Our dog is scared of everyone

[Speckledhen617]

Pup is 12 months old now. For the last few months he's been scared of one person after another. First it was DS, then the children playing in the street, then my brother in law and now my Dad. He cowers, shakes and lip curls or growls. I've spoken to a behaviourist which resolved the issues with DS. We no longer walk him past the kids in the street so that's not an issue anymore but I just don't understand where this fear is coming now as BIL and my Dad have done nothing to scare him.

Will he always be like this? Is it a phase or just his personality? I just want to be able to relax at home and have people over occasionally. He's barking like mad at people knocking at the door and in the garden too.

I'm finding it really stressful.

Nothing to add i'm afraid but placemaking. Our dog is 18 months and used to be fairly pleasant with most people after initial excitement/jumping up but in the last 3/4 months he has become really anxious, barking and growling at anybody coming in the house.

I've been putting him on his lead when people come, staying in control and treating when i can feel him getting stressed to try and get him to associate visitors with positives but i have a feeling this is going to take a long time. I am awaiting a visit from a behaviourist - it is really stressful especially when it seems to be a new behaviour.

You need to find a new behaviourist. They obviously didn’t sort this to the core of the issue of that makes sense. A nervous dog just gets more nervous as the time goes along ( trust me on this I had a nervous dog ). But you have to work on the whole issue not just on one part ie the children.

As you have seen they are getting worse. Just because you have not seen what has set the dogs nervousness off doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and isn’t real to them.

Nervousness is a hard issue to work with and can be made much worse by forcing the issue. Until you find a behaviourist to work with u I would stop any interactions that make the dog like that as it will just make the nervousness worse without knowing how to handle it.

Unfortunatley mine didn’t turn out okay as I left it to late to get proper help ( hence me telling you to get help with the root cause before it is too late).

Remember. Dogs don’t see things how we see them. What doesn’t make sense to you makes perfect sense to them. My behaviourist told me that and when I thought about it made perfect sense.

Imo, this is likely to be genetic.
Did you see your dog’s parents?
What were they like?
I think he will always be ‘wary’ and easily spooked even with a good behaviourist and need careful management tbh.

And I fully agree with a PP, left untreated or treated wrongly nervousness and/or aggression (which is often caused by nervousness) will get worse over time.

@Borderstotheleftofme. Yup 100%. That’s what happened to mine. Do not underestimate a nervous dog. Until u can get someone in I would be careful of situations.

None of us can say why he is nervous or how in detail to proceed.

You need a thorough vet check and then a qualified behaviourist referral.

There are thousands of reasons and unfortunately you will get incorrect advice unless the situation can be viewed in rl.

At 12 month old he's still a pup and they do have a fear face but usually at 10 months. I took in a recue dog scared of his own shadow. The way I overcome it was taking him out and exposing him slowly to more people. I used the distraction method of treats. Maybe a few walks to a park where there is people but sit at a distance at first. Then over time progress a little nearer. This worked for my dog.

At 12 month old he's still a pup and they do have a fear face but usually at 10 months
Mm, he’s not really though.
If he’s a small breed 12 months is pretty much adult, adolescent if he’s a larger breed.

Join the Reactive Dogs UK group on Facebook... the files there and advice..and just understanding, is fantastic, and they will help you loads and also recommend a trainer to help.
My dog (15m) doesn't like strangers coming to the house, and not happy with strange men in general. During her recent season she became fear aggressive towards EVERYONE but family.. dogs, people you name it,.
I joined the group, read the files and started implementing the CARE technique and honestly the improvement has been amazing in just a few weeks.
I am seeing a behaviourist shortly to work on her fear of strange men (as vets visits are awful) but I can see that she CAN be helped...

Thank you so much for all the replies. They've been really helpful.

@speckledhen617 It should have said fear factor not face. Google about fear factors in puppies.