Spooky puppy problems

[ChocolateMouse]

Ah, unfortunately they're too big to bring inside, I'm not actually sure they'd fit through the doors... But I could maybe roll one to the middle of the front lawn for a bit where we've been playing fetch.

Evening walk went well. We took a slightly different route where the treelawn is slightly slimmer. He was still jumping at cars still but otherwise it was suuuuper quiet, nothing was out of place and so he did well. He always does better on evening walks but there was just nothing to spook him last night except a few trashbags near one lamp post which we got past after a minute of sniffing.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Lesson translation ... can you put a clean trash can in your living room for a while?

Exposure isn't a bad idea, though for a dog that's randomly reacting to different things at different times, it might be hard to figure out what he needs to be exposed to and when.

My shyest dog wasn't a puppy, but a 2 year old male shepherd mix. He was so terrified that he spent the first 2 weeks with us hiding by the garage door, only coming out to poop, pee and eat. I finally decided that patience wasn't getting us anywhere and tied him to my desk, starting with an hour or so and then lengthening it. I set up a bed under there, put some toys under there, and he gradually stopped trying to escape and then eventually started coming over on his own, and then going to other spots in the house on his own. He still has the habit of hiding by the garage door when scared (4th of July) but no longer lives there.

He had a million other issues (food stealing, resource guarding, general fear of other dogs, people, and anything outside the house) but people now marvel at how much he's changed. No more food stealing or guarding, plays with other dogs and will approach people, etc. Last time we called our dog trainer over he brought a toy to her feet and lay there and calmly chewed on it while our other dogs ran around in panic.

 

[Folly's place]

I think you are doing great! It's been a very short time, and you are making progress with his generalized anxiety and sound phobia issues.
Keep reminding yourself that 'he's better than one or two weeks ago'!
My adult rescue pit bull terrier, who was abandoned at a shelter with infected wounds, very malnourished, apparently a 'bait dog', has come a long way over time. Years, in fact, but still she's done well. She's very sensitive/ neurotic, and likely would have been sensitive with a normal upbringing anyway.
Any progress is good, and you are making progress.
Nothing replaces the early socialization gone wrong, but your guy is somewhat young and doing well, given everything.
I also think that talking to a herding dog trainer now is a good idea, even if he's not ready to start a program.
Mary

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Thanks for the stories! He IS doing better one bit at a time. We do have a local sheepdog trainer that holds classes all spring through fall on a farm that rents sheep to herding dogs for training that we were going to work with once he's ready.
Rosemary, that was my thoughts exactly. It'd be one thing if it was one specific object (though the trashcans are an exceptional burden on trash days) but it's so many things at random that we need an attitude change more than work on a single object.

Today we went to the petstore for a round of socialization and buying more treats to train with since we're going through them like water even with feeding his meals in bits as part of training.
He was scared of the car for a couple minutes when we opened the doors but once I was inside I coaxed him in with treats very quickly and he entered without having to be forced. He also jumped right into the car to go home when we were on our way out. He still jumped when loud cars drove past faster than us.
He took treats from a few people and sat and did tricks within a couple feet of some others, but all these people were women or children. He's doing much better with women than with men and that's been the majority of his good interactions. I'm hoping it'll rub off on approaching men too but it hasn't yet. Last night we had a new male friend over, a shorter one at that, and he was VERY spooked for a good long while. It took a couple hours to warm up properly.
He was very happy to touch noses with the baby ferrets through the glass, and completely could not care less about the rodents, but the parakeets were Very Scary and he would only approach them on tippie toes, stretched out nose first to take treats. Makes me wonder how he'll handle the chickens and makes me glad we've got a solid reason to wait on the back yard to be honest. Let him build up confidence in the world before meeting the Big Scary Chickens I'm hoping he can learn to herd.

All around the trip went well and we came home with a lot of snacks and new squeaky tennis balls that were on sale. Now he's passed out on the floor from how overwhelming the trip was.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Have you talked to your vet about this? It may be worth seeing if they have an anti-anxiety med you can give him on a temporary basis, to help him stay calm while you introduce him to things.

 

[Hobbits Mommie]

I don't have much to add, except that my rescue Catahoula has been on anti-anxiety meds for thunderstorms, and 4th of July. This, after she went through a plate glass window. We tried to be patient, but after that couldn't afford to take the risk. Was initially afraid of cars and motorcycles, especially loud ones. When she'd react, we'd just stop and wait for her to recover. Since then we've moved to the country and she has a fenced yard (cattle fencing), and her new passion in life is to chase cars as they go by (long distance brave), with her new brother & sister.

 

[Folly's place]

Medications can be a huge help with sound phobia issues! Talk to your veterinarian, and thankfully July 4th is next year! Thunderstorms will be happening though.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Just not that very old standby, acepromazine...
Mary

 

[ChocolateMouse]

He already went through a thunderstorm and barely raised an ear. He sometimes, if the thunder is super loud, raises his head and looks around. I'm not sure that anti anxiety meds are necessary right now but I might try something like a DAP collar as I've heard good things about those and they're OTC.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'm not sure that anti anxiety meds are necessary right now but I might try something like a DAP collar as I've heard good things about those.

Possible other anti anxiety things to try would be thundershirts, calming chews of various kinds, CBD oil. I have one dog on Prozac right now, another one responded well to a thundershirt (she screamed every night for 6 weeks straight, the thundershirt immediately ended that... and then she ate the shirt lol), and my previously mentioned male did well on CBD through July 4th this year. Probably too soon for a prescription like Prozac - I'd like to exhaust other options (especially with a puppy) before having to resort to a long term medication plan like that.