Hi all and Happy New Year So my 8 month old was fine at 5 months but now seems afraid (and eventually barks ) around toddlers and small children Also, he does the same around strangers unless they own a dog Any help would much appreciated
Hello- I came across your post and wanted to say my 8 month old is exactly the same around grown ups without dogs. He has always been like this but we have done a lot of work on observing from a distance, treating when he looks at them, asking people to ignore him totally while he checks them out and not to reach out and try and stroke him and we have seen a lot of improvements from when he used to proactively run up to them to bark. Now he only really does it at the start of a walk if when he’s really excited so we’re working on trying to keep him calm e.g. scatter some treats on the ground to sniff out which tends to relax him, keep him on a long line when we are at the park and know there are likely to be people about but also try and walk him in less crowded spots to keep stress levels down. If it’s unavoidable and people are approaching I get him to focus on me, treat him, get him to sit, treat scatter, anything really to chill him out in the first instance to avoid an initial over reaction
hi Emma only just saw your reply. Thanks ever so much for taking the time to share your story and what is helping you. I will certainly try what you are doing. Thanks again
Hi wondering if your dog outgrew this behavior or if it continued. My 14 month old started acting fearful and is doing the barking thing at strangers when approached. Thanks so much!
