What is going on?

[s a r a h&h a r p e r]

Harper is just a little over 4 months now, and is cute as can be. However, her potty breaks are starting to drive us crazy! Every time she needs to go out (and keep in mind that we live in the city and have to take her on a leash) she turns into a completely different puppy. She will jump at every movement-cars, wind, leaves, doors....growl and bark at people (with a wagging tail), yelp and run from shadows, and walk very timidly. We both have to constantly and gently coax her to "go potty", however she often will not focus enough to go, which leads to her having to go outside every 20 minutes or so. She also has started this thing where she'll bury her nose into the grass or dirt, while still standing...she only does it for a second or so, but she does it 8-10 times, every time we go out.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, she LOVED being outside, and would run out, do her business, and run right back, without a care in the world. She wouldn't pay any attention to the wind, or cars...and wasn't timid around anything or anyone. Neither of us can recall anything ever happening that would have scared her either...it's just the strangest thing! It's almost like when autumn came, Harper's confidence left. What is going on? Has this happened with anyone else?

[Libby & Bentley]

Is she teething? The vet told me awhile back that around teething time the whole going potty issue gets a bit complicated and they seem to revert...but then after it passes, they are usually back to where they are at.
Biggest thing I would do is praise appropriate behaviors. Make it into a training session

[s a r a h&h a r p e r]

That is a great theory...I'm really not sure if she's teething? She hasn't really lost any of her baby teeth yet. I do definitely need to work on the praising though...it was so easy when she was a tiny puppy. I always seem to forget now! Guess it's back to the treats again! :)

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Our Hunter is now 8 months old and at first when we would walk her up and down our road she did great! Social with neighbors, would go potty, wouldn't cower if a car came (its not a busy road though but there is some traffic). Then about 4-5 months she HATED to go for a walk - she would lay down on the side of the road like she was scared, if a car came by she would try to go up into a yard, if a neighbor came near her she would hide behind us and growl - with her tail wagging! It lasted about 2 weeks and then one day she was over it. I wondered if it was like a shy toddler sort of figuring out there were things going on around them - not so oblivious and their senses start kicking in. Now Hunter still stands with her nose in the dirt or grass for about 10 seconds or so and then moves on - its kind of funny to watch :-) GOOD LUCK!

[s a r a h&h a r p e r]

Wow, thanks guys! I was really worried that this was going to last forever! The whole "awkward toddler phase" totally makes sense. We will definitely start praising her and giving her more treats after potty breaks.

In terms of socializing, we go to the dog park at least 3 days a week. She always does really well, and loves playing with all dogs, big or small. Maybe we will try the doggy daycare though?

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

I am a big fan of daycare. It gets expensive here, so we only do it 1x per week, but have been doing it since 4 months. Peri has not hit a fear stage - maybe this has helped.