shy dogs hereditary????

[chopperdog]

I'd like to hear folks opinion on dogs being shy. Hereditary or not??? And I dont mean dogs that have been mistreated just naturally man shy...

[Emily]

Its just personality. I don't think its necessarily hereditary--a shy dog will have a brave pup and vice versa. Some dogs are just more "sensitive", just like some people are. Treatment has something to do with it, but not everything.

[1whitedog]

i think it is alot hereditary, i have a line of hounds that defiently display this trait and has for generations. it shows more on some out crosses than others. I do believe the best way to cure this is keep your young pups some place were they are handled on a regular basis by kids. the perfect level of shyness for me is a dog that lets me and my best couple hunting budies he is most familiar with pick them up. Today there is to many "animal lovers" out there that would love to take your dog to a better place like a town house.

[powderhorn]

I'd like to hear folks opinion on dogs being shy. Hereditary or not??? And I dont mean dogs that have been mistreated just naturally man shy...

I think you answered it yourself with the

just naturally man shy

in your post. "Naturally shy" is a trait that can be passed on. To what extent it adversly effects the dog really depends.. I've had people say a dog is too shy when it is just leary of new people or not as high-strung.. But absolutely, it is a trait that should be monitored and kept out of a breeding program if the dog is bad enough and just plain too timid to train or hunt with.

[Dan Edwards]

I have a gyp that is not shy really but she is somewhat hesitant at times. I dont like it but she has a special talent that I cant afford to lose so I bred her to a descent male dog that I have. I'm sure she will have a shy pup, maybe two but the whole litter wont be crazy. It is hereditary though for sure. The humane society type folks will always claim a dog has been abused but we all know better than that. Maybe in some cases it could be true but facts are there are just alot of em born that way.

I had a couple young gyps though awhile back that were absolute coyotes. I just cant see myself ever even tryin with that kind ever again.

[dwalton]

Yes it is hereditary. But a lot of dogs that are shy are man made. If you take a dog that is not handled or handled rough as a pup you can make it shy. I have a gyp that almost no one can catch but me, she is a top dog other than that. I have raised three litters out of her none show any shyness. I would not breed her to a male that was not out going. She throws outstanding pups, a waiting list for her pups. I would not line breed her or breed her back to a running dog. With running dogs years ago that was a trait that was bred for so no one else could catch them. They would come home on there own when lost or ran out. She is over 1/2 running dog already. Dewey

[OregonHoundHunter]

I would have to agree that it is hereditary.. I think you will always have some exceptions, but for the most part, I believe its hereditary.

[Catch]

Hell no it is not hereditary, not in my kennel anyway. Shy dogs are sent back to the original owner and never breed! There for I never get a shy dog from a shy parent.

[Dan Edwards]

Hell no it is not hereditary, not in my kennel anyway. Shy dogs are sent back to the original owner and never breed! There for I never get a shy dog from a shy parent.

This fella right here would make a good poster boy for a prophylactic.

[dwalton]

I can see where some people my not be able to work with a shy dog. A good trainer gets the best from every dog. That does not make it a breeder. I have seen some top game catching dogs that were just shy. Dewey

[heat1]

I will have to disagree....although some shyness in dogs is man made, some is hereditary. My partners and I have it in a few of our dogs and it can be traced back to a single gyp. Remember all dogs were at one time wild and have been domesticated. It is in there and will come out occasionally. If i see it in a pup of mine I go overboard with socialization and handling at an early age. You can almost allways overcome it to some extent if you work hard. Now if someone else had this pup and did not go to extreme measures would this be his error? I have seen pups that were never touched until 4 months and they would still lick all over you. So I say yes, some shyness can be hereditary but other can be man made by being rough handed or so forth.

[bearcat]

Yes it's most definitly hereditary, it is very common in my strain of dogs and in several strains of running dogs. I kind off prefer a dog that strangers can't pick up. Probably half of the pups I raise are stranger shy, not shy to the person that raised them, but shy around any strangers, most all of mine get over this at a couple years old, but some dogs never do. I have had a couple young dogs that were so stranger shy that if there were strangers around I would have to have them walk off a little ways so that the dog would come to me, this is getting a little to shy for me. I have one dog out here that is 3 yrs old now and as friendly a dog to anybody as you have seen. But when she was young she was very stranger shy, and a friend of mine caught her one day, (pulled up by her in my truck and jumped out and grabbed her before she realized it wasn't me) From then until she was close to 1 1/2 to 2 years old she was terrified of him, if I went hunting with him and we treed something, If he went in to the tree first she would leave when he showed up and go hide in the brush until I got there.