'fraidy dog?

[marmstr]

Artemis seems to be going through a 'nervous' stage. She was not nervous as a young puppy (in fact the shake can has never made any impact on her other than a 'hey what's that?' look. We've socialized her and had her in a bunch of different environments since we got her at 11 weeks. She's been in puppy class and just started intermediate obedience training. She walks pretty well at heel on a leash and is getting better about pulling toward other dogs and birds/squirrels.

In the last few weeks she's suddenly started acting like she's afraid of things outside. Roofers on the back of a neighbor's house totally freaked her out on a walk one day. Cars that never used to startle her now cause her to try to pull away when they pass us on a walk. Today the neighbor's heat pump came on as she and DH walked by and he says she literally 'went airborne' on the end of the leash as she tried to jump away from it...

The only thing that's happened that we can think of is that most of this seems to have come about since she was boarded for a few days at the end of July 4 week (3 nights). The kennel was highly recommended, clean, didn't smell bad and wasn't crowded. They had large runs that were in and outside with every two runs separated by a visual barrier so that dogs can only see one other dog at a time. DH and his family ran a kennel for many years and it met all his criteria for a good kennel. They had a large outside play area for group play and took the dogs out 3-4 times/day for free play time with other dogs. She seemed happy to see us when we picked her up and she was healthy except for a little diarrhea on the first day (probably due to treats, all my dogs get diarrhea from cheap treats, I forgot to tell them no treats or send our treats!)

Our best guess is that either a storm or noise from another dog or car pulling into the kennel property startled her....nothing has happened at home to scare her.

So what do we do? How do we desensitize her to noises? She needs to be able to walk through our neighborhood without freaking out and doing harm to herself or us....

[Spike's Mom]

My first thought is that she is just becoming more aware and trying to find out where sounds are coming from. Just stay calm and I tell Spike what the sounds are: motorcycle, people working, etc. He seems to be ok with that LOL Does NOT like wood chippers tho and will want to go back inside. Now his big thing is I'll think he's in a dead sleep and he'll hear a noise and start barking like a madman. My heart skips a beat each time. Does she bark at sounds yet?

[SharonaZamboni]

I've heard that puppies will go through a fear stage around adolescence. Maybe that's it. I'd just act like usual, and not reassure when she acts fearful of noises. Maybe someone else can be more helpful. So far, so good here with Bean. Also, my previous dog actually loved to lie outside under the eave during thunderstorms.

[marmstr]

Nancy, she rarely barks at anything...occasionally she'll growl at one of her toys when she's playing by herself with it. Otherwise she's actually really very mellow inside, it's only outside that is a problem.

We try to remain calm but I'm guessing that DH has more trouble with that than I do b/c he's sensitive about how our last dog was scared of him (mostly all men). She was a rescue and had probably been abused. He doesn't want this dog to be afraid of things...but he can't seem to control her on walks she freaks out a lot more with him than with me. I think she may pick up on his stressing over it and that makes it worse

[Diesel_Dawg]

I would guess she is in her 2nd fear stage, which can run from about the 6th month to the 14th month. Just act as if nothing is happening, do not coddle her or she will never get over it. If you reassure her you are telling her it's okay to be afraid.

[BigBrownDog]

Fear stage. You should continue to socialize her and do a lot of rewarding (treats/praise) for calm behavior. Don't make the mistake of trying to force her to confront the things she is demonstrating fear of. Just continue your routine with her.

I would also work on a "watch me" command when she is walking so that her focus is on you and not on her surroundings. High value treats (freeze dried liver, tiny bits of hot dogs, cheese) will help to keep her attention.