scared of everything

jacksonflugie · 10-05-2006

my black lab pitbull is scared of everything, especially hardwood floors and rugs, he is also scared of kids and puppies, I have tried everything to make things easier for him, most people can't believe that such a big dog is such a little baby, any suggestions

crassus · 10-07-2006

My dog's vet told me that such fear was due to lack of exposure. In turn, more exposure would eventually remove the fear.

myca · 10-09-2006

It's a strange behavior for a dog. Did your dog experienced accidents before? Better thing to do is to bring your dog to a veterenarian. It needs dog theraphy. I never heard a dog acting like that.

jacksonflugie · 10-10-2006

i might have to disagree with the lack of exposure theory, we own a convience store and he is always there. He is also scared of hardwood floors, and we have them in our house, but we accomodate with rugs, we also take him to various places and pet stores, maybe he is just a big baby.

granma_ota · 10-11-2006

What is his history? Did you rescue him or get him from someone? I have one that was, also, afraid of everything. I've had him for 5 years now and he is a lot more self-confident now, but he is still a little skittish. Training helped, lots of love helped, and security helped. He was afraid of my sister's oxygen tube, fly swatters, other people, being indoors, loud noises, screen doors, and especially thunderstorms. He ate my linoleum and holes in the plastered walls for the first 6 months. It just takes time. With him, soft, fuzzy squeaky toys helped and when I got my 3rd rescue that was 5-months old and starved, he made it his job to protect her. That's when he really started coming out of it.

vinstr · 10-11-2006

Don't baby him or give him any special attention when he gets scared or cowers for no reason, and don't act or do anything out of the ordinary. As he watched you, his leader, acting normally and OK, he will realize its OK. It will take time, but you must ignore him and act normally and eventually he will too...
We also have a PitBull/Black lab mix and he was/is so scared of thunderstorms/and bells (Like when the toaster oven timer goes off!!) He shakes and hides in the closet, but after about 6 months now, he is much better- he doesn't shake or run, he just looks around worried, but hopefully in another 6 months he will be over that too. When we used to baby him, he made no progress...