Raising the submissive dog.

I'd like to work toward having Zoe as a therapy dog. Visiting children and the elderly. She is slightly submissive so I want to take her personality in to consideration as she is shaped in to an adult dog. And of course I don't want to push her to do something that she is not suited for. But, I was still wondering if anyone has good reading material (book or website) about raising submissive dogs to be confident adults.


Thank you!

"Click to Calm" and/or "Control Unleashed" I think would both be good. They're more about reactive dogs, which basically is an underconfident dog that's pushed too far, so I think you will find useful tips in the books.

I also like "When Pigs Fly," it's about how to train "difficult" dogs, but if I remember correctly it does have some useful info about underconfident dogs.

Pure clicker training - using shaping and capturing to teach behaviors, rather than luring/prompting/corrections/etc. - is a great way to build confidence. Karen Pryor's website would be a great place to learn more about those methods, and there are probably some articles about underconfident dogs as well.

Good luck!

The Cautious Canine

Thank you.... I've been trying all day to figure out what book I was thinking of that would be perfect in this situation, and that's it! I haven't read it but I've heard a lot of good things about it.

Thanks! I went to Borders and didn't find any of the in stock. So I am going to order one or two online.

Help for Your Shy Dog by Deborah Woods might be useful to you. It's been several years since I've read it and honestly I don't remember what's in it.