Second fear phase

[davewhite152]

Barney is 8 months now. He has been well socialised, taken to classes, public events, playgrounds etc. He has met lots of dogs without issue( wife is a dog walker) but recently we have had problems. We do live rurally so don't see many kids on bikes, pushchairs, mobility scooters and the like. When we see something slightly unfamiliar or another dog approaching, he barks like a maniac and rears up. When he gets close enough ( if I can convince the owners that my huge leonberger is still a puppy!) he has a nice greeting with the dogs but he is still wary of any bike etc until we get passed. He is worse on the lead but yesterday he was in the woods off lead and came across a family with 2 buggies. He woofed loudly a couple of times and a look of panic came across their faces, I had to rush to catch up. I have read of a second fear phase at this age. Do I do anything different other than keep taking him to new situations? I'm hoping he will get over it as he will be a right handful if he does this when he is fully grown!

[Stuart]

I think above all else, you are in need of a great recall,.. I think if you had that many of your problems will disapear.
Your reaction to what Barney does also convinces him that he is doing right,.. when he barked at the buggy, you ran over shouting,.. as far as he is concerned you were not shouting at him, but helping him out with what he was doing,... he was aggitated [sp] and so were you

If your recall was faultless, all you would have to do is recall to end the problem, you would remain calm and so would Barney.

I have not read of a second fear phase

[davewhite152]

Perhaps I did not explain it well enough. 99 % of the problem is when he is on lead. He is much better if he can plod over to the other dog, which is not always possible. His recall is pretty good actually and yesterday when he was barking I did not run over shouting, I just rushed over to grab his harness, the couple looked petrified. I read of a second fear stage in my leonberger book by the kennel club. I've only owned a bitch before and I did not know if this behaviour was more of a male trait?

[claire_88]

I'd run away from him, then you are more exciting, the chase as such.
I'v found with both of mine that whatever it is there interested in at the time they don't like seeing their food source disappearing

I haven't heard of a second fear phase though but a dog will react differently throughout it's life with different people, the couple with the buggy, you say they were petrified. Barney will pick up on this and react accordingly, now we can't ever change people's reactions to our pooches so we have to do what works for us, as i said mine is legging it away from them.

I agree partly with what stuart said though, by you rushing and grabbing his harness would make Barney think that something was wrong and the only source of that is the buggy and people there at the time.

Regarding the problem on the lead, have you tried focusing his attention on you?
Loud happy voices, high value treats, favourite toy, you have to be the better option for him.

[Caryll]

There is a 2nd fear stage. See the following:

Many behaviorists will note that there is a second "fear period" in the development of most dogs. Generally they peg it around 4 to 6 months or so. Some authors have suggested that the fear period can actually be later than that in development and I have seen some suggestions that this fear period can occur up to a year in age. This is one possibility for this behavior (though I think the least likely). The fear period described by most behaviorists is a naturally occurring period in a dog's life, in which confident and outgoing behavior is suddenly and dramatically replaced by fearful and shy behavior. The reasons behind this phenomenon are unclear but it is generally accepted simply as a "phase" that passes in time.

and....

Developmental Stages
(scroll down to the 6-14 months period)

Originally Posted by claire_88

I'd run away from him, then you are more exciting, the chase as such.

The problem with that, in this instance, is that the two people were scared, and running away would so not be the right thing to do to allay their fears!

I think you need to either recall immediately, and as calmly as possible, or teach a really good "Stay" so that you can call out stay & reassure the other people. Then you can walk over calmly and introduce them properly.

He's a big (understatement) dog even at his age, and a lot of people are pretty wary of big dogs, even if they're puppies!

Now, had it been my daughter he's run over to, he'd have had a good old game because she loves big dogs!

[wildmoor]

Dave you are correct in the GSD it is normally 8-14 months, not sure in your breed, just go back to how you would socialise a young puppy, new things, people, dogs, environment etc

[davewhite152]

Originally Posted by wildmoor

Dave you are correct in the GSD it is normally 8-14 months, not sure in your breed, just go back to how you would socialise a young puppy, new things, people, dogs, environment etc

Thanks. I was going to go back to basics, perhaps take him to a busy town centre so that he can watch the world go by. He used to be as bold as brass and very confident. Hopefully the phase will pass. He's turning into a pretty good dog otherwise, unless he gets excited and jumps on my foot