May 20, 2011
I have a 9 month old Staffordshire Bull pup. Occasionally she gets freaked out about stupid things. Today, it was a leaf stem with cotton on it. Should I be worried about this?
Full Question:
I have a 9 month old Staffordshire Bull pup, spayed F.She has taken puppy class, 3 competition obedience classes, rally lessons, and foundation agility classes. She got her CGC at 5 months. I got her as a 14 week pup from a shelter already spayed. She is highly social with people and dogs and has been everywhere.
Problem: Occasionally she gets freaked out about stupid things. Today, it was a leaf stem with cotton on it. She barked and growled at it and circled it for a couple minutes. When I showed it to her, she was fine. But this happens a couple times a week. It might be a shoe or a light fixture or a bug. These outbursts last a couple minutes, but it's intense for her.
Should I be worried about this? She re-directs nicely after a minute or two. Should I interrupt this behavior, let her work it out? This dog is almost ring-ready for novice obedience and is showing rally and running agility strings. She comes to work with me and loves all humans, dogs, and cats. She is a retrieving junkie with lots of drive. A really nice dog.
This weird fear stuff makes me crazy.
Thank you!
Holly
Cindy's Answer:
I wouldn't worry about it. Most young dogs go through weird "phases" like this, although I don't think all owners notice. :)
I have found from raising lots of puppies that the best thing to do when your dog acts like this is either ignore it and just carry on with whatever you were doing or redirect your dog's attention to something else like a food or a toy.
We discussed this puppy and young dog behavior this summer at a seminar. Young dogs, especially very alert and active dogs (like Malinois, my breed) will suddenly notice something in the environment like a stump or mailbox or piece of paper blowing and be startled or hackle up and bark. The worst thing you can do is correct a dog for this.
I usually just carry on with my walk or whatever I am doing as if I don't even notice the behavior. I also don't soothe the dog or try to get them to approach the problem object. This just brings more reinforcement to a type of behavior I do not want my dog to receive reinforcement for. I ignore it or redirect the dog and have found after raising dozens of puppies to adulthood that they do outgrow this eventually.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
I have found from raising lots of puppies that the best thing to do when your dog acts like this is either ignore it and just carry on with whatever you were doing or redirect your dog's attention to something else like a food or a toy.
We discussed this puppy and young dog behavior this summer at a seminar. Young dogs, especially very alert and active dogs (like Malinois, my breed) will suddenly notice something in the environment like a stump or mailbox or piece of paper blowing and be startled or hackle up and bark. The worst thing you can do is correct a dog for this.
I usually just carry on with my walk or whatever I am doing as if I don't even notice the behavior. I also don't soothe the dog or try to get them to approach the problem object. This just brings more reinforcement to a type of behavior I do not want my dog to receive reinforcement for. I ignore it or redirect the dog and have found after raising dozens of puppies to adulthood that they do outgrow this eventually.
I hope this helps.
Cindy
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