Nature vs. Nurture--the Genetics Diagnosis

Lots of people with shy dogs can attribute their dogs' behavior issues to abuse or fairly severe lack of socialization--for example, dog that have spent most of their young lives kenneled and have had very little human contact can develop "shyness." Even people that have lots of experience with dogs will comment that Stella must have been abused as a pup.

Knowing Stella's history, I can say with certainty that abuse is not the cause of her anxiety. She was raised by a very loving breeder in a litter of four. It was the only litter that the breeder had, and she doted on the parents and the pups. The pups were raised indoors. They were handled extensively and were used to the noises that accompany living with people. Stella was, in fact, the brave one in her litter! I can see this in her personality now. She chases terriers, swims with the big dogs, tears through the woods, and loves people. She has a strong personality! Many people that know Stella have never seen her shy behavior, because it's not the defining feature of her temperament. When they do see her shyness, the comment is always "she's like a different dog."

While Dr. Dodman described Stella's behavior as "atypical" in that she is not always fearful and can exhibit confidence, he did not think that anything about my training would have caused her fear. He feels that if anything, the training may have helped her manage her fear. And when I gave Stella's early history to Dr. Dodman, he said that she was raised in ideal conditions. He was interested in the fact that she exhibited noise shyness within a few weeks of coming to Maine. I had always wondered whether the switch from a suburban to a city environment might have accounted to her fear, because neither Stella's parents nor her siblings seem noise shy.

Dr. Dodman explained that it could be very complicated to identify the cause of noise phobia, but that she seemed predisposed to develop it, and that noise phobias often progressed to separation anxiety, or "globalized anxiety disorder," which is how he characterizes Stella's condition.

Globalized anxiety disorder means that Stella has fear of inanimate objects (the toaster, the fireplace), animate objects (toddlers), and situations (indoor training environments, mom leaving). She covers all of the bases! There is a good link to the development of phobias in the Shih Tzu on the American Shih Tzu Club web site. The only section that I do not like, and I will discuss this later, is the passage that discusses "reinforcing fear." After much research into the subject, I find myself in agreement with those who argue that if a dog is exhibiting a degree of anxiety that prevents her from taking food and/or responding to simple, familiar commands (such as "sit"), she will not respond to reassurance for better or worse. With that caveat, please visit the link in the bar to the left!