My fearful goldendoodle, Brian!

[Vinod]

Hi all

First time poster here. In fact I just joined the site to post this question about my concern with my almost-5 month old goldendoodle. He is just the sweetest thing you will ever meet, extremely social with people and with kids all around my neighborhood. We got him when he was 8 weeks old from a really good breeder of labradoodles and goldendoodles in the northern virginia area. This is my family's first dog ever, it has been a learning experience and a really fun time with him for all of us over the last 3 months.

The problem I'm having with him is that (I feel) he seems to be a little too scared of many many things around him. This is just my feeling because I notice other dogs at puppy school who aren't as scared as him. I diligently crate-trained him and he was house broken really fast. He is a very loving dog and wants to be cuddled every day when i get back from work. But here are the things that concern me.

Right from Day 1, hes been an excited (or submissive?) piddler. He always piddles a little every time he meets someone new (or someone he hasn't seen in a couple of days). He also does this consistently when he meets other dogs (even slightly bigger than him) on our walks. For a long time (over 2 months) he never even entered a narrow hallway in our home that led to our garage, and he refused to enter the garage from the outside (driveway). That has gotten better off-late, but he's still a little cautious and looks into the garage as the door goes up, before deciding to follow me in. To this day however, he hasn't entered the den/study (which we usually keep closed because we don't use it much ourselves). But even when the door's open, he refuses to walk in. When walking along the sidewalk, he will cautiously avoid walking over the black manhole covers, and he will never get off the curb if its from right above the storm-water drain (I guess he's afraid of the big hole leading to nowhere!). He's afraid of any vehicle thats bigger than a SUV and will try to run back towards the house or in the other direction if he sees the mail van or ups truck or anything that size. He's afraid of running lawnmowers and will not go anywhere near even the other side of the street from where it's being used. Even when we go on long walks outside our immediate subdivision, he walks most of the time constantly sniffing the grass as if hes trying to scope out the area to make sure its safe for him to walk. If he had his way, he would just turn back towards the house. Never have seen him walking for a prolonged period of time with his head held up, looking around. He was really afraid for a long time to climb into the back seat of my car, but its gotten better now, but I still have to park on my driveway and get him out of the car, because if I drive into the garage and try to get him to climb out, he gets scared (cramped space and darker I guess?)! Oh, and he still doesn't know how to (or is scared to?) climb up the stairs in our house to come upstairs. Once I just carried him up after trying with treats for well over half an hour. He was ok after he was carried upstairs and just walked around everywhere exploring the area, but then again, refused to climb down, so after a long time trying to coax him to climb down with treats on every step, I just ended up carrying him down.

I may be just paranoid here, being overly concerned abt his fearful nature, but I don't know if dogs his age (5 months) are supposed to be this cautious with so many things? What can I do to help him get over his fear of so many things? Will targeted training with a professional trainer help with this? We went for a series of 6 puppy classes at a petco here, and I was able to teach him Sit, Down and some basic commands because of that. I don't want him to be an overly extroverted dog not afraid of absolutely anything, because its kind of good with his passive nature because we have a 2 year old son, and its been getting a lot better off-late to let them both loose with each other in the house, and not having to worry much about him jumping up on my son trying to play with him like he's another puppy (which used to happen a lot earlier).

Thanks for reading through all of this. Any advice will be appreciated!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I'm sorry you're going through this and I know what a challenge it must be. At nearly 5 months old, it seems a little late for the first puppy 'fear stage' (8-11 weeks) and a little early for the 2nd (6-14 months). All I can offer is to be patient with your doodle and give him a chance to 'check out' items and places that scare him. You can keep him on a leash and reassuringly tell him, "Let's check it out", while slowly approaching the thing he fears.You don't want to be overly reassuring, though, as you don't want to 'reward' him for being fearful. You'll want to go at his speed and not rush the process. As for noises like lawnmowers, I'd just walk a block or 2 away from them for the next few months, to slowing accustom/desensitize the puppy to the sound. Eventually, you may be able to walk across the street from one, but again, don't rush it. A sound socialization CD might be very helpful at this point. It certainly couldn't hurt. Do a google search for 'dog sound socialization CD'. It has all kinds of sounds on it like sirens, thunder, motorcycles, hand tools, lawn mowers, babies crying, dogs barking, etc.. The trick is to start off with the sound barely audible, and every day increase the volume just a tiny bit. Don't rush the process, go slow. As for big trucks, my Lucy hated them at that age too. We just stayed on neighborhood streets where there weren't so many big trucks, and gradually she got accustomed to all traffic noises (she's still reactive around the loud Harley motorcycle 'purr', though, at 4yrs old!). Good luck, and I hope others can offer more.

[Vinod]

Thank you! I've been doing the "let's check it out" thing with him as much as possible. I just feel really bad/sorry for him when I can see how afraid he gets when he digs his heels into the ground, pulling back on the leash refusing to go ahead and towards the thing he's afraid of. I guess its going to be a slow process with him. I will keep at it! Thanks again!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

It may be he's feeding off of your feeling 'really bad/sorry for him'. You want to have an assertive, confident demeanor when he's fearful. He wants to know you're in charge and in control of the situation. But as I said, you also want to go at his pace and not rush him when checking things out. I realize there's a fine line between being confident and reassuring and going too fast for him. The key is patience and confidence (on your part).

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

maybe you can give him treats every time he walks through that narrow hallway, praise, and get him comfortable.  I think it will take time but whatever he is afraid of I believe that he can eventually over come this with some patience and yummy treats :)  good luck

[Vinod]

Thank you... I have been trying treats quite a bit and I guess I will keep continuing the treat method. My trainer at petco also pointed out that I try not to coddle him or give in all the time when he shows signs of being afraid. That approach has also helped with walking him down the hallway and into the garage which he now does without too much hesitation. I guess its a work in progress. Thanks again.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Do a DK search--search this site for discussions about fearful doodles and also  join the group "Doodle Anxiety, Fear and Mental Health Issues" just click on the tab for Groups at the top of the page and then search for the group. There are lots of training techniques you can use and you should really get started right now. I definitely think a trainer is a good idea--they can teach you about the tricks to use and also point out any errors you are making before those errors cause even bigger problems....sometimes fearful doodles can become aggressive as they get older and are more likely to defend themselves when they are in what they perceive as a dangerous situation, so getting a handle on this now would be good.

He will probably always be less outgoing than other doodles, but there is a lot you can do to help him get past his fears...one of the things that we all do when our doodles are afraid (as Debb said already) is soothe them with petting and calming talk--but that is a BAD idea--they pick up pour emotions and feel that being afraid must be justified--rather than that, the owner must stand up straight and proceed with confidence, telling the dog "let's go!" in a happy, cheerful voice without any sign of concern--not easy to do when you dog is upset and putting on the brakes, but necessary, since his confidence will come from you. If you choose fairly easy situations to get him thru with your new confident approach and then slowly increase the stress levels--you might see an improvement--but really, you should get a trainer to help right away.

[Vinod]

Thank you for your recommendations! I will definitely check out that group and get started with a trainer as well who can target these issues and help me work on them with Brian.

[Adina P]

Obedience training helps ANY dog.  Ones with fear issues or behavioral problems, even more so.  I would find a good, experienced dog trainer and attend either classes or have individual sessions.  A trainer who has worked with and helped other dogs who are on the timid/fearful side.   Obedience, done well, can give confidence to a dog.  It won't turn your dog into a social butterfly or make him into what he's not.  But it may take the edge off and give him the trust that when he follows your direction, he'll be just fine and doesn't have to worry.

[Vinod]

I think you hit the nail on its head with the last line of your reply. Thanks!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

In addition to training classes, I kept exposing him to new things a little at a time.  He was not particularly fearful but was definitely cautious/uncomfortable with some things. On thing was entering a doorway when we were standing by it (probably had a door shut on him at the breeder's) and another was shadows looming over him.  Over time we made sure to expose him to all the things that might happen at our local park (crowds, soccer and baseball games, children, equipment, bicycles, skateboards, basketball, dogs, stairs).  Sometimes we just went and sat on a bench so he could watch.  We went into pet stores and walked in front of grocery stores.  We went to schools when children were being dismissed and parked so that he could watch the kids walk by.  We went for walks in traffic areas. We walked across railroad tracks, grates, and manhole covers. We rode elevators and walked in different environments.  We did this over many months. When we became grandparents and noticed that crying babies made our dogs nervous, we put the baby in a corral and let them sniff and hear and watch. I know that Ned was not naturally fearful, but he has two litter mates who are so I think that our early and gentle exposures might have been crucial in his development.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Our Vern is a scaredy cat about many things. Here is just one of the many blogs I have written about what scares our Vern.

http://www.doodlekisses.com/profiles/blogs/vern-and-the-man-in-the-...

I think the worst thing you can do is coddle them or say, "it is ok," or something like that. When Vern gets afraid I try to talk to him in an upbeat voice and act confident and positive, so he gets the feeling that there is nothing to worry about at all. Sometimes, I will say, "let's take a look," and move closer to whatever seems to be scaring him. He has made great strides and our other dog, Fudge, helps a lot. He watches her a lot to see if she is ok with something and if she is, he is. I don't, however, ever force him to do something he is uncomfortable with and try to approach it with a fun, sing songy voice, so he thinks something great is about to happen. I think a dog feeds off of our feelings and if you are acting like you feel sorry for him, he may like that attention and assume if you are worried, he has good reason to be worried, too. Some dogs are just not as brave as others, but training will help. Good luck!

[Vinod]

Just wanted to report back on a small success.... After posting this last Friday, and receiving a lot of encouraging responses on the same day, I went back home with a renewed enthusiasm to somehow get Brian to overcome his fear of climbing up and down the stairs in my house, and after about 45 minutes of trying and coaxing and encouraging and reinforcing and after carrying him up and down once, he finally overcame his fear of the stairs and is now happily going up and down the stairs like its a new fun thing to do! I am happy and also hopeful that he will overcome all his other fears over time with some training and encouragement. Thanks everyone!