Zig is now 15 months old. He was well socialised - puppy training school, meets lots of different people and visits lots of different places and has lots of different experiences. . Although very occasionally he gets a little barky at strangers he's always been happy, friendly and pretty chilled. Just recently he seems to be getting very nervous - more barky, jumping at noises that wouldn't usually bother him, wary of strangers and some dogs, not settling quite so quickly at day care (but no bad experiences there as far as I'm aware - he's always loved daycare, he goes a couple of times a month) He's just generally more nervous about life in general than he was before! I hate to see him this way - he's such a lovely dog and it worries me that he's not enjoying life so much as he was! Is it an age thing perhaps? He's still intact and we plan to keep him that way. Please help - I'm so worried for him. Have seen the vet who said it's probably fear and hopefully will pass quickly. Nothing medical. Any ideas? Thank you Lorraine
Hi @Lozzz31, sorry to hear about your dog. You might find the following entry to be of some interest. It contains a number of useful approaches. https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Dog-Behavior-Understanding-Fear-Periods-in-Dogs
Hi Lorraine Whilst sometimes behaviours like this can be due to a 'fear stage', it's also the case that behavioural problems manifest themselves for the first time from around about 12months onwards - it's a classic time for owners to see me with problem behaviours they are experiencing which have appeared for the first time (or started very recently). And these behaviours often then remain. In fact, whether the 'second fear period' even exists is quite controversial, with many suggesting it doesn't. It's good that you are keeping him intact, I'd support that idea - as removing the source of testosterone/confidence can lead to dogs feeling more vulnerable and more likely to be scared of things. You may find that things improve as he heads out the other side of adolescence and his hormones stabilise. I'd suggest you also try the following general ideas: Get an Adaptil diffuser up and running in your house. Use an Adaptil collar on him. And start a course of Zylkene. All these are natural non-prescription products without side effects and with research behind them. And they may help support him through this. In terms of strangers and other dogs, at this point I would not try to address this in a focussed or deliberate way by trying to get him to 'meet' strangers or dogs - that could easily all backfire and result in sensitising him even more and causing him to experience pressure from you in the presence of people/dogs. Instead, I'd try to protect him from people and from other dogs and avoid him feeling like he 'has' to meet either, if he doesn't want to. I would also suggest you start the Look At That game with him around people/dogs so that he has an alternative task to do around them... Hope that helps!
