# Afraid of strangers... 5 mos



## gisabella (May 23, 2007)

HI All,

Caper just turned 5 months on Thursday and all of a sudden he is really scared of strangers! Mostly strange men, but also some women. He now barks really loud and is very hesitant to come up and see them. I tell them to hold their hand out so he can sniff it and to let him come to them, and he sniffs for a bit but still looks hesitant and than he'll warm up after a few minutes. But this is totally out of the blue. My father in law has been walking him lately, and said he does the same thing with him, but thats the only thing that has changed lately (I used to walk him all the time and this never happened). What can I do to stop him from barking and scarring them? He used to be SOO friendly! He's always meeting new people on walks. Is this just a stage? I hope so. He's starting back at Obedience training on Tuesday (Thank God) so now he'll see lots of different people (He's especially scared of ppl wearing turbans). 

Anything I can do to help him be less afraid?


----------



## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

The obedience class should help ... it's not an unusual stage for puppies to go through. You might ask strangers to bend down, and let Caper approach them slowly, then they can stroke him under his chin. All very non-threatening. Also, consider giving the stranger a treat to offer him. 

Of course, it can be a friend of yours whom Caper rarely sees or has never seen -- doesn't have to be a complete stranger!

I went so far with Brandy as to stand in front of a busy Home Depot and encourage people going in/out to pet her.


----------



## Penny'smom (Mar 3, 2007)

Penny used to be so goofy and friendly that I thought she could go off with anyone and be happy. Then she got choosey about who she wanted to be friendly with.

She loves kids, will approach them on her own, will follow them with almost a worshipping look in her eyes, will snap to attention if she hears kids voices and even got very concerned about a boy who was swimming/floating with his face in the water. When he came up for air she was visibly relieved.

Adults hold no interest for her except for family members. She will approach adults and when they put their hands out to pet her, she darts away and treats them as if they're not there. Sometimes she'll get very barky and playbow with young men (under 30) but most she's just not interested in grown ups.

She has pretty good judgement so we let her make her own choices. She's 5 and 1/2 years old, has been around people, dogs, other animals, kids since 8 weeks old.


----------



## hgatesy (Feb 14, 2007)

We're dealing with this a bit with Camden, who just turned 5 months two days ago. We never noticed him going through a fear period until now. As a matter of fact... he was never afraid of anything until about a week ago. He was a bit weary of going into the vets (he usually loves it) and just here and there a few things through the week that wouldn't normally startle him did. Park went through a few fear periods where he was scared of everything... even his shadow. They passed pretty quickly though.

I'm sure things will start to pass for you in the next few days/weeks. We just continue to socialize and meet new people and try to make everything as pleasant as possible while this happens. Usually if something is extremelly scary, we will go check it out and I'll do my "ohhh... Camden/Parker... look at the nice ____ (fill in the blank), it's so nice!" While petting the object and speaking in my happy baby voice. That always works for the boys, and they immediatly become very brave.

Of course... it's probably not appropriate to go up to someone on the street wearing a turban (or anyone for that matter) and start petting them. :


----------



## foreveramber (Feb 25, 2007)

for jake, i wore weird hats, hoods and towels on my head. he has gotten much better, but is still hesitant around older men.

when she barks, is she backing away? or pulling you toward the person shes barking at...? if shes backing away, then its fear. but if shes pulling you toward the person, it could be aggression. ( just generalizations..) 

i found that when jake was barking at someone in a certain way, and was pulling me toward them, he was being playful. in other cirumstances, his tail wouldnt be wagging, and he would be doing a bark/ growl combo---aggression.


----------



## gisabella (May 23, 2007)

Hi All,

Thanks for the comments! Caper is getting better even after a week or so...but we also haven't been seeing many people on our walks lately. 

When a man wearing a turban came to our door and Caper was outside on our step with my husband he was barking and not backing away - Maybe he was being protective?? 

But most other times he'd bark and back away... as if fearful...and he'd be very timid when the person put his hand out to let him sniff it. It's just so strange because he'd always run up to people with his tail wagging and his ears back and be sooooo friendly! Lately he is also afraid of strange objects that he'd never seen before - like hockey sticks and big toy cars...He'd bark and back away. I hope it's just a stage. I'll keep you all posted 

Thanks again.


----------

