My herding puppy has alektorophobia (fear of chickens)

[sammi_lynn12]

I choses the breed of my new puppy particularly as one from a breed that is known to get along with livestock, as herders. She is just over 9 months old. My pup's mom herds a flock of chickens every night. When I first got the puppy, she loved going into the chicken area and eating chicken poop. She occasionally chased the chickens, but did not hurt them, and I was confident she would be a great helper to me, or at very least would be great company while I took care of the chickens.

Then one day something happened in the chicken area. I assume she got a shock on the electric fence. I had left her for just a minute as I had a handful of eggs I had to put down, and she did not come with me when I left the area because she was having too much fun. So I put down the eggs inside and immediately returned. Whatever happened, it occurred in that short time. She screeched and ran inside and under the sofa, staying there for the rest of the day. That was 2 months ago.

Now, she has an irrational fear of chickens (alektorophobia). I have tried to desensitize her, but her fear seems to be growing. Since sometimes one hen hops over the electric fence and roams in the backyard, my puppy is starting to be afraid of the backyard. She no longer will play ball with me there, and she won't join me while I am gardening. If I keep her outside in the backyard (with me also in the backyard), instead of following me like she does when I am in the house, she just sits by the door waiting to go inside. Now as summer is approaching, I will be spending a lot of time outside in the backyard. I had anticipated this as Mommy and puppy time, and I am so worried that she won't come around to hang out with me again.

Any suggestions?

I don't think she has a fear of chickens. She has a fear of getting shocked in general. She doesn't know where it came from and is afraid to be outside.

My blue heeler has been shocked by my horses fence three or four times now. The first time, she ran inside and coward. She wouldn't go to the barn with me and she def would not go anywhere near the fence for at least a month. She just acted nervous outside regardless of if we were by the fence or not. The second time she got shocked, my dad was outside with her and she did the same thing. Ran inside and coward and was actually afraid of my dad for a few hours after because he had been out with her when it happened and she thought he did it to her. Same thing, didn't want to go into the barn or anything for about a month. She has been shocked since these two times and she has finally put two and two together and realized it is the fence that is shocking her. She just stays clear of it but otherwise acts normal outside with zero issues. She will only walk through gates now and if her ball bounces under the fence, she will not go get it. You have to grab it for her.

I believe your dog is scared in general because she/he doesn't know or understand what shocked her. All I did with my dog is just act normal. Called her to the barn even though she wouldn't come in and then one day she did. Called her through the gates and showed her it was okay. I just did normal things and tried including her. If she didn't want to be included I left her be, but eventually she came around and got back to normal. And now she understands where the shock comes from and steers clear from it.