Bessie is 16 weeks old. She's met over a dozen dogs of all sizes and breeds, both at her puppy training class and on the street in the city (on-lead). She lives with a 7yo labradoodle and they play together happily and often. (He can get a little grumpy/overwhelmed by her energy at times, and then I separate them, but mostly they're fabulous friends.) A friend has a rat terrier mix who's about her size right now and she plays with him regularly, too. Never shown any fear. We visit a farm weekly where my son rides horses. We met a bunch of the dogs off-leash there (with her on-lead) and she did great. I thought we'd met them all, but one day while waiting for him, she was on-lead and we walked toward my car, and a new-to-me dog rushed up to her with a buddy, and cornered her. He was aggressive and growly and I got scared and picked her up. Probably not the best thing to do in the moment but his behavior went from inquisitive to potentially vicious (from my perspective anyway) in about two seconds. Later, the farm owner apologized, and we had them meet again, and she made her dog behave (she said he's "territorial"), and Bessie rolled onto her back for him, but seemed relaxed/okay in that interaction. Next time we went to puppy class her hackles were up and her tail between her legs, but she warmed up quickly once inside. We went to a groomer's and I think because it smelled like multiple dogs, again, she had her hackles up/tail between legs. We met dogs on the street since and she was fine, no fear shown. Last night at puppy class, again she showed fear, and this time once inside she had hackles up/tail between legs for the first playtime, and hid under the chairs. I moved around the room and showed confidence as the teacher instructed, and by the second playtime she was fine. What else can I do to help her overcome this fear besides continuing to meet as many friendly dogs as possible? I hate that I have taken so much time and care to socialize her well, and one bad experience can overshadow that.
You know, it's probably not just the not-so-great experience that has triggered her reactions. At 16 weeks or thereabouts, many puppies go through a fear period, at the end of the socialization window. Just keep giving her positive experiences as much as possible, and she should be fine.
Ah, good to know. That explains why last night, she was fearful in puppy class for a while, vs. two weeks ago (only a week after the experience) she had her hackles up when we walked to the building, but then relaxed immediately during playtime. Thanks for the reassurance. She's certainly had WAY more positive dog interactions than negative.
I would say that many puppies have a bad experience with at least one grumpy older dog. In a way, it's almost a good thing, since it teaches them to be careful around dogs they don't know. I'm not suggesting that it is ok for an older dog to fling a puppy on its back or heaven forbid bite it, but some older dogs will snarl at a puppy and show it they do not want to play or be bothered. Anyway, despite being on the receiving end of a telling off, most puppies seem able to shrug this off and go on to become friendly, sociable dogs, as long as most of their interactions with other dogs are positive. Sounds like you are doing all the right things, taking her to puppy class, and letting her meet as many friendly dogs as possible.
I honestly don't know about this 'fear period' thing or at the age your puppy is at, mostly referred to as the 'second fear period'. I have heard many references to it, and spent hours tracking down scientific references, and I have never found anything in it. That's not to say that there isn't an end to the 'socialisation' window, when a puppy grows up a bit and becomes more fearful. That definitely happens. But I haven't even found anything to suggest this is a fear 'period' where any negative interactions have a much bigger impact than normal and that period has a finite time. Any references, though, gratefully received and will be read with great interest. My own 5 month old puppy is going through a nervous of lots of things stage. I do not think it is a 'fear period'. I think that it is the time in her development that I prepared for by all the socialisation I did. The way she gets through the next few months is a direct consequence of how well I socialised her in advance of her losing her puppy 'no fear' and becoming more like a normal dog. My approach is just to keep socialising her, but without the benefit of her being a puppy that didn't know there was anything to fear. I think this job continues for the rest of her life...
Ah, that's interesting, so you think this time (around 16 weeks) is just the end of the happy-go-lucky, nothing-phases-me puppy phase? You could well be right. At any rate, as you say, the key is in continuing the socialization, so that the puppy LEARNS from positive experiences.
I think so, or at least when I trailed through all the literature on socialisation windows and so on (some of it went back to the 1960s) this is what I concluded. But I hear the term 'fear periods' so often, that I just wonder if I've missed something. It's possible that the term has just become common place to mean this part of development and it all adds up to the same thing. Anyway, yes, quite right that either way the solution is gentle, careful on-going socialisation.
Sorry, I'm not experienced enough to comment on the socialisation/fear period but I just thought I'd let you know that Ella was attacked by a Collie when she was a little puppy. As awful as it was, we had lots of happy play dates in the weeks following. I'm happy to say I've never really seen any lasting issues. Hope Bessie bounces back well
Good to hear @Emily! I have noticed more fear - or fear at all - this week. So maybe it is the start of more caution and the closing of the socialization window. Definitely continuing ongoing socialization, though I can't believe she's 16 weeks already and there are so many things I wanted to expose her to and wasn't able to. Mostly big-city stuff; we live so rurally. But she's been to the capital city an hour from us, about four or five times, seen busy streets with cars, people, and dogs. No trains. Can't think of what else right now. Oh, people riding bicycles. Wheelchairs - we did see one at the farmers market. But dogs, she's pretty well covered. She's met probably fifty different dogs!
