[lmstew66]

I recently purchased a 12 week old Siberian Husky Puppy. He is so afraid of us and is not acting at all like a puppy. He isn't exploring or being curious. He backs away from us with his tail between his legs. He gets a little excited when he sees other dogs, but will not come up to us at all. We have to catch him to take him outside or to bring him in. What do I do? Please help.

[cigwyllt]

Poor little pup. Can I ask what sort of place did you buy him from? If you don't buy a dog from a reputable breeder where you can see him interact with the mother and the rest of the litter you are taking a huge risk.

How have you tried to relate to him so far? Put yourself in his position - he is scared and afraid of people. You as a person, approach him against his will, he tries to get away but you get close enough not just to touch him but to pick him up! He must be terrified!

There are two ways you can go with him now - either you acknowledge that he has had a terrible start in life, that he is by no means a ready made pet, and accept that he will need months of patient, consistent love and very careful handling before he is willing to trust you OR you can choose to dominate him and scare him into submission.

Please be very patient with him. Whether you paid for him from a puppy mill or bought him from a pet store or collected him from a shelter he was in need of rescuing and you can be the one who reaps the rewards of this process. You can be the one who takes him from cowering, stressed dog to happy confident animal put it will be a very slow process.

Start by being as non threatening as possible - when you feed him his meals sit on the floor and hold his bowl in your hands. If he won't approach you then take a handful of food and, looking away from him, drop the food in his direction and wait for him to eat it then do the same again, dropping the food closer and closer to you as you go along so that eventually he is eating right beside you.

If he was my dog I would spend as much time as possible on the floor and encourage the rest of the family to do the same. Don't make eye contact, don't pressure him - think of him as a wild animal that you need to tame.

[lmstew66]

Thank you so much for your advice and encouragement. We have been doing all those things you mentioned. We have him eat next to us, I crawl on the floor to approach him, sometimes just to hold out my hand for him to sniff and then I back away. We try not to pick him up to much, only to get him in and out of the house to do his business. He will not come and go as he doesn't want to be close to us at all. He goes directly into his crate and does not move. The only way I can get him out is to go in the crate and get him to take him outside and when we come back in I have to carry him and then I put him down and he goes directly back into his crate. The door is open on the crate as well. He will not come out.

We purchased him from a pet store, but I figure he is probably from a puppy mill with not much handling.

Thank you again for the support. I really need it. I thought I would bring home a puppy who was bouncing off the walls after a couple days of adjusting, but we are past day four now and nothing has changed yet. We will stay patient and keep plugging along and hope for the best.

[Yogi]

Unfortunately pups taken away too soon which is common when they are going to pet stores, lose out on the socializing that is done from age approx 6 weeks to approx 11 to 12 weeks.
As a breeder, mine never go til the dam says they are ready which commonly is 11 to 12 weeks of age. At that time, they have spent socializing with their litter mates as well as being imprinted by the dam and socialized with me, they have no problems adjusting within a day to a new home and surroundings.
This pup obviously did not get the proper weaning so now the key is patience and time and this may mean a great deal of both. The pup will come around, but at its pace.
I have taken in puppymill breeders who had never been socialized and it took months for them to realize they could feel somewhat safe and secure with a human. It will be easier with a pup, but still require time.
The instruction in the prior post is the correct way to deal with this at this time and glad to see you are aware. This will make it easier with the pup. The more floor interacting the better. Good luck.