[darkdesires]

I just bought a Shetland Sheepdog puppy a week ago. He is 12 weeks old and is absolutely great. He plays with me, is eating fine, even now knows a handful of tricks, however he is scared of just about everything else. He wont eat if there are other people over, he wont go potty if there are people or dogs out in someone else's yard. I've even tried to give him treats while other people are around (his favorite ones) but he won't touch them. I understand he probably needs to be socialized but the parvovirus is so bad here I can't take him out anywhere until he gets all his shots. Is there anything I can do? I am going to spend about a month at my parent's house and I'm bringing him with me. What do I do if he won't eat while he is there?

[cigwyllt]

If he is healthy in every other respect (and if he is currently having his vaccinations I assume he is) he will eventually start to eat. A healthy dog will never willingly starve itself if suitable food is offered. At 12 weeks he should still be on 3 meals a day? I would cut down the amount you are feeding him to about half of what he currently has. Put the bowl down and leave him to eat it undisturbed for 10/15 minutes then return and calmly pick the bowl up and put it away. If you are feeding a dry kibble food you can keep it for his next meal. Do the same at each meal - leaving the food available for a limited time then taking it away until later.

Don't stress and try to tempt him to eat by giving him treats and snacks. You want him to eat his meals and they will just fill him up and can lead to a battle of wills as the dog holds out for something different!

As for the nervousness I'm afraid it is just patience, patience, patience. Socialisation is very important but so is protecting your dog so I wouldn't take the risk of taking out where there are other dogs until his shots are complete. You will just have to be very slow and do your best not to let him be overwhelmed.

[WorriedMom]

The puppy is still very young... will probably go through different stages of beign nervous about weird things that you didnt think they would... not liking certain things etc.

It just takes a lot of patience like hte previous person said and slowly making them accustomed to the thing that they don't like.

Until my puppy was almost 4 months he wouldn't leave my yard for a walk.. unless i drove him somewhere else and then walked him. VERY Scared... he would dig his feet into whatever he was on and not budge and do flips and all sorts of things to get out of it. Took a long time but he finally got gradually better...

If you have a friend who can help maybe have them try to take him potty... orr have them stand far away and gradualy let him work his way up in comfort level. He'll get the hang of it.... socialization is def key.... when hes old enough maybe other dogs will help the situation... or if you know any healthy dogs he can play with....

It'll be fine!!!