My partner and I just adopted a 6 month old puppy. She presents as playful and likes people, but she can be timid and nervous about things and seems mistrusting at times despite her simultaneous curiosity. We are hoping to help her lean into the curiosity and become a more confident and brave dog while also meeting her where she is.
The kicker? We have a 5 year old dog who is also a rescue (we got him as a 1 year old and he'd been a stray all his life before then). He definitely has trauma we know nothing about and for a long time was afraid of everything. We would describe him as a fearful dog, as he is afraid of MOST PEOPLE. He has some favorites that he trusts automatically (who knows why), but for the most part he runs in fear or barks at strangers (never aggressive). He dissociates when he's afraid and does not respond to me or my partner. In 4 years he's done WONDERS. So smart, very lovely, sentient and emotional, and more trusting than previously. And he LOVES other dogs, and typically if another dog trusts a person, he trusts them, too. He is a completely different dog at the dog park (runs up to everyone, jumps on them, tail wagging, happy!)
We got our new puppy with the hopes her lack of fear of people would help our current dog (an emotional support dog for our current dog, if you will). However, he seems to be accidentally rubbing his fearfulness onto her, and she is becoming less trusting of people rather than more trusting (again, despite her apparent desire to approach and be around people). Is there anything we can do for the puppy to help her step into her own and feel confident and brave in social situations?
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