My pup looks scard.

[spawn207]

I've noticed that my puppy looks scared when I take him out in public. Not too much when potty. He seems to be frightened of everything he sees from cars, carts, trucks, etc. How can I help him to ease out of this? Will he eventually grow out of this and if so, when? I hope I don't wind up with a scared dog just like my sister has.

[hokisteph5]

My female, Gretchen, started out as my mom's dog. When she went to Puppy Kindergarten at about 12 weeks old, it was eye-opening.

My mom said Gretchen almost didn't want to go in the door, she didn't want to meet the other people or dogs, etc. I didn't attend that class because my male and I were in a CGC prep class, but did get to see her in the rest of the classes.

The instructor and other puppy owners worked really hard to show Gretchen that the world's an okay, sometimes even great, place. For example, she was given treats when she met the other owners.

My mom also made it a point to walk Gretchen around downtown Fredericksburg while my male and I were in class to expose her to the noise of the cars, the people walking, etc.

One thing we tried to never do was reinforce her fearful behavior in a way that comes so naturally to humans. For example, we never told her it was okay and then petted her when she was scared.

She's now 2+ years old and does well when going to new places and meeting new people. There are still things that she and my male discover about the world. They'll startle so I stop while they slowly approach the source of their inquiry, which I may find weird (e.g. huge tree root, brick sticking out of a wall, lone flower). Since I tend to walk the same couple routes regularly they'll pass by that same thing again and be fine.

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by spawn207

I've noticed that my puppy looks scared when I take him out in public...He seems to be frightened of everything he sees from cars, carts, trucks, etc. How can I help him to ease out of this? Will he eventually grow out of this and if so, when?

Behaviors you don't like in your puppy are the behaviors you'll see in your dog if you don't work on changing them, so, no, your puppy won't outgrow this scaredy cat behavior if you don't actively help him. You have to expose your puppy, in a friendly, safe, supportive way, to the world.

Are you and your puppy enrolled in class?

What do you do when your puppy is afraid? I hope you don't talk to him in a soothing, reassuring tone. If you do, your puppy will take this as you rewarding him for being a weenie.

Are you working on desensitizing him? Are you taking him to as many different places as possible to meet as many different people as possible?

[rytek1]

Our 16 month old pup is afraid of cars and trucks when we walk him. To the point that he wants to go back home. I've had a suggestion to have him on leash while the wife and I take turns driving by him slowly to show him not all cars are big bad machines. Havent tried it yet but itsounds like a good idea I cant waitto try.

[spawn207]

To respong to AngelBunny, no I am not at the moment in any classes right now, I am waiting for him to get his 2nd set of shots before I start any classes, which will be by the beginning of next month.

When he does get frightened I do not pat him or caress him in anyway to encourage that behavior. I know where it will lead too. I do however, notice that when he tries to hide behind me, I move away so he won't continue to do that.

[BrewskisMommy]

[quote=AngelBunny;815313]
If you do, your puppy will take this as you rewarding him for being a weenie.
QUOTE]


lol this made me laugh...

Brewski used to be really timid around cars (which we didn't even realize until his first puppy class because we live on a dead-end street). He would crouch down and stop in his tracks when he saw one moving. We just kept walking and acted like nothing was wrong and carried on normal conversation. He was also TERRIFIED of the automatic doors at the Pet store and of this one tree root in the back yard. Whenever he would step on the root by mistake, he would yelp really loud like he had been hurt badly...he just wasn't expecting the texture I think. And one time, he stepped in his water bowl by accident and flew at least 6 feet across the room crying bloody murder...Haha...now that he is completely well adjusted, his little puppy phobias seem so silly!

[cerulean]

Our pup had lots of little puppy-phobias too, that's a great term for it.

What worked for us: We started teaching "sit" the day after she came home with us. Then, whenever she got scared, we could get her attention on us by saying her name then asking for a sit. With her focus on us, she gets the reward-treat, then we would continue forward or at least stand nonchalantly near whatever the scary thing was. Note that we didn't reward the fear.... she had to get focused on us to get the reward.

Now she's incredibly confident and observant, and she does look to us often in new situations. She's only 17 weeks, but, so far so good (fingers crossed !!!)