I have a 6 month old female lab. From day 1 she's been super calm, super sweet and very loving. She's totally potty trained, goes to work with me daily and loves people. Lately though she's been acting terrified of my employees even though she's never been alone with any of them. They all come in to see and pet her at some point in their day and she will now tuck her tail and try to crawl under my legs to get away. Then other days she's perfectly fine. Same with picking up my son, she's always gone with me to the school and licks all children who pet her. Now though she crouches down, shakes and she actually peed on the steps yesterday. This is so uncharacteristic of her. She's healthy, socialized and happy and never acts this way at home. .. what's going on? ? She's never alone with someone outside our family so she's not been abused.
Hello and welcome . I would always check with the Vet when any change of behaviour arises , especially in one so young . Its a possibility that hormones are playing a part , as some do have their first season at around 6 months of age, but truly , your first port of call would be the Vets , just to eliminate anything medical , good luck x
I agree, first check with vets but if nothing is wrong I'd recommend a dog trainer a.s.a.p My boy started subtly changing his behaviour from 6-8 months and to this day I own a challenging anxious dog, I wish I'd known then what I know now! Max has improved but as he's 3 now he's a bit set in his ways, I took him to training classes up until last summer! He just wasn't learning anything new, the only reason we carried it on or so long as it was good socialising. It does however take him quite a while to trust someone (roughly 30 minutes to an hour) but he's never been a cuddly dog. He prefers to do his own thing, play tug or find it. Find it is an excellent game we play when we have guests over, he's food obsessed and this gets him sniffing people without too much stress being on him. We have to be careful he doesn't jump on the sofa, he's a big 34kg muscle dog haha Could you perhaps ask work colleagues to let her approach them instead of the other way around? That way you'll know she's comfortable and does it on her terms. Perhaps a treat if she's relaxed I wish you all the best
Welcome to the forum. It would certainly be a good idea to consult your vet if the problem persists. It may be that something/somebody has unintentionally hurt her in some way, without causing any visible damage. Kate's suggestion of hormones kicking in is also worth following up. One of mine became exceptionally clingy when she had her first season (and it was quite an early season), but I don't remember her showing any of the symptoms which you describe. I hope you find out what's wrong soon.
I also agree with @kateincornwall - it's.worth a trip to the vet to ensure that there is no physical cause for your girl's distress. Also ask staff not to reach to pet her but allow her to.to make he decision whether she approaches or not for a fuss. Many people approach dogs by reaching to touch faces or pat the head which most dogs dislike rather that a chest rub. Exactly the same when around children at the school. Your gIrl is becoming an adolescent and starting to make decisions herself on what she likes or doesn't like and when it comes to being touched by people it should always be the dog's decision for a calm, happy interaction.
It is also possible she is going through a fear period. During my boy's adolescence he would sometimes have a strange week where he was suddenly scared of things that hadn't been a problem before - scared of wheelie bins on the streets, barking at people, plastic bags etc. Although he's a rescue and wasn't well socialised before 7 months, it was very out of character as he is friendly with people and dogs, and he would be suddenly scared of things that he'd walked past every day before. Our trainer suggested it might be fear periods, I think it happened 2 or 3 times, and only lasted about a week or two. I didn't really do much training, other than just keeping calm and letting him approach things and look at things at his own pace. Now he's three and will only occasionally bark if something surprises him. Hopefully for your lab this is just a passing phase. Of course, it's still worth trying to do some training with her! As well as letting her approach your employees, you could also have them hold out treats for her to take, or throw treats on the floor by her when they walk past. This will help give her more positive associations with people approaching her. At the school, you could also take her for training purposes - not when you're taking/getting your son. Let her get used to the environment again when there aren't too may kids around, and let her sniff around and explore at her own pace. Take some treats along and maybe play some games like chasing the treat, if she will, to help boost her confidence. My adult dog, who usually likes children, is cautious around big groups of young children. They are unpredictable and jump around and make loud noises, in this situation he would rather not interact with them. I would only let one child pet her at a time, and maybe they can first hold out a treat on their hand for her to take, then if she's comfortable with it they could stroke her shoulder, her back/side or her chest - whatever she is most comfortable with.
Hello @Hellstar1 , and welcome to the forum. I have a 12month old black lab, Cassie, who was very easy to housetrain but suddenly started peeing in the house when she was just a bit younger than your puppy. My trainer said has something frightened her and I said no I couldn't see that it had. It was odd because the door was open and once or twice she pooed right on the doorstep when usually she went to the far corner of the garden. Even she peed outside it was very close to the house. It was a good 2 weeks before I discovered something had frightened her. The family that own the estate where I live allow their GSD and terrier to chase their horses, and there is the sound of dogs barking, thundering hooves and shrieking kids which never fails to make me think someone or something has been hurt. One day we were in the garden when this happened -- Cassie slunk into the kitchen and went into her crate looking very wooried. My point being that they can be upset by something and we don't always no what!
