 Arthur has a fear, I think
Okay...so in the last two days whenever I've gone for walks with Arthur and someone walks by us, Arthur does a quick speed-up and then looks backwards like he was afraid of the person...as if they were coming for him. ??? What's this!? He's never been afraid of people before! And then today, some man came up to me to talk about his rott that he had to put down that was 12 and how much he missed him. Arthur wouldn't get anywhere close to his hand when the man tried to greet him! The man didn't approach Arthur, just had his hand out and talked to him and Arthur went up a little bit then skirted back around me...then got a bit braver and went closer...but it was kind of like a mix between wanting to do that play-bow thing to him and dodging away from him in fear. ?! Is there a new fear stage at this age? What should I do to get him not scared of people?
BTW, he's never scared of people who come into my store...although the majority of them are women.
I wonder if I've inadvertantly caused this during our walks, as when someone walks by I kind of tighten the leash to bring him closer to me and to make sure there isn't any lunge to greet the passers-by.  |