7 month old pup has fear of cars and other things randomly?

[kguitarchic18]

We have a 7 month old girl Zola. She is great, we socialized her well, and always took her to places in shopping carts before she had all her shots to get her used to cars/people/noises/etc. At first on her walks she was scared of everything but she has gotten much better. She is still very wary and scared of cars, especially if we are walking and they are coming from behind us. She has been trained and knows all her commands very well, place, sit, down, come, heel, if told to sit/down she stays until you tell her "break" or to come. BUT today on our walk there were some crazy small dogs who all started barking and usually she ignores them or once we get farther away she is ok. She tried to pull the whole way home, nothing would phase her, even her training collar which usually gets her attention did nothing. The trainer said its best to keep moving and not let her focus on that, or to get her to pay attention to me, which sometimes works. But others seem to say to sit and let her calm down before moving on, what has worked best for other cc's?

I do hope she grows out of her fear stage, because lately if i make any loud noises in the kitchen she barks, she is leary of new people, etc.

Also, please dont tell me training collars are wrong, we don't zap her every chance we get, she is very smart and is the happiest puppy you've ever seen. I believe if used in the right way training collars for the right dog can be great. And cc's are tough, it usually doesnt even phase her.

 

[Araps]

They go through a few fear stages until they mature.
In my opinion its between 6-9 months old were core socialization needs to take place.
My CC never got used meeting new dogs when walking, she will usually pull when she sees one.

 

[DennasMom]

I like the idea of waiting until she's calm until you move on... basically letting her know YOU are in charge and have deemed there is nothing to worry about, and once she is convinced you're right and also calms down... then, you can move on.

Be sure you don't 'reassure' her when she's scared - that just reinforces the fear. Try to ignore it - or do the focus work your trainer suggested. Maybe a good, calm, firm "leave it" command would help her know how you want her to react? (i.e. basically telling her to ignore the crazy dog)

If you can, catch her near the fear object before she sees it and get her in a calm/focus position... once she sees the item, keep her focused on you with lots of praise and treats... if she starts to act afraid, either ignore her or move her away from the object and try again. If it's a stationary object, it's easier to control how you approach it (Denna had a fear of flags and banners at that age). I would convince Denna to "check it out" by example... I'd approach the object and be really, really interested in it - talking to the object, etc, until Denna HAD to come see what it was I was so interested in. Once she approached it with a curious attitude, I'd praise her calmly, then as we left the area we'd have a little party to 'shake it off'... and move on.

Does she have a "wait" command?
Maybe you could use that to let her know to just "wait" until the crazy little dogs are gone... so you can continue your pleasant walk.

Denna and I often step off the sidewalk and "sit & wait" for things to pass (people, dogs, etc.). It's gotten to be a good habit, now. Lots of people comment on what a good dog she is when she just sits there and watches them pass by, so it's good for community support, too.

 

[kguitarchic18]

She has the "off" command, which is basically no. And if she is sitting, she stays in sit until I tell her to come or break. Shes not too scared of stationary objects anymore, just the cars mainly and crazy dogs barking at her. She is great with other dogs, at the park she goes up to all of them and just loves to play so there is no issues there. Think it might have just been the fact that the little dogs were behind a gate and started barking crazy and fighting with each other and it freaked her out. Usually I start jogging and praise her and get all excited for it.

 

[DDSK]

My Girl Zoey was like this too and she grew out of it, nothing phases her now.
I'm currently dealing with this now with the 6 month old pup Abby.
I'm sure she will out grow this too.

 

[Marco]

I like the idea of waiting until she's calm until you move on... basically letting her know YOU are in charge and have deemed there is nothing to worry about, and once she is convinced you're right and also calms down... then, you can move on.

Be sure you don't 'reassure' her when she's scared - that just reinforces the fear. Try to ignore it - or do the focus work your trainer suggested. Maybe a good, calm, firm "leave it" command would help her know how you want her to react? (i.e. basically telling her to ignore the crazy dog)

If you can, catch her near the fear object before she sees it and get her in a calm/focus position... once she sees the item, keep her focused on you with lots of praise and treats... if she starts to act afraid, either ignore her or move her away from the object and try again. If it's a stationary object, it's easier to control how you approach it (Denna had a fear of flags and banners at that age). I would convince Denna to "check it out" by example... I'd approach the object and be really, really interested in it - talking to the object, etc, until Denna HAD to come see what it was I was so interested in. Once she approached it with a curious attitude, I'd praise her calmly, then as we left the area we'd have a little party to 'shake it off'... and move on.

Does she have a "wait" command?
Maybe you could use that to let her know to just "wait" until the crazy little dogs are gone... so you can continue your pleasant walk.

Denna and I often step off the sidewalk and "sit & wait" for things to pass (people, dogs, etc.). It's gotten to be a good habit, now. Lots of people comment on what a good dog she is when she just sits there and watches them pass by, so it's good for community support, too.

thank you very much. I am going to try your approach. My 7mth old takes about an hr to get 50% comfy in the environment. Like I said in my other post we are enrolling him into a private training classes with the same trainer that has been training him n I since we got him. Since I got him in September I have heard him bark 4 times, but I have been told that is normal. He can master a command very quickly I would say 3-4th try he got it. The one that took the longest and he still has a little trouble with is when I tell him to stay/wait. As soon as I move he moves right next to me. As much as I love how he is always next to me I dont want this to be unhealthy for him. So I am hoping the private training will help. He can drag me now, I cant imagine 100lbs. I would looks foolish walking him and him darting home while i get dragged.