[baumgartml16]

Hey all,

Koda is just over 8 months old now and seems to be getting frightened easily.

Last night the neighbors across the street had placed their christmas tree outside at the bottom of their driveway and she was crazy about it. She saw it out the window and started howling and barking like crazy and wouldn't give up the rest of the night. She would go to the window give a little woof at it and go away only to return and do the same thing 5 minutes later..all the way till she went to bed at 11. This morning it was the first thing she went to look at. We took her over to look at it on our walk this morning and she was hesitant but once by DH went over and started talking to it she went by it and was fine then.

She did the same thing last night when some dead leaves started moving around on the side of the house. It seems to happen more when it is dark out and she doesn't know what it is but she is persistant when she finds something she doesn't like.

If you make a noise while she is staring at it she jumps back like a meteor just dropped...she is so jumpy.

Is this a fear period? Do we just ignore her when she barks or what should we do?

Any suggestions/comments welcome...

 

[mrmooseman]

Moose is scared of EVERYTHING.. and I mean everything. Some loud trucks he is fine with, but others.. not soo much. He is absolutely petrified of the vacuum. Why ? We have no idea. Lately he's been more scared of other things that never bothered him before. But other things he use to be scared of he isn't.

 

[baumgartml16]

Yea, it is just recently that she has started barking at nothing when it is dark. She used to be terrified of the vacuum and our trainer said to go up to the vacuum, bend down and start petting it/talking to it in a calm voice, and the dog will associate it with a good thing. We have done that a couple times, every time she comes over timidly and sniffs it and eventually she is licking it...then she follows it around when we use it..lol..its funny.

I know we can just take her to whatever it is she is barking at but it is dark out and cold right now and I dont want to go outside every time to show her its okay...

 

[Deber]

We are having this with 8 mo old Kye. Out of the blue she will walk past the fireplace and see her reflection. OMG! There is a Buggie-Man and she goes to barking, howling and jumping. I have to get up and walk to the fireplace and pat it and talk to it like it is alive. Finally just threw a blanket over the screen so she can't see herself. She is also jumpy at the mop (where the heck did this come from?). I can swear nothing bad has ever happen to her by Mr. Mopman.

I too am hoping this is just another fear stage.

 

[baumgartml16]

LOL..if you step back and think about it I usually laugh..they scare themselves so bad over NOTHING! It is just annoying after a minute or two of barking...

I like the one of Kye seeing herself in the fireplace and being spooked..I can imagine that is funny to see her reaction.

 

[Debles]

Sasha went through this at that age. He was afraid of everything it seemed for awhile. We tried to show him all the things that were Ok but he is still afraid of garbage trucks and New Year's eve fireworks (more like bombs!) scared the crap out of Gunner too. So we'll see how it goes.....

 

[mrmooseman]

moose is the same with his reflection. we have mirrored closet doors in the bedroom and he would be soo scared and would sleep with us if he woke up and saw himself.. so we now we just put a blanket over it at night.. but he's been barking and growling at his own reflection.. which is something he has never done before. i was worried for a bit because he would never bark.. and now he's barking a lot. the neighbours dog (which he never ever has), his reflection, barking dogs on tv. he use to only sit in front of the tv and turn his head sideways when he heard barking lol. he's getting ballsey

 

[ozzy'smom]

Ozzy just did this with a garbage can that blew into our yard the other day. He barked and growled and would not stop staring at it out the window. And the other day something in my neighbors garbage set him off. He's always been a bit jumpy outside when it's dark but is even more so these days. Must be the age!

 

[baumgartml16]

That makes me feel better...at least I know she isn't just a big weirdo!

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

Wyatt was/is a HUGE scardy cat. Afraid of pretty much everything from a plastic bag blowing in the wind to men wearing ballcaps: He still finds new things to get spooked by:bowl: Just the nature of the beast and of course personality. My Cody was afraid of nothing except thunder and fireworks. While Wyatt is afraid of pretty much everything EXCEPT thunder and fireworks.....go figure. Cody was independent while Wyatt is a velcro dog. If people didn't know any better they would think Wyatt had a horrible past LOL! Lots of socialization and maturity is the best medicine.
Oh and I wanted to mention Wyatt will play ball in our pool until we literally have to stop him. But if that pool sweep hose (snake) gets near him while in the pool he freaks and won't get back in until I remove it LOL!

 

[Deber]

I love my dogs, I love my dogs...I L-O-V-E my dogs!

BIG SIGH! So glad to have this out in the open. Sometimes I hate to say what we are going through, cause afraid everyone will think my kids are nuts. They are nuts at times, but praying this is just another fear stage to go through. Kye has always been a quiet one. Now she seems to look for the Boogie-Man everywhere. Coop is only 3 months behind her, so Big Sigh, he will probably go from my quiet snugglie bear to a rip roaring monster too.

VERY glad you posted this so we can see our dogs are not totally retarded, but right now my beautiful little girl is really going through a headstrong stage, pushing her training now barking during the night at her own reflection! Classes start soon and believe me we will be an hour early!

 

[wmag]

I left my jacket on the back of the kitchen chair and Kasey freaked out! She was backing up from it barking and growling. I know terrible but I couldn't stop laughing it was so funny. She got me back for laughing when she just about gave me a heart attack! I hung my comforter outside on the wash line and forgot all about it. The next time I took Kasey out she started barking at it and scared me so bad I just about jumped out of my pants.

 

[baumgartml16]

HAHA...these are great! I feel relieved knowing we aren't alone in this. It is pretty funny to think of the things that scare them. We too are starting class again in about 2 weeks and I can't wait. She has been the teenager these last couple weeks too and refuses to do what she knows. She does it sometimes...but every once in a while gives up.

 

[Calistar]

Our breeder told us that goldens go through a fear period for about four to six weeks starting at 17-24 months, They suggested that we minimize any new training and simply not stress the dog focusing more on well learned things, play time, and walks in quiet areas away from strangers. Before and after this period the walks around strangers are fine and part of the socialization process. Seems that everyone who replied has experienced this. Our boy is about 4-8 weeks away from experiencing this.

 

[morbidangel]

Well i think it's a typical golden trait , i guess .
i have the same problem i live in a apartment & every night if she hears some1 talking outside climbin stairs or opening their doors she starts barking , at tyms i wonder y ppl say golden are crappy guard dogs nishka seems to 1 hell of a job.

my milkman comes at around 5-30 early morning & she barks at him too , den usually day goes smooth .

 

[mrmooseman]

moose had really bad dreams all the time. is that normal? lol maybe their not bad but he constly is having dreams and it crying in them. lately he has been growling. and i mean constly. the past 3 nights he has woken us up crying :/

 

[Deber]

Haven't seen the bad dreams yet, but the kids sleep in the den (thank goodness). Really this is all funny and one more step we are all going through, but relieved to know mine aren't the only ones.

 

[baumgartml16]

I just woke up to Koda last night crying in her sleep..scared the crap out of me cuz she has never done it before. We talked to her and she calmed down and went back to sleep...

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

My boy has been fearful since birth....... but it gets better every day with socialization, walking him in unfamilar places with different sounds and noises (which is very important) and of course maturity. I have not met a golden no matter how old that doesn't get spooked someway or another.......it is just their nature.......My old boy Cody would accidently bump into something and scare himself lol!

 

[Miaya's mom]

Miaya is spooked by everything. We finally had snow last week and car left a large Tire Turd at the end of our driveway (chunk of ice and snow that builds up around the wheel well and falls off) she just kept inching up to it and running back to me.. She was scared to death of it , it was so funny to watch her every time we went out she would stop in her tracks and eyeball it. Its finally gone but she still stops and looks in that direction…