I always find our doggies' fears so interesting. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to some of them. It would have been great if we all knew about socialization when we first got our pups. Most of these fears develop when the dogs are very young.

Because a fear can develop and last a lifetime, I try to socialize all new dogs that come to live with us. I'm talking about prevention. There are all kinds of things that we can gently expose our pups to when they're young: sights, sounds, floor surfaces, different ethnicities of people, smells, and situations. For instance, you find your new pup is freaked out by a helium balloon when you went to the mall. What should you do? Take your pup home, go to the store and buy a helium balloon. Let it go in your house. Then just start feeding the pup treats when he looks at it. Let it hang around for days until the dog becomes desensitized and doesn't even care.

For any of you that still have young dogs, there are more socialization ideas on this page: http://loveyourdog.com/fieldtrps.html . I make a list of all the things I want to expose my dog to, and check them off as I do it. I'm careful not to do too much, too soon.