Fear Period in 13 month old?
#336113 - 06/10/2011 07:49 PM |
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Vigo is almost 13 months old. He has always been a fairly nervous dog in new situations, specifically those where there are many people. Throughout his "puppyhood", he went through obvious fear periods where this nervousness was extremely heightened.
I have worked really hard to take him to new environments and keeping him under threshold, returning to these places and gradually upping the ante. For example, sitting in the petstore parking lot, standing outside the petstore door, entering the petstore type "sequences".
Between 8-12 months, he was doing absolutely great. We even completed a basic obedience class (strictly to socialize). He participated wonderfully in all of the classes. Those ended at the end of May. Now he is in agility class (puppy appropriate, of course) and again is doing very nicely...
So...
I noticed yesterday when walking that he seemed nervous. We calmly finished our walk and returned home.
Today, we went to the petstore. Within the last few months, he has been relaxed in this situation. Not today...it was a complete and utter panic attack out of nowhere. Over threshold before I even knew what was going on. We exited the store...same response (tail between legs, spinning in circles). We returned to the car, where he went in his crate. I left the van hatch open and did a little relaxation work, rewarding for relaxed posture and so on. He was calm when we left.
Take two: We went for a walk past the local ice cream parlor. Same response as the pet store (even though there were not even any people there). We moved out of "range" and did a little obedience where he was relaxed and responsive, took treats (he will not when stressed).
Oh, and he is not aggressive at all during these times...just a very HUGE flee response.
I have to admit that I find this very depressing...it is as if we have never left the house with him...and so sudden.
So part of this is a vent of frustration, and the rest is wondering if any of you have experienced this fear period and how you dealt with regression.
(P.S. Am watching the ME free videos on fear periods during adolescence again right now!)
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Melissa Hoyer ]
#336116 - 06/10/2011 09:14 PM |
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Melissa here is an article on fear periods in pups that I am posted here a number of times. Hopefull it will help you.
Remember patience & calm & no coddling is the most important thing that you can do for him during this time. Hang in there.
The Critical Fear Periods in Puppies
By: Nancy Frensley, CPDT, CAP1
Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Training Manager
The Critical Fear Periods in Puppies:
Seven to Nine Weeks
Four to Six Months
Approximately Eight to Nine Months
Approximately Twelve Months
Approximately Fourteen to Eighteen Months
During these periods, puppies may show fear of items, situations or people with whom they formerly felt safe. They may start barking at people entering a house or become fearful and startle at benign items like trash cans, drainpipes or even yard gnomes. They may crouch, shake and try to run away, submissively urinate or tell the scary thing/person to go away by showing an aggressive display (which could include piloerection, snarling, lunging or other unruly behavior.
You must be patient during these periods and keep to the familiar. These are not good times to introduce your puppy to new situations or people. Be very careful to avoid doling out punishment or reprimands. It’s vitally important that you understand that your dog is afraid and that you add to the fear when you reprimand or punish. This, in turn, can set the dog up for future aggression problems.
During these periods, introduce your puppy slowly to the situation, with good tasting treats, so that he or she does not experience fear. Control situations so that you can prevent a fearful response and show your puppy that you enjoy the situation. Use food treats and happy talk to lure your puppy up to scary objects. Teach the targeting exercise (touch your hand with his nose) and work on getting your puppy to “touch the goblin”.
When people visit your home during these periods, put your puppy in another room until visitors are settled in, then bring your puppy out on leash and praise for any show of confidence. Even have visitors toss good treats toward your puppy without approaching him or her.
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MY DOGS...MY RULES
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Melissa Hoyer ]
#336128 - 06/10/2011 11:16 PM |
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Nice article from Anne. Melissa it sounds like you are handling it well. Don't be discouraged all your hard work will pay off. If you feel he wants to flee have you tried rapid movement with you as a way to relax him? As a pretty well adjusted senior when I see Thor become anxious motion is usually a good way to curtail it.
Example: Vigo tucks tail. Holding his leash you step away and call him treat if possible; step away again and again move away from uncomfortable spot 3 steps and back toward one step; car is your goal. Hopefully you have a relaxed pup when you get to your car and can treat and praise like crazy and leave. The point is going to you is safe and his survival instinct is relieved by your quick yet controlled departure. Worked well with my dog if you think Vigo would respond favorably I don't think harm will come to him if you try it. IMO if he is in the midst of a fear period build his confidence and trust in you and when his confidence returns work on the things which triggered his fear. I'm lazy I prefer not to fight mother nature
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Sheila Buckley ]
#336147 - 06/11/2011 07:07 AM |
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Remember patience & calm & no coddling is the most important thing that you can do for him during this time. Hang in there.
Thank you for the great article! I am doing my best to be patient (a strong point of mine) and calm (not a strong point of mine). I am not a coddler by nature so that helps
Melissa it sounds like you are handling it well. Don't be discouraged all your hard work will pay off. If you feel he wants to flee have you tried rapid movement with you as a way to relax him?
IMO if he is in the midst of a fear period build his confidence and trust in you and when his confidence returns work on the things which triggered his fear. I'm lazy I prefer not to fight mother nature
Sheila, I actually do that with him, but I think I do it in steps that are to fast. I need to break it down smaller for him.
I am going to still keep him out and about in the world, but work very hard to avoid social stress that throws him over threshold. Just very tricky because his "zone" of "I can handle this" seems to have dramatically shrunk! Baby steps...
Thank you both for calming me down...this is also a very stressful point in my life (my nana is very ill) which I am sure plays a role here too.
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Melissa Hoyer ]
#336154 - 06/11/2011 08:57 AM |
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Calming vibes Melissa! You can do this, too. I know how discouraging these episodes can be. One day Jethro was thrown over threshold by a bag of iris bulbs someone had set out on the curb. Seriously? Way over...
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Jenny Arntzen ]
#336155 - 06/11/2011 10:16 AM |
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Jenny: Oh dear!
We headed to the park today. Thought on this gloomy day, it would be empty...wrong! So we just practiced playing on playground equipment and jumping on picnic tables...two of Vigo's favorite things. We did have one older gentleman pass us...who calmly said good morning with absolutely no eye contact. It was great!
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Melissa Hoyer ]
#336160 - 06/11/2011 11:11 AM |
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When Ryuk hit those stages (and he hit almost every one, the 12 month sort of blended with the fourteen month for him) we played games EVERYWHERE. We started at home where the giant monster waterfall (small above ground pipe that drains water during heavy rainfall) was. I put him on a longer line, he'd stop dead about 20 feet away and panic if I tried to move him closer. I'd leave him there on the long line (still holding it, this is a 35ft line) and go play in the water....it took a few tries but that water pipe stopped being scary and (unfortunately XD) became the most fun thing to roll in. It took a few sessions, where normally he accepts new things in about a minute, if that...but it was worth it.
We applied this method to a few things out on walks (and got the strangest looks from neighbors), the giant blades of terror outside the farmer's market (toy windmill), dog eating blue blob monster (tarp), as well as the pet store and most of downtown.
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Jamie Craig ]
#336176 - 06/11/2011 02:15 PM |
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Jamie, I am finding a long line to be very useful too. It gives him some space to be independent and yet, I am still attached to him
It is so good to hear that other dogs did this too. I have never been through it to this extent with either of my previous dogs as pups.
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Melissa Hoyer ]
#336179 - 06/11/2011 03:46 PM |
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Life in general for all of us is 3 steps forward 1 back. 2 forward, 6 forward, 2 back. People & dogs. It is kinda the ebb & flow of life in general for all creatures. It's just not full speed ahead at 60 MPH always! It just isn't usually the case.
Hang in there & stay calm & patient. The less you make of it all the more quickly it will pass for him.
Healing thoughts to nana.
MY DOGS...MY RULES
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Re: Fear Period in 13 month old?
[Re: Anne Jones ]
#336182 - 06/11/2011 05:18 PM |
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Healing thoughts to nana.
Thank you!
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