I think Tibby might be going through a fear period or stage?
She has been acting a little strange for the last week or maybe a little longer. It started with her refusing to go outside by herself. I thought it was because we had a few day of very high winds - that were blowing leaves and junk around.
She will go outside, but only if I put her leash on her and go with her. She had one accident before I realized that she wasn't going off the porch to potty. She was too scared. So I started going with her - to make sure she actually goes potty.
Then at our lesson on Friday she was acting skittish of the tunnels and she growled at Loretta's husband. That's not normal for Tibby.
Yesterday, my parent's had a few people over for dinner and I brought Tibby over after we were done eating. She's done this a bunch of times. She usually likes to show off her tricks and meet all the new people. She'll walk around wagging her tail and getting petted. Yesterday she hid behind me or under the table. I gave up on her doing tricks and she eventually ate a couple pieces of cheese from some of the guests. She would only take the treats if I was standing next to her or holding her on my lap. She sat on my lap for most of the time.
The strange thing is that she goes for walks and doesn't act scared about anything. The same things that freak her out in the backyard, she doesn't even are about on a walk.
Last night I was doing laundry and he was scared of a towel on the floor.
I'm hoping it is just a stage. Anyone have experience with fear stages? I read some info online and it said that there can be a fear period at around 2 years and Tibby will be 2 at the end of April.
It's just really strange. I also noticed that she is a little more aggressive with Catty when they are playing. Although yesterday Tibby chased Catty around the backyard, so.......maybe she is coming out of the fear period? It was the first time she has chased Catty in at least a week and that is their favorite game.
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3 comments:
Yeah, sounds familiar in a way :( Ruby also became very sensitive just before his 2nd birthday. He had an accident and became afraid of many things that didn't bother him before, his reaction was totally blown out of proportion. He became afraid of the wind, dusk, forrests, dogs, any unexpected object (like a bicycle in the middle of a field), people in some situations but njavascript:void(0)ot in others...
We worked on these things one thing at a time and he was close to normal in two months. Unfortunately later he was attacked by a small dog (just lots of noise, no injuries) and he again began to fear most of the things I listed before, so we had to work through them again. It seems like he will remain sensitive to some things for life :(
Good luck with Maisy. Help her with lots of good experiences within and on the edge of her comfort zone.
- Andreja
It sounds like it might be. I've never heard of one around the 2 year mark. My dog Kobi is just turning 1 year this week and he had a fear stage around 4 months and a second one at 9 months. Both times he just out of no where got terrified of things he never used to be bothered by. Kobi is a very reactive dog (getting much better) but the fear weeks were intense. He would bark at the sound of a pin dropping and freaked out about everything. Then by the next week he was fine. Both times. They usually have to do with chemical imbalances I believe it's connected to levels of calcium but I'm not certain. Try talking with your trainer or a vet if your concerned about it. But just give it a little time and act like nothing is unusual and try not to reassure her when she is afraid making her think that something should actually be feared.
Good luck!
http://www.kobipuphalifax.blogspot.com
You might want to get her thyroid checked -- thyroid imbalance can cause some odd behavior changes.
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