New Fears??

[Karen P]

I have read through some of the posts regarding fear phases of puppies.  Chewie is 9 months old and is now starting to show fear of new things.  Whenever we go outside after dark to go potty he is barking and growling at what appears to be nothing??  I have been telling him to stop and that it is OK.  But he does not respond.  Now he is going crazy when he hears fireworks outside too.  I am not sure if I am doing the right thing but telling him to stop barking?  He has never been afraid of anything before, so this is all new.  Is this something that he is going to outgrow and the less attention I give the behavior the better?  I do not want to make things worse but reacting incorrectly. Thanks for any input!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Our Lucy went into a fear phase at 8 months and I'm still waiting on her to come out of it. I have been told that you should not baby them them they are fearful or acknowledge that something might be scary. If it is something they can physically touch that they are afraid I use a "touch it" command and touch it myself to show them it is ok. However, if it is something like Thunder or Fireworks or something like that it is a little more difficult. We are just trying to keep exposing them to those sorts of things without making a big deal out of it.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri went through the stage, it was minor though. We either completely ignored the behavior or said "it's okay". It just depended on the reaction we got. If she kept doing the behavior after hearing "its okay", we simply ignored it and went about talking, etc....I don't even think it lasted a month or two. Good luck!

[Joyce & Wilson]

Last year was Wilsons first 4th of July..he sat in my lap while fireworks were being set off about 20 ft in front on the beach. He was calm and loved watching them..(I loved his little face..felt like when my daughter first saw fireworks!!) This year he is 50 lbs. heavier..so am going to opt for the blanket LOL. We also have gone to a couple parades with firing guns, sirens, marching bands, clowns, and even bagpipes. He loved it..! I sat at his level first on a blanket..and when he could see everything was going to be OK..I sat in a chair. Oh..at the first parade there were a couple sr. citizen ladies who made it obvious that they were not dog lovers..by the end of the parade..they were all petting Wilson and praising him : ) Just showing no fear and remaining calm is what I think they pick up on from us. Hope this helps.. Good luck

[Robyn, Greg and Snickers]

We find Snickers expressing fear at the strangest things. Most recently we were husking corn for dinner and putting the remnants on the side and he slowly creeped away from the counter and his tail went down! He stayed away until I picked up a husk and brought it over for him to sniff and slowly the fear went away and he was better though he never got close to the counter until they were in the garbage. We find that the more we allow him to investigate the less fear he demonstrates. But when I want to keep him from countersurfing I may start husking corn!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Yesterday morning after taking a shower I tossed all the towels in the bathroom on the bathroom floor to take to the washer as soon as I dressed. All of a sudden Sophie noticed the pile of towels and charged them barking like she was going to defend me from whatever they were. Both of my girls notice and bark at anything strange that is out of place. Put something new in the back yard and they will notice etc.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's very common. Jack will give a wide berth to anything new outdoors...a big rock at the corner of someone's driveway, a piece of furniture set out at someone's curb for the garbage man...anything that wasn't there before. Lot's of dogs are that way about new objects indoors, too.
When I first got him (at 14 months) he was afraid of everything outdoors...birds, trash cans, someone's garage door opening, you get the idea. My behaviorist told me not to say "It's okay", but rather to say "Good boy!" in a very upbeat tone of voice. It worked, too. Apparently, when we try to reassure them with "It's okay", our voices may give the impression that there is indeed something to be afraid of.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Guinness seems to be pretty fearless, although he will sometimes bark at strangers or strange dogs outside, especially after dark. Murph has some really bizarre fears that seem to change all the time. His newest thing is that he's afraid when anyone is singing. We had a little birthday party for DH over the weekend, and when the kids sang Happy Birthday, Murph was scared to death. None of us are great singers...but we're really not THAT bad. I do tell Guinness "no barking" when it's inappropriate, and he'll usually stop pretty quickly, especially if I'm able to move his focus to me. With Murphy's "quirks" I just try to divert his attention quickly to something else, and I stay as upbeat as I can.

[Frannie & Callie]

Callie is scared of one my neighbors, but only at night. When we see him during the day, she's all lovey towards him, giving him kisses and trying to hug him, but if we see him and it's dark outside she won't go near him and will back away and hide behind me (my protector!). He has a veryyyy deep voice and I wonder if reminds her of thunder (which she also isn't a big fan of). I need to get better about not patting her and saying "it's okay" with the thunder. It's just so hard because she's scared and wants comfort!

[Joyce & Wilson]

And sometimes its really hard to say "Good girl" in a nice upbeat voice at 3 a.m.!! LOL

[Frannie & Callie]

EXACTLY!!! When it's the middle of the night and she's laying completely on top of me, frantically licking my face because it's thundering, I'm not really in "good training mode"!!

[Camilla and Darwin]

A couple months ago Darwin started looking behind himself constantly and being jumpy when we went out to go potty at night. Around the same time, he also started acting nervous when we went out in strong winds. ( He was around 8-9 months) We tried to take him out both at night and in the wind as much as possible and do some training with high level treats. Just asking him to sit, down stay, etc. in a calm voice. After a few weeks of that, he seemed to be over it. He hasn't acted paranoid or nervous about either one for a while now. I guess sometimes they just need to be shown that everything is okay!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Exposure worked wonders with Jackdoodle. In our neighborhood, people really put on a show for Halloween with the lawn decorations...sights and sounds that even scare me sometimes. The first year, Jack had a terrible time with them...he practically crawled down the street, and sometimes would refuse to walk past certain yards.
You should see him now; ten foot tall talking zombies barely phase him. He knows they won't hurt him now!
It definitely does help to let them see these things in daylight, too.