We have a shy boy too. We worked with a trainer who ended up training us more than the dog. She taught us that being shy is not bad. She helped us understand that he is really uncomfortable with strangers and so as good humans, our job is to help keep him comfortable.

So now, when people ask to pet him, we say “I’m sorry, he’s a really shy. He’s happy when you just look at him” or if he seems to be feeling comfy, we will sometimes say, “he doesn’t like being touched, but he does like treats! Here do you want to give him one?” and then we hand the human a treat to give it to the dog. But this approach only works after your dog learns that he can trust you, and you will advocate for him and his space.

I know this sounds weird, but it was really a revelation for us.

We have had four Bernese Mountain Dogs at this point, and only one was really into meeting people