I have a 15 week old Maltese that I've had about 5 weeks. She's so cute but she has some behavior quirks that I've never seen. Right now I have 2 yorkies who are as stubborn as can be (they HATE going in crates) but my little Maltese takes the cake for that. First of all, she doesn't play. At first she would play with toys and her brothers but now when it's playtime she just sits there and stares. When her brothers try to play, she ignores it. She won't play with us either, at all. My second problem is that if we tell her no or leave her in her playpen alone to eat, she cowers away from us. She was never abused and other than telling her no for biting or scratching or squating to pee on the carpet, she hasn't been punished. For example, this morning at 8 she bit my 4 year old out of nowhere as she walked by the dogs playpen. I told her no right then and cared for my child. 10 minutes later I went back to check on the dog and she had this terrible look on her face and cowered in a corner. It's now 2pm and she runs everytime I go near her. Her breeder told me she's probably just dramatic. That would be okay if she didn't act like this everyday. Her routine everyday is crate, pee, sulk for an hour, repeat. How can I get her to play and not be so scared of us? I talk to her constantly happily and hold her and let her go outside to play where she also just sits down and does nothing. My other dogs now refuse to go near her and she's stressing everyone out.
Update:My daughter is scared of her so she doesn't go near her much, could that be it? And she is great in her crate, she sleeps through the night and everything. She goes in often during the day too. But I think she might be seeing how my older dogs get annoyed with it and maybe she thinks she should be too? Thanks for such nice answers!
Answers & Comments
You said you have a 4 year old.
Is it possible that something could have happened that you did not see the 4 year old do that could have traumatized the puppy?
Is this a new behavior? Or was she like this when you brought her home? If its a new behavior my guess you didn't see something the 4 year old did.
I recommend keeping the pup away from your child for a week or so. Just letting the pup get to know her siblings for a while. Then re-introducing the pup to your child and ALWAYS supervise.
Kids are harmless but sometimes they don't know what they are doing can be wrong. The bottom line is all animals can bite ... will they bite .. no one knows.
You don't want the pup growing up scared so you have to find out what is causing this behavior and try your best to fix it.
Sounds like you all have a tough little cookie.. First of all let me say that i believe your new little guy is feeding offof what he sees the others doing.. and thats the probelm often tims with bringin pups into environment when the older dogs are not fully trained or full adjusted to boundaries and/or regualtions.
Next it seems lik you have a dog that doesn't want to play and just wants to be around you,... so support that. don't push her away or discipline her for that. Take that time aside from the other dog sna dother distractions and begin training that dog. Sit, come, lay down stay, (in that order). this will help greatly. But dont stop there.. every time that dog sits there and stares at you its time to train.. be sure to use a worth while treat and to encourage em. Be sure that you keeo the pup on a leash to start off with because this will works to discourage the cowering with out putting your hands on the dog which could be couteractive withwhat you wantthe dog to do.
Finally,...be sure to understand that this is not anoption for the dog to go in their crate.. you may want to start while you are watching tv and every dog shouls have its own crate. out the dog in the crate with treats and toys and things that are favorible to them. start with a few to 30 minutes at a time and remember not to do anything really exciting or threatening around the crate as they lounge with youin fromt ofthe tv.. this would be a good start as you gradually incrse the time.
When my dogs dont feel well, they tend to stay alone by themselves and dont eat as much as they usually do.
I have 2 Maltese and 2 Yorkshire Terriers. When I show more care to one dog, a female Yorkshire Terrier always walks away unhappily and sits alone far away from me with her back facing me. Some dogs are more jealous than others.
You have to find out if she has medical problems or because of jealousy that triggered by your unconscious actions.
At this age EVERYTHING scares puppies. Its a very impressionable age... just be patient with her..she will come around.
if i was you i would take to professional trainer or return to breeder as she is not working out for you