Ah, OK. That's a little better than I had pictured. ;-)
Cisco cringes and piddles as soon as he even *thinks* he might get scolded. :-\ It's frustrating, because he's obviously a very smart (if spastic) dog, but there's a limit to how much I can teach him because as soon as I start giving orders, he rolls over and won't move. No amount of either coaxing or scolding seems to make a difference. I have no idea if he's always been this way or if he was treated badly when he was little. Considering some of his oddities (he's realllly nervous on hard flooring, and also when he has anything in his mouth, even if it's a toy I've clearly given him), he may well have had someone who was too hard on him in certain circumstances.
It is annoying because it does not mean he stops doing things bad. I mean I get mad at him for getting in the trash and it’s cower cower cower. Then I turn away and *bam* the nose is back in the trash. Stupid dog.
The nice thing about having got our dogs so young is that they don’t seem to have been mistreated before we got them. Whoever dumped their litter at the shelter waited til they were weaned, they were healthy, and he took ‘em to the right spot. It would be a lot harder with a dog with a past like yours.
Or maybe he’s just stupid. Ours can be just stupid sometimes.