We picked up our new puppy yesterday, he’s a 4 month old chihuahua mix. He is very afraid of us and runs whenever we walk in his general direction. Obviously he won’t let us touch him, so things like potty training are impossible since we can’t get a harness on him to take him outside. I’m wondering how long it’ll take before he is comfortable enough to let us get near him to take him out to pee? He is starting to warm up a little bit, will follow us around, we’ve been hand feeding him his meals, but he won’t let us touch him and scatters when he sees you coming near him.
How much of this is normal? I know it’s normal for them to be scared and hide a bit, but to the extent you can’t take them out to go pee?!
We aren’t doing anything scary or intimidating, aren’t making direct eye contact, keeping it very quiet and calm in the home. He only has access to the living room and bathroom in our small apartment.
We got him from a breeder that seemed reputable, but all of this is making us concerned about how they were treating their dogs.
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