Skittish Nebo ??

[wolf_Q]

I've been wondering if Nebo could possibly be going through one of those "fear periods" mentioned in another thread. He's been a bit umm...skittish...around some people and places lately. He's never this way at home. He's as relaxed as can be at home, and will come and jump in anyone's lap and give them kisses.

We went to Petsmart on Saturday. I was waiting for Melissa outside of the bathroom with Nebo on a leash. He kept pacing and acting like he was terrified to be in that spot, but I don't know why. And with most people who wanted to pet him (which was many lol) he would sort of back away at first, not freak out or anything, just act a bit shy with them (although after a minute or two with most people he would lick their fingers and be more friendly)

I took him for a walk tonight around the church. It was dark, and some boys were coming up the sidewalk. They weren't doing anything abnormal...just walking. He acted like he was afraid of them and was tugging on the leash to get away.

He is also terrified of the vacuum or anything that sounds like one, but not many dogs seem to like those.

How am I supposed to react when he is scared like this? Do I comfort him? Ignore him? Try to get his attention?

In case you don't know about Nebo, he's a siberian husky puppy...he will be 6 months old in a few days. I've had him since he was 8 weeks old. He's been through puppy kindergarten. He is neutered.

One more question....not related to his behavior. He went to the vet last saturday, and his last vet visit was 3 months ago. He now weighs 40 lbs, which means he's only gained 5 lbs in 3 months. How long do you think it will take to reach full growth? I've never had big dogs before, so I'm not quite sure lol.

[ramanth]

Well, to answer the fear question.... if you are walking him or standing around and you notice that he seems to be nervous, talk to him. Comfort him and praise him, telling him it's okay.

Hopefully he'll realize that you are comfortable and that he too has no reason to be upset.

We learned this in my obedience class. The instructor was making loud noises that would generally alarm a dog. She was checking for master/dog reaction. The proper thing would be for the dog to look at his or her master to gauge a response.

So if mommy is cool with the loud noises, then I have nothing to fear too.

We were prompted to talk to our dogs, telling them everything was fine in a cheery voice and even pat them on the head reassuringly.

Nebo is still young and the world is so big. Hopefully he'll out grow the jitters.

Hope I helped! Good luck!

[lv4dogs]

It sounds like a "fear stage". I do not totally agree w/ ramanth. Yes, remain calm so Nebo can sense that but do not talk in baby voices & praising as it is just praising him for acting nervous & will probably make it worse. Just a simple short pat & "its ok". When he is calm then praise, praise, praise! You can try to destract him with a sit command or down command etc... I would enroll him in another obedience class & try to get him out as often as possible. The more socialization the better. I would not worry about the vaccume thing as it is fairly normal for dogs to act frightened by it.

He should reach his adult height at around 9-12 months. Then he will start to fill out for up to a year after. By 1 1/2 -2 years they are fully grown. But they grow slightly slower as they get older and a husky is not too big of a dog ussually around 50-60 lbs.

[lizbud]

I don't think "comforting" a dog with words or pats will
eliminate the fear or nervous reaction, of any dog. The dog
can sense not only their own fear but ours as well, so if we
stay calm & distract them with a command to do something
else,it can change their focus & stop the reaction. We are
their leaders(alpha), & WE're Not Afraid . That sort of thing...

Make sense ?

[wolf_Q]

Thanks for your advice guys.... I had heard that if you comforted a dog when they are scared, it's like you are "praising" them for the way they are acting. I know we always comforted Reggie, and now he'll really act up with shivering and everything over loud noises.

Nebo was really bad tonight. It was quite dark, and I was walking him with my friend to her backyard so she could feed her dog, Lady. Well her brother walked up, and right from the start, Nebo was TERRIFIED of him. He didn't do anything strange...but Nebo was totally freaking out, and wouldn't go near him. He acted really upset. Craig (her bro) got down on his level and tried to talk softly to him...even held out a treat for him, but Nebo would have NOTHING to do with him. He was just struggling and trying to get away. I tried to get Nebo to focus on me, and least sit, but he wouldn't pay any attention to me either.....

I plan on getting him into basic obedience at Petsmart, but I was going to wait until after christmas...as right now I really don't have any time or money.

Ahh, it's just really upsetting me that he's acting like this....he acts FINE at home......

[ParNone]

Hi wolfq!

Oz is a bit of nervous nelly about some things right now too.
I've been taking him and Murph walking almost every night
and there's one house that we pass, where he just freaks
over their dog barking. He has no problem with any other dogs
barking behind their fence as we walk by, just this one.

So I just made a point to walk by there every night and just
ignore Oz's behavior. Murph also ignores Oz and the other
dog barking. Oz's reaction lessened every night and by
about the 4th time past, he's not paying any attention to the
barking dog either. So I think him seeing that Murph and I
didn't seem the least bit concerned helped him.

Par...

[wolf_Q]

We went to my grandparents house tonight. He's been there once before, but that was when he was a tiny puppy. He was fearless then. Tonight he acted so NERVOUS. He was acting the same way as he did with my friends brother, although maybe not quite as bad. Watching him I was seriously reminded of a wild animal. He was like a wolf. He would go near my grandparents, and was very jumpy....sniffing around the room. I gave my grandparents some treats to give him. He'd kind of creep up and snatch it from their hands and back away to eat it. He wouldn't let them touch him. But after a while..maybe a 15 minutes or so...after he'd checked the place out, he came closer to my grandma. He came up to her and licked her fingers a bit, and let her pet him. And when we had dinner he crawled right under the table and laid on her feet. He seemed much more relaxed around them when he realized food was involved.

So after being there for a couple of hours he was OK with my Grandma, but he still did not like the idea of being friendly to my grandpa. He was able to relax and take a snooze also (by me of course lol)

I'm hoping this *is* just some sort of fear stage that he will get over. I don't want him to be terrified of every strange person he meets. I was even thinking maybe getting involved in the therapy (going to hospitals, etc.) when he's older, but it would be quite difficult if he's scared of everyone lol.

What has happened to my fearless puppy?? I've heard both things about huskies......some say they are very friendly to strangers, and other say they can be quite aloof to strangers. I'm sure it depends on the dog also.

He's definitely getting into the basic obedience class in January. Hopefully I'll get Melissa to take Lady also, she really needs it.

Any more suggestions to help him get over his fear?

[anna_66]

Amy, here is a couple of sites I had bookmarked, it might help a little....
doggie door
Siberians

I was trying to think if Roxey had ever been like that, but I don't really think she did. I know if we go someplace new she's never been, she has to get a feel for it first, but then she's her same ol' crazy self But Huney has acted this way LOTS of times, so I know what you mean.

I hope he can get over this soon!

[DogMania]

My dog too!

[ceejay]

Large breed dogs grow very quickly for the first 6 months or so.. after that they seem to "shoot up", but skinny up and not gain much weight.. Its not abnormal that your puppy has only gained 5-6 pounds in the last couple months...
Male dogs will reach sexual maturity around 7-12 months of age. which means he will become a " LEG LIFTER".. My dog is a 9 month old Doberman and he was a "SQUATER" till a couple weeks ago... he is about 29 inches tall, and fully grown he shouldnt be over 30 inches. But over the next year he should start Filling out and and grow his other inch.. LOL
and as to your concern about his " shyness"... Lots of love and attention as well as basic obediece training.. Sitting when meeting new people is an EXCELLENT thing to learn... Also something that helped my puppies... Have the friend stand beside you, not directly in front of you.... facing someone is sometimes a sign of Confrontaion or wanting to fight.... Same as when you are training your puppy to COME... Starring directly into the puppys eyes, is not a good idea.. . I Made funny noises and did silly stuff cause puppies loves to play... Hope this helps ya... Just remember you are in CONTROL and your puppy looks to you for guideance.

[lv4dogs]

Continue to get him out as often as possible to better socialize him. Also enrolling in another obedience class would be a great thing to do!

[wolf_Q]

He's been acting much better lately...sorry, I guess I haven't updated my original post. He's afraid of random people occasionally, but seems to love most everyone. I have him in an obedience class which his first class is this wednesday.