07/10/2026
How old? 5months old!
Fear period time it seems for Miss Bluey…!
What is the fear period? it’s a time of changes in your puppy or adult dogs, there is a hormonal connection most likely taking place too.
Your puppy/adult dog suddenly becomes scared of something or someone they’ve never ever reacted to before.
What to do!? Nothing, let it pass, keep things the same. Dont continue to expose or counter-condition, Don’t reward, don’t give attention, don’t give treats or soothe. Within days/though sometimes a week they’ll be back to normal.
Avoid the trigger if the fear increases, until you puppy/dog returns to normal.
How did I know? I sat on my driveway to have lunch today in the sunshine, Bluey started barking at me like I was a complete stranger…! She was worried! (Unusual to see me sit down I know 😅)
What did I do? Nothing. I didn’t say “it’s ok it’s just me”, I didn’t get up and moved closer to her so she’d realise her mistake, I didn’t throw food at her so that she’d associate me positively, I didn’t tell her to stop being silly and stop barking.
I kept eating my lunch looking at her like I did originally when she started barking at me.
Within minutes as no reactions from me were received she started to play bow me and then moved on to playing with toys around her.
When she did that I got up, walked over to where she was without saying a word and shared the last bit of my lunch with her.
I went back inside the house to get another sandwich and went back out to eat more lunch in the same spot.
Absolutely no reaction the second time around.
A good bounce back which I was very pleased with 🫶 not to say it won’t happen again tomorrow for another reason but she showed great resilience in this distressing moment.
