Hi Mallory, I think both male and female pups go through fear stages. First one around 8 weeks and the second around 6 months. The following link is a good one (with pictures) and it follows the information I have read in other books. They all recommend monitoring all the puppy's activities and experiences during both periods to make sure they are positive.
Carol Boche Webboard User Reg: 10-30-2005
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Quote: mallory kwiatkowski
i could have sworn i read on leerburg somewhere that male puppies can go through a fear stage....
am i just making things up?
i can't find this info anywhere.
Nope, you are not making things up, although there are several different opinions on the issue.
"Fear Stages" begin usually around 14 wks. We pick out puppies between 7 to 12 weeks (although the pup stays with mom until AT LEAST 8 wks), so I do not believe there is a fear stage (8 to 12 wks) at that age, if there was, a litter of pups would be hard to pick one from and they would certainly not be running out to greet all who entered their area.
Next is between 7 to 10 months, although this may not even occur, the biggest period of "unsure" is around 14 months. This is when some level of maturity starts to surface and the dog goes through changes that may cause them to be unsure of new people and environmental things.
Have you done a search on fear periods? I know we have all discussed this at one point or another.
Until The Tale of the Lioness is told, the Story will Always Glorfy the Hunter
suddenly, almost overnight, he is afraid of everything now, when he wasn't before.
i mean, scared to walk over logs and sticks, yesterday, he was tied out(i was doing yard work) and a leaf blew into his water dish-he lost it. he would creep up to the dish, and leap back, he was just ridiculous.
i am totally ignoring it though, if he doesn't want to walk over that branch, fine, his butt is getting left behind.... i know enough to not make a big fuss, or inadvertaently reinforce the fear....so i am doing nothing.
but yeah, i was thinking about what he was doing, and remembered reading something about a fear stage right at this age.
Well he is at the right age for a fear stage (6-14 months). If he is a large breed dog you can push that out to 16 months. You are doing the right thing by ignoring it and letting him work it out on his own but I still wouldn't introduce him to many new or overwhelming things during this period. The link I provided in my previous post states what you should do and you are right on track.
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fear stage???
#197285 - 06/03/2008 12:00 PM 
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