second fear stage

MissyGallant

MissyGallant

Forums Enthusiast
Can someone please remind me when the second fear stage starts? As in, what age, approximately?

Thanks. We took Cooper out today and he acted scared to death.
 
According to Pat Hastings book, Puppy Development (my Bible!) the second fear stage can occur any time between 6 and 14 months. She calls it "the fear of new situations" and says it can occur more than once as the puppy goes through growth spurts.

Pat says that even well socialized puppies who have previously been very outgoing can literally overnight turn fearful, and I've seen this happen. You get up one day and you have a different puppy, with no rhyme or reason! She recommends continuing to socialize and train and let the puppy work it out and build self-confidence.

She recommends making light of fear and reinforcing play behavior with lots of praise....in other words, back to Ground Zero of socialization. In my experience, sometimes this works; sometimes it doesn't. I think you have to catch it as soon as the fear is manifested or it's reinforced.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's called "Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development" and takes you through the first few years week by week early, then month by month with information on how to handle the age. I'm sure it can be found on Amazon. Pat is also a well respected Sheltie judge.
 
Ann, thanks so much. Cooper's stitches didnt hold, so the vet had to add three staples today. He didn't use any pain killers. And we took him into the petstore afterwards because it was right there and he is out. Cooper was shaking like mad. We will just keep taking him placez once he stops hurting.
 
another perspective

I go the way of intuition and sensitivity. Shelties are highly intuitive, or mine have been. Mine have ALL have been very good judge of characters. If mine get unusually timid, nervous, or shy. I tune in to what is going on around them, and try to see it from their frame of reference. I could usually pinpoint the sudden reluctance or change of behavior. I would stop and take in the environmental cues, and 98% of the time they were highly aware of circumstances I would have missed and there were good reasons for their fear, apprehensions, etc.
 
Cubby actually had 2 fear phases. One was 8 months and one was 13 months. The 13 month one didn't amount to anything. The 8 month one he imprinted a fear of counters like you pay at the vet because he had a vet visit and just was terrified at that time. Go figure.

I like Ann's suggestion of the book.
 
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