so that she would match me up with a puppy who would not be as susceptible to shyness. Tervs are still a naturally reserved breed but we're working hard to socialize Linc so that after an adjustment period he can function just fine with strangers in his home. Linc doesn't look to Gabe for the proper response to a stimulus, which helps tremendously. Loud noises make Gabe disappear whereas Linc will start but then jump forward to investigate. Anyway, Monday night we had 4 friends over for a little Rock Band party. I armed all the visitors with bits of cheese to offer to the puppy. Imagine my surprise when Gabe ventures out for his cheese too! The two of them worked the small crowd and then proceeded to play close to where all the action was. Having Linc around has helped draw Gabe out and is increasing his confidence. "Hmm, the puppy hasn't died a horrible death yet, maybe I could go out too..." Good luck with your Border Collie pup!!
 
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