# Sudden fear with no apparent cause



## bn1974 (May 4, 2010)

Hi everyone! My name is Renée and I am new to the forum. We have a 3 yr old GR named Maggie that we have had since she was 3 months old. She has been a wonderful dog so far - easy to train, great with the kids and very smart. Just a very happy dog - very playful and outgoing.
Recently she has started showing a fear of men. She is absolutely fine with other dogs, with women and with children (male & female). 

With grown men she has started barking and being afraid to approach them - even if she sees us approach them (ie a neighbour had a friend over and she wouldn't go near him even though we were talking to him). We can't think of any triggering incident that has happend - this seems to have come out of the blue.

She is not afraid of men that she knows, but only strangers.

Any ideas on why this is happening and how we can help her overcome this fear?

Thanks!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

1) Avoid all scary encounters.
2) Arrange for a full vet exam. It may be good to find an eye specialist (...lacking in vocab...someone jump in with what the title is!). Any sudden change in behavior warrants a full exam, bloodwork, check for tick diseases. But with something like this...check the eyes.
3) How often do you go on off property leash walks? How has this changed with the arrival of spring? How many new people does she meet on a regular basis?

Do what you canto avoid scary encounters, especially until after the vet check, and then we can create a plan to help her.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

As always...if the behavior is 'new'...rule out anything medical....if she has linked pain with a man or if her thyroid is not functioning properly....then the medical issues needs to be dealt with first before behavioral & training issues can be worked.

If she has ear infections and her experience with strange men is that they like to rough up her ears...or if she had a painful tooth and a man to played a rough game of tug...or if she has a bad hip and a strange man playfully thumped her on her rump....she may not care for 'men'. She may be willing to forgive the men in her life that she is attached to...but not so willing to forgive strange men...

Have you been able to observe any similar characteristics....height/weight/facial hair/hats/uniforms/has the person been under the influence of drugs or alcohol/are they loud/have a funny gait?


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## 58loosy (Apr 18, 2010)

My Breezy that passed on last year did the same with strange men ,same time period no reason, I just kept socializing alot, taking her places around alot of strangers, start having men she doesn't know give her a treat, Breezy grew out of it very fast. I'm sure she will to. Good luck it just takes time.


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## 58loosy (Apr 18, 2010)

Just thought about Breezy's age she was probably only 6mos. when she started that behavior, it could be her thyroid, my sprnger 10 yrs. started getting fear agrssion with dogs, she had been on thyroid small dose for ayear, had thyroid checked and it showed the thyroid a bit higher, now it is a haf dose, hoping it corrects the problem.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

6-7 months old is a fairly common developmental 'fear period'...and one they typically pass through quickly...

However original posters dog is 3yo - not so typical....




58loosy said:


> Just thought about Breezy's age she was probably only 6mos. when she started that behavior, it could be her thyroid, my sprnger 10 yrs. started getting fear agrssion with dogs, she had been on thyroid small dose for ayear, had thyroid checked and it showed the thyroid a bit higher, now it is a haf dose, hoping it corrects the problem.


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