How can I teach my new Puppy not to be terrified of other people?

We have a new rescue puppy. He is about 9 months old. He was found in the woods and other than my husband and myself he is completely terrified of other people. If he is on his leash and someone comes even within eyeshot he will almost break his neck to get away. I have tried having people over for him to get used to, but he runs and hides.

We took in a dog a few years ago that was obviously abused by its previous owners.He acted the same way, he was very very skittish and scared of people, especially if he didn't know them.Over time, he'll build some trust with you and your family. The more time you spend with him, the faster he'll warm up to you, however, its likely that he'll always be nervous around unknown people.

Slowly introduce him to new people. Make sure you are holding him in your arms so that he feels more secure when you introduce him. Give the visitors treats to give him. But, do NOT put him in anyone's lap. Make certain that such visits last no longer than 5 minutes. It takes a long time to rebuild that trust.

let the puppy play with little kids. pets feel that they can relate. expecally if the kid is smaller than the puppy. lock them in a room where the puppy can not hide. let them fight it out. lol!

Just an idea…Some of the dogs we transferred in also had never been properly socialized and were very skittish around people. We sent them to foster homes who had other dogs to be rehabilitated. The scared dogs tended to model their behavior after the foster family’s dog, which helped them come out of their shell faster and see that people were ok. Perhaps you could find a friend or two with good natured dogs (to be his role models) to come around for a play date or walks, which could slowly help your dog get used to other people. The other important thing our foster homes did was NEVER coddle the dog when it was acting like this, because it rewards the behavior. It would probably be a good idea to talk to a behaviorist to see what else you could try if this doesn’t improve soon.

My Europeon Rottweiler was the same when we recieved her from a family friend (He rescued her from an abusive family) My recommendation: Patience.Don't throw her in front of people all the time. Let her warm up to you and all your surroundings til she's perfectly comfortable walking around. She needs to become 100% confident that you and the people around her are not out to hurt her. Once she has learned all this she will learn that you are her family and (in my experiance) become a wonderful protective dog.

Rescue puppies/dogs are often skittish around people because they have been abused in the past.Bringing people over to the house is a good idea (not alot at one time though). The puppy will feel more comfortable this way because he is in his own domain. Have them feed him treats and pet him, but not so much that he freaks out. Try to get him used to a few close friends or relatives first.Once he seems accepting of these people, you could try taking him to a dog park or a pet store that allows dogs inside. How is he with other dogs? It's always good to get your dog socialized, whether it's with people or other dogs. However, as previously mentioned, this wouldn't be a good idea just yet if he's still overly skittish.It takes time and patience but eventually your puppy should warm up to people (although he may never be fully accepting). The more socialized he is, the better chance you have of changing his attitude towards people. But doing it all at once can be confusing and frightening to a puppy, so take it slow!

have a friend over and hold the puppy in your arms so he can't squrim away. them let your friend come in for only 1 min. let her/him pet the puppy or give it a treat. do this for a long period of time increasing the amount of min as you go. if this doesn't work look at the other suggestions.