Fear Phase

[jillybean]

So, seems Chloe is now going through the fear phase. She's 17 weeks at the moment.

She's barking at anything and everything, like noises such as the garage door opening, the neighbour slamming a door, and other animals such as birds. She's also been cowering at things like the lawn mower which didn't use to bother her at all - she used to sleep through it! She's also developed a fear of some big dogs and won't walk past them when we're out on a walk, when she used to approach any dog and try to play. I also took her out to the markets today and a train went past, so she went and hid under a ute and refused to come out!

What do I do whilst she's going through this fear phase? Do I ignore it? Or should I try to encourage her to keep walking etc when these situations occur?

[Erny]

Jillybean ..... I know 2nd fear impact period can occur at quite differing times and remain for differing lengths of time depending on breed and individual within breeds, (it is generally between the age of 6-14 months) but it does seem quite early for a dog to go through second fear impact period at only 17 weeks of age, IMO.

For this reason I'd be inclined to run a background check on what experiences she has had by way of socialisation to the type of "worldly" things you've spoken of here and how broad have those experiences been? Also, what have your reactions so far been towards her since she's begun to exhibit the fear behaviour?

Having said and asked that though, based solely on your post content it does 'sound' like 2nd fear impact period (even if it is early). Regardless of the cause though, and to answer your question "what do I do?", certainly avoid doing anything that might possibly be perceived by her as reinforcement for the fear behaviour. Be her leader. Endeavour to reward confident behaviour. Avoid over-facing her to the things she finds 'scarey' ...... very low intensity exposure is the order of the day and I'd suggest you approach all things that way - especially new/novel experiences. Mind your body language - don't make it appear that you are fussed.

ETA: If I ever find myself in a position with a dog ..... a position that for the dog's sake, I'd rather not be in, one of the things I tend to focus on is simply keep the dog MOVING - give the dog a job to do and work as a team doing it. If the dog is permitted to become still, it will have more opportunity to become focussed on the stimulus that unnerves him/her, rendering it more traumatic an experience than it otherwise might need to be.

ETA: Confidence building exercises such as obedience (set up for 'wins') and tricks can also help.

Edited December 15, 2007 by Erny

[jillybean]

Thanks for the reply Erny.

According to K9 Force's puppy development calender there's a fear phase at 12-16 weeks also? Perhaps this is what Chloe is going through.

In terms of socialisation, she's been to puppy school and a few of my friends have brought their dogs over to play so she's had her fair share of socialising with dogs of different breeds, ages and sizes. I've also taken her to local sporting events and even walked her through a uni. She's been exposed to everday things such as the garage door opening, the sounds of cars etc since I've had her and until last week would pretty much ignore the noises! She certainly hasn't had any negative experiences (unless you count being carried by little kids!) which warrant fear behaviour.

In terms of walking, when she stops or backs away because she's spotted another dog (even if it's walking past a house wth a dog who's behind a fence) I try to encourage her to keep walking. I've tried using treats to tempt her but it doesn't always work, so I sort of end up half dragging her past whilst telling her what a good girl she is for walking. Is this what I should be doing?

[Erny]

Hi JillyBean

The "fear period" Steve describes falls within the "critical period" of the pup's development (8-16 weeks). In my experience, where pups have received slow, regular, frequent and patient exposure to our worldly things and noises (and in the absence of bad experiences), I have not seen where a pup has all of a sudden become fearful of the things s/he has been gently socialised to.

However, I have heard/read that low thresholds for fear may persist even though early socialisation has been provided appropriately ..... and that the innate fear responses to things such as loud noises and sudden movement can appear spontaneously early in the dog's life or as the dog matures.

Whichever the reason for it, I'd still be inclined to follow what I've mentioned in my earlier post ...

Erny:

avoid doing anything that might possibly be perceived by her as reinforcement for the fear behaviour. Be her leader. Endeavour to reward confident behaviour. Avoid over-facing her to the things she finds 'scarey' ...... very low intensity exposure is the order of the day and I'd suggest you approach all things that way - especially new/novel experiences. Mind your body language - don't make it appear that you are fussed.

I'd be inclined to introduce drive training (if you haven't already) and use that drive training whilst working just behind your pup's reaction threshold to the 'aversive' stimuli. Playing ball and such like in a similar way is also something that can assist. In otherwords, use your pup's drives to effect a degree of "sensory narrowing" (which is where the other senses tend to reduce) and to keep her mind a bit away from what bothers her. You don't want her completely oblivious to the stimuli that bothers her, or very little to no learning would occur, although you can begin this way and gradually and minutely increase intensity of exposure, finishing the "drive" activities back away from the aversive stimuli.

You could use the drive training to promote more confident walking when outside your yard too, although work up to this a bit incrementally (eg I wouldn't immediately begin working outside my yard if the dog was still considerably fearful within the boundaries of the front yard). You don't want to over push the dog, but you do want to ease out the boundaries of her comfort zone little bit by little bit .... progressively but over time.

Edited December 16, 2007 by Erny