Fearful 2 year old - help

[tolosate]

My Shelby is just over 2 years old and since she was about 6 months old she started becoming fearful of just about anything and anyone....at least until she got to know you. I've heard of boxers going through this "fear stage" but she's never seemed to get over it. I took her to puppy obedience school as a young pup and she's fine around other dogs. I try to take her everywhere with me and introduce her to new people and surroundings but after more than a year and a half of this it doesn't seem to be doing any good. She's even afraid of inanimate objects, like new toys or the plug to the vacuum. I don't get it....does anyone else have this problem? Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Lori & Shelby

[Chiefsmom]

Here is the thread that helped me with great advice:

Shy Dog?

Hope this helps!

[chrystel]

I have experienced the same thing.. and still am.....

I have 2 boxers. Oxford is not afraid of anything.

Snatch.. on the other hand.... I picked up the most outgoing puppy of the litter. He was not fearful as a pup'. The one day, i guess the famous "fearfull stage" he became scared of... cars with open doors... then it became trucks, them cars with hood open, then boxes, then it was men, then loud noises, .....

I read lots of book. Since puppy, i have taken snatch everywhere... stores, dog parks, equestrian center, neighborhood...

It has gotten better. He is fine walking pass cars, open doors, trucks.. he's good now.. i spent afternoons, just him and me, going sit by cars and trucks in parking lots

Still loud noises are a problem.... he's scraed an dwill run away.. this makes it dangerous for me to leave him off-leash sometimes...

good luck with your baby!

[TwoDogs]

I really cannot sing the praises enough about the technique I have used with great success with my fearful girl. I got her as a pup from rescue at about 4 months and she was very fearful of strange things. She was afraid of plastic bags, lawn ornaments, fuzz blowing in the wind, you name it. She is now 3 years old and strange things still freak her out a bit, but nowhere near the way they used to. Part of it is that I got her out and experiencing all sorts of things, so she has realized that new, strange things aren't going to kill her, but the other reason is because I have done easy but intensive counter-conditioning with her. Here's the comment that I made on another related thread that explains what has worked so well for her.

>>There is a very good technique that I've used with much success on my fearful girl, called "Look at That". It is explained in Leslie McDevitt's book Control Unleashed. If you are familiar with clicker training, you know that the click marks the moment a desirable behavior happens. With "Look at That", basically, you click the moment the dog looks at things but--and this is important--before they react. The dog starts to associate looking at things--specifically strange or scary things--with being rewarded. Gradually, the scary things start to be not so scary any more.

It's best to start with things that you know won't get a really bad reaction and at distances from the object that you know your dog is comfortable with. It's great to start this exercise on a walk because you're always encountering new and different things. If you normally train with the clicker, your dog will probably whip its head around the first time you do it and give you a look that says "Wait a minute, you're clicking me for that?!" Immediately reward your dog. Keep doing it every time your dog looks at something. If you don't typically use the clicker to train, it may take a bit longer for the dog to realize that his behavior is causing the click and that the click gets him a reward, but keep it up and they will catch on. Do this over and over with anything your dog would normally be afraid of. The final stage in this training is to begin withholding the click until the dog looks at the thing and then looks back at you in anticipation of the treat. You will know you are ready to move on to this stage because your dog will start actively offering LookAtThats at all sorts of things.

This technique works well for two reasons. One is that it uses classic conditioning--strange things/people start to equal treats and treats are good so strange things/people start to become good things in the dog's mind. The second reason it works well is that it gives the dog a predictable pattern to fall back on when something or someone strange comes along. Fearful dogs find comfort in the predictable.

This technique has worked really well for my fearful, shy girl. The key is to first work the dog at distances or with things that don't send them over the edge until they understand the game. My girl will now look at approaching people and then look at me, then look back at the person, and then at me again. It looks a bit like she's watching a tennis match. When she looks at me I acknowledge her quietly or nod or give her a pat and she knows it's just part of the game and she's okay with the person.<<

Look At That works for dogs that are afraid of people, objects, and other dogs. It really can change how a dog looks at things.