Timid or Outgoing Puppy
In every litter, there will be a mix of personalities among the puppies. Naturally some will tend to be on the timid side, some will be outgoing and others will be somewhere in the middle. A timid puppy is one who has stayed back out of the way while with its litter mates, or has maybe even picked on by its litter mates. If your puppy is on the timid side, it’s important to let him progress at a rate he’s comfortable with. New smells and sounds of your house will be strange to him, but after a while he will open up and will begin to take steps to wander around and explore a little.
Don’t force him to do anything. Sometimes, even eye contact or standing with your body facing him may be confrontational. So a sideways posture and a look away from him may help to give him confidence. Once he begins to warm up to you simply go with that, rewarding him with each new task he completes. It could be something as tiny as moving toward you. If that happens reward the puppy by tossing the puppy a piece of kibble. As he becomes more comfortable with you rewards right from your hand will be the next step. After a day or so of him getting comfortable and realizing that he is safe, you can begin with a leash and formal training.
Now an outgoing puppy will be the opposite. This puppy is use to making all its own decisions while with her pack. When training this puppy it is important to be in control and not let the puppy make you do anything. An example would be that if you were going to heel the puppy. With the puppy at your side you give the command heel and begin walking. You take a step and notice that she hasn’t moved. So now to assert your dominance, you must be sure to not move back to the puppy’s location. Moving back means the puppy is training you. Rather wait where you are and coax the puppy to come up to you. You can do this by either encouraging her or using some food to entice her. Once she comes for you reward that progress straight away.
Another tip for training an outgoing dog is to do so after they have had their exercise but before feeding. So take her for her walk, once some of her energy is burned off then initiate your training session. An outgoing dog will have more energy for play time than the average puppy will have.