Luther is about 16 months now, when I got him he was 14 months and fearful/reactive with everything. Now, as I expose/socialize him to the outside world, and he's doing his pro training/group classes he is becoming more stable. But just like Zola, at night he is much more on guard with people walking in the street. He is very wary of all new people, so I try to stay a good distance away from them on our walks, usually 10 feet is a good comfortable distance for him. And I always keep him on a leash, although he always comes when I call him and listens incredibly well, I just don't trust other people and their possible reactions to him. In group class he wears a muzzle, since he hates when the trainer gets into his personal space, so we're working on that one. But for the most part as long as everyone stays away from him, and doesn't get too close he remains stable. Also, I see way too may people walking their dogs who have no control over them, usually the smaller breeds, and have had numerous dogs off-leash run up to us as we're walking… Luther for the most part knows to ignores them and we just move on.
Also, Luther at night time in the house will bark at every little noise from the outside, i.e. car driving by with loud radio, car-door slamming, neighbors talking/laughing in their yard, me accidentally knocking something on the table, etc., so I hope that with time he will get comfortable and won't react to everything. I will admit that he is getting much better since I first got him, because before it seemed like he barked nonstop at everything as soon as it got dark outside. I always figured that he was doing what he was meant to do so I never corrected him, I would just go over to where he was at and calmly stand there and say "all clear" to show him that there was no reason for alarm, and that always settles him down. And yes, Luther also follows me everywhere all the time, he is totally a velcro dog, haha.
we usually tell her "break" so she can get up and go check it out and it does usually quiet her down. She is almost a year old, so I know shes going through some changes right now as she grows, but she is the best. Such a sweetie, and already super lazy, she will just follow us around and plop down whenever we are in the kitchen or bedroom and just hang out.
