We recently acquired an 8 month old rescued Bichon. She has bonded with my wife but acts afraid of me. She runs when I come into the room or runs outside. She will not let me near her to pick her up. She will, however, come and lick my hand or take a treat from me, but, touch her, no way! Any suggestions to win her over?

Would your work schedule allow time for you to accompany your wife on a walk with the dog? At first, just accompany while your wife holds the leash, and then at some point (maybe a few walks down the week), do a transfer from your wife's hand to yours. Also, maybe you should be the only one to feed the dog always for awhile. This will help build the dog's trust in you, and establish you in her mind as not only a member of the family, but her pack leader, and the one who feeds her. It will take some time, but eventually she will come to accept you and even allow you to handle her.

You're doing a great job!


Be patient and don't give up on her. She is now in a new environment and needs to be allowed time to adjust to her new forever home. Just like with people, sometimes it takes a little more time to warm up to some than others. And that's okay Continue to be gentle with her and make slow movements when approaching her. Use a calming voice when petting or stroking her. The idea is to build rapport and not force anything upon her.


Do you happen to know anything about her past history?


She may be somewhat fearful of men in general. This could be a result of ill treatment by a male in her previous living conditions, thus, now making that connection of "maltreatment" with all men..


The best way to overcome that scarring is to provide her with an environment that she feels safe and secure in by doing what you've been doing.


Good luck.

I think she is starting to like you because she licks your hand. Just wait for the right time when she's finally adjusted and you'll get along just fine.