I have an 8 month old puppy who has recently been spayed, it may not be because of this but since then she has become frightened of strangers and growls and barks at them. She has been barking at the front door when there is no one there and when someone comes into the house that she doesn't know she wets herself and growls and hides under the table. She used to be really sociable and loved people to the extend that she would jump up at anyone to say hello and now she bares and teeth and barks and growls with her tail tucked beneath her. I am not sure what to do or why this has happened?
My lab hound mix Maggie just turned 1 yr and she's had some fearful periods in the last 4 mos. She was spayed as small puppy because our local SPCA requires animals to be spayed or neutered prior to adoption. She was afraid, as in loud barking, of a lady she knew who wore a large scarf. She was also afraid of bins on the street and absolutely terrified of a 3 ft tall garden statue of a man in golfing clothes. And now she alert barks at the front door. The fear seems to wax and wane but I think it's improving. I've done my best to avoid things that scare her rather than push her. I'd be a bit concerned about urinating: is this something she did as a small puppy? Maybe submissive urination or from excitement? I'd keep an eye on that for potential discussion with the vet if it persists. Does she have a crate? It might be helpful if she could go to her crate and feel safe when strangers come, and you may need to prompt them to ignore her unless and until she shows interest. Hopefully she'll grow out of this over the next several months. If she's afraid of strangers on walks, and you can't alter your time or route, can you ask her to "look at me" and treat her, preferably before she notices the stranger, and keep this up until she passes the person? Like your girl Maggie is very sociable so the fear stuff was surprising and of course embarrassing. Let us know how you get on please.
