The second fear imprint phase in puppies takes place between eight and fourteen months of age. We have worked really hard from day one to expose Madison to as many places and things as possible to keep her from developing fears. Last week, Mom and Bailie took Madison for a walk at a new place where she could experience some more new things.
Fear in dogs is not the same as in humans. A dog may develop a fear of a leaf, or something that makes a sound, so exposure to lots of things is important. Going for walks and taking photos is also a great opportunity to work on basic training for sit, wait, etc. Just being in this gazebo is something new for Madison. She was not afraid to go in, but some dogs might be. It’s just one more thing a puppy can experience.
Walking around Cobblestone Lake a puppy will also learn to deal with bikes, skateboards, joggers, people fishing, and lots of kids, as the trail around the lake is in the middle of a housing development. Madison is working on resisting the urge to chase or try to jump on any of the things she sees while out and about.
The big test on the walk came towards the end when Mom had my sisters walk out to the end of the floating fishing pier. Mom fully expected Madison to flip out because the pier moves as you walk, and you can see through the boards, down into the lake. Amazingly, Madison had no problems at all, but Bailie was another story. Poor Bailie was scared to death, but with some patience and coaching, she too made it out to the end to pose for a photo.
No creature is completely without fear, but we hope Madison is developing a good base of experiences to help her out through her entire life. Now you know, you don’t have to do anything really out of the ordinary to work on keeping your puppy from being fearful! If you start desensitizing your puppy right away, you don’t need to worry so much about the second fear imprint phase because you work on fears every day anyway!
We’ve been working on these same things with Rye, who is almost 14 months, a lot since she got here, too. She usually thinks things are great these days because she gets lots of high value treats when she interacts with new things–like a bouncy wooden walkway by the lake that I thought she’d try to run away from, but she was happy to sit down and pose for a picture in the middle. I’m glad you’re all teaching Madison to be such a brave dog!
Mom says she gets better with training with each of us. Madison is a real tough puppy so far.
Great job combating the fear stages. I wish more people would do this.
I think many dog owners have no idea about these things and so many people don’t do much with their dogs anyway.
I have been following your blog for a while after finding you through Wagnwoof Pets but never commented before. I just love all your training tips and they have helped me immensely with my second pup Tu-Lei who is a GSP and just turned a year old. I must admit I had never heard of your breed before. You are all gorgeous.
Thank you! Our breed will not be full AKC until next year. There are only about 300 of us in the USA, 1% at our house, LOL! We love it when we can help out others with our tips. Happy birthday to your 1 yr old GSP 🙂
Always a good idea. I did that with Torrey and she can handle most things. She is not a fan of loud noises, however.
Sometimes things develop later in life, one can’t prevent everything, but we do our best to prevent fears if we can.
Madison you look like a little kid. You guys crack us up. We never knew about the imprint of fears at that age
Lily & Edward
Many people don’t know about it which is why we thought we would post about it. Madison is our little kid…in a fur coat!
Excellent post, Emma! And it looks like your mom has done an excellent job helping all of you through whatever fears you’ve had over the years.
She does her best, but we all have our fears regardless. At least we have lots of exposure so we aren’t afraid of many things.
Your Mom is doing so great with Madison! What a great experience to get out on that fishing pier. Luke was definitely at that age when he started developing some of his fears. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get him worked through them and he only got worse. Some dogs are just going to be a constant work in progress, probably due to bad breeding and genetics.
You don’t know what happened to him exactly before you got him. You work really hard with him and he is lucky to live with people who take the time to help him.
You all are doing such a good job with help Madison. I bet it was scary going out on that pier, I might have thought twice about it myself. 🙂
I’m not fond of the pier, and Bailie is skeptical, but little Madison tackled it head on.
That is very wise and we know Madison appreciates not being fearful too!
She is a pretty self confident little girl so far.
That’s great that you are getting Madison so many experiences. We’ve been trying to do the same with Bear, but at 5 months old he seems to have more fears then my past puppies. I’m hoping he will over come those fears over time especially since we’re training him to be a service dog. We’ll see how it goes. Not all dogs are meant to work.
Every dog is their own dog. Not all are outgoing and adventurous. Our breeder knows us and selected the puppy that she felt would fit us best and we think she picked the perfect one. Just remember never to force a puppy to do things, always make it a fun game, that keeps them happy and not scared.
That is such a great idea. I wish more pet parent’s thought of how to desensitize their dogs at a young age. I love your photos ♥
We are working really hard with Madison on getting her out there and so far it is really working. She has a lot of self confidence.
Wooftastic work Madison & Bailie.
Resisting urges
Nose nudges,
CEO Olivia
It’s important to keep a puppy well rounded and exposed to lots of things.
Oops..
I was saying, resisisting urges & fears is hard work.
Nose nudges,
CEO Olivia
Sounds like sweet Madison is fearless. Great job exposing her to all sorts of stimuli.
She is a pretty self confident little girl!
That looks like a great park to socialize.
Lots of good things to work through at that place.