Too much submission?

[Annette Hodges]

<FONT COLOR="Orange">Hi - we have a Dachshund/Black Lab mix, Aggie, who is around 10 months old. I am just wondering if her tendency to be submissive to most, if not all, dogs is a doxie trait. We have an older dog, a 9-year-old Cairn Terrier, who established that she is "top dog" as soon as Aggie came home (last April). No major problems between them, really. I think it's good that Aggie is submissive to Holly.
I was just wondering about other dogs. Last month, we went to a blessing of the pets at our local church. Of course, several dogs attended. Aggie was so nervous that she put her tail between her legs and backed away from a Golden Retriever and all the other dogs, although none acted aggressively towards her.
Today my son and I went on a walk with Aggie. Someone two streets down in our subdivision allowed a large dog, who most resembled a Doberman Pinscher, to run free. Aggie showed no sign of defense when the dog ran up to us (thank goodness it was a friendly dog). In fact, if it weren't for her leash, she probably would have run for her life.
I thought I had read that Dachshunds are good watch dogs, and Aggie is good in her home turf for sounding the alarm when she hears or smells something amiss.
Do they normally stand their ground when they see larger dogs, or like Aggie, look for an escape route?
Could she act this way because she is still a puppy (10 months old)? Maybe it's the Black Lab temperament in her, I don't know much about the breed's personality.
Aggie was rescued from the streets and fostered by a family (through local humane society) before we adopted her, so I don't know if she's more Dachshund or Lab. She has the long body of a Doxie, but longer legs and certainly the fine, short black coat of the Black Lab.
She is very loving (husband swears I'm her favorite, she does follow me around a lot) and is very gentle with my 2-year-old son. She loves to cuddle, but also loves to run, fetch and play tug-of-war (sometimes she INSISTS that we play fetch or tug-of-war).
Other than wondering if she's a real "scaredy-cat", she's a great little dog.

Thanks for any advice.

Annette</FONT c>

[Oscar's Mom]

Hi Annette - I think doxies tend to be on the dominate side. My 15lb Ocsar will stand up to any size dog, I swear he thinks he's a big dog. Sounds like you need to work on Aggie's self confidence, not that you want her to challenge Holly but just to confident around other dogs. You can take her obedience classes, even if she already knows the commands it will be good for her. You can also take her pet stores that allow pets in just to meet other dogs.

[LisaH]

Annette:

I, too, am the owner (I should say ownee) of a scaredy-cat dachshund. It's genetic in her case--we met her when she was 6 weeks old and you could tell then. In fact, if she hadn't been the only female on offer I probably wouldn't have taken her. Her mother was tremendously sociable, and so was her brother; Annie was just different.

I worked very hard when she was a pup to introduce her to lots of people and dogs. She's now 3, and I probably am remiss in not continuing to work with her more. She's extremely frightened of other dogs, but we have friends with a huge black lab that Annie has had to learn to co-exist with because we visit back and forth. Annie still moves very slowly and carefully around the other dog (who's really very nice to her) but I'm happy she's not yelping with fear!

The long and short of it is, you need to work with your dachsie to introduce her to other people and dogs, but also accept that she is who she is and you may never get her to be really brave. LIke your pup, our Annie is EXTREMELY affectionate, which more than makes up for it!

[Penny's Aunt]

What might also help is if you could find her a special friend, maybe a young dog, about her size, that is friendly, & isn't overly aggressive. Put them together somewhere that they can play. Just put them both LOOSE (not held or leashed) in the yard, & let them introduce themselves at their own speed. Dogs only have 2 defense mechanisms: run or act aggressively (flight or fight). If they are both loose, they both have the option of running away. Of course, there should be TWO people there just in case, & you shouldn't let them play unsupervised until you know how they act. Once she has a good play experience with a nice dog, it may change her mind about other dogs in general.

Also, dogs go through several shy stages in their lives, up to two years or so.

[Heather]

You have described my Beanie almost as I would. He also is shy, runs from other dogs, and is the sweetest pupper I have ever had. I have taken him to obedience training and that has made a big difference. Even though he has graduated, I continue to use the click/treat theory to shape his behavior. When he even sniffs another dog, I click and treat. When he doesn't freak out, I click and treat.

Definitely try to socialize him as much as possible, and make sure people pet him from the chest. I believe it was Penny's Aunt who suggested this and it has helped me. If anyone other thany myself or hubby tries to pet him from the top of the head, he crouches and pees.

It just takes a ton of time and patience. You may want to read some of the other posts in thsi category, they have some great advice.

Good Luck, and keep us posted.

Heather