New Puppy PLEASE HELP!!!

[scoobyd]

Ok, so i have a pitbull puppy named mia. She is about 14 weeks old and last night was her first time by herself at my house without her brother and sister. I had gotten all three of them on saturday, and they had stayed at my house the first night. Though Mia, compared to her brothers and sisters, is sort of shy/timid of other people. I usually have to pick her up to put her in and out of her crate, and she just gets the shakes when she is experiencing something new. Usually when I approach her, she will just sit and stare at me but she looks scared sometimes. She is starting to warm up to me though as she is starting to come up to me and trying to cuddle after she has walked around the house or my room for a bit.

Please help me, I am a new dog owner and I want my puppy to be an outstanding, friendly dog, that is not afraid of people.

I need help training and socializing her! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!

Thanks all!

 

[Barb04]

I would say have patience and go slowly with her. Once she's comfortable in your home, you could start with simple commands. When she sits on her own, say "good sit" and she will associate the word with what she is doing. When introducing her to people, let her go to them so she feels secure; you don't want to scare her at all. I bet she's a cutie. I'd love to see a pic.

 

[Tazwell]

The best thing you can do for a new pup once she's comfortable with you is take her to a positive reinforcement based puppy kindergarten class in your area

 

[Greenmagick]

I would get her in classes and start working with a trainer asap (a good PR trainer). It is so much easier to help them get over fear and anxiety when they are young.

Also, I would check out Before and After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar. There are a ton of books I could suggest, but this one is available as a free pdf and is a great resource to start with.

Before

After

 

[clintcora]

I would also vote for a puppy kindergarten class. Then after clearance from the vet, I would take her out a lot to all sorts of social situations like walks, parks, etc. - However, I might hold off on dog parks unless there is a section for puppies until your dog build up to that. Start with the puppy kindergarten class first. Get her to meet your friends and relatives (kids under supervision) because you want to expose her to as many people as possible.