'Head-shy' means...

An animal shies away when you reach your hands near its head or face for any reason (sometimes called "hand-shy" but this is specific to the head area, rather than being "touch-shy" anywhere all over the body) -- Head-shyness can result when an animal has been repeatedly punished by striking it in the face or upside the head, but it can also be a simple dominance reaction that isn't due to nerves at all (i.e., "nobody is allowed to one-up an alpha dog by reaching or placing a hand/paw/chin over, above OR on top of its head, neck, or back ... We may see this dominance reaction in breeds like the Akita, where they are NOT afraid of someone's hand, but they just don't want to be "dissed" or "moted" in terms of canine body-language <:-)