What are your dogs afraid of?

[Carrie]

What things tend to make your dogs afraid or nervous? I have always been interested in observing that in my recent and current dogs.

My Lab would not walk over any kind of grated surface where there was a hole underneath. I took her to a fish hatchery once and the whole, long walkway which zig zagged down a long hill was all grated and there was water running way down, underneath. I really wanted to go there, so I just lifted her and made her get use to it. That was years ago. But she wasn't afraid of much.

My Dobe, Lyric, doesn't seem to be afraid of anything much. He'll walk over things like that without even hesitating. But, I've practiced him as a puppy, when walking on the city sidewalks going over grates and other weird surfaces, elevators and past big noisy equipment.

Yesterday, I took him to this parking lot near by where they were having health checks and there were all these big motor homes and people milling around. One was running constantly because they needed the power, I guess to run their mammogram equipment. There were metal stairs that were temporary and very shaky. The whole thing was shaky. I asked Lyric to wait at the bottom while I went up the 4 or 5 stairs to hand the person inside some paperwork. Lyric decided to not wait (lol) and followed me. He was not one bit worried about these wobbly stairs which were hollow and grated. He was ready to follow me if I were going inside, which I wasn't.

My Chihuahuas aren't afraid of stuff like that or much of anything either. But Chulita still hasn't gotten use to the vacuum cleaner and shies away from it, but isn't afraid of the lawn mower or weed whacker. LOL.

Jose is a little more timid in some areas, but has no fear of black bears and ran one off of my property last year. LOL. (Not funny!)

None of my dogs is afraid of thunder or lightening or fireworks. The dogs I had when I was a kid were deathly afraid of it, but the ones I've had as an adult haven't been.

So, I was just wondering about any little quirks or fears. Sometimes these dogs can cause us to wonder where they're comin' from. LOL.

[LuvMyPups]

Well, Tori is afraid of...well pretty much everything...fast movements, loud noises, most strange people, the vacuum....and the list could go on....she was beat before so I don't really question any of it...

Kayda, she only appears to be afraid of the vacuum cleaner at this point.

Riley, I haven't found anything that he is really afraid of....he leaps over couches and walks on the arms (he is 35lbs) and just looks at the vacuum like what are you going to do to me....

Libby appears to only be afraid of man hovering over her as she gets low to the ground....

All of mine will sleep right through thunderstorms at night....we apparently had a bad storm Friday morning and my boss said her dog, Oggy, was crying and pacing around. All of mine, fast asleep in the bed with me...

[dollface]

Hmmmmmm I'll start with Taz (hybrid) he's afraid of alot of things which is weird. Big trucks, buses ect but he is getting a lil better as long as they don't come to close. Air ballons way up in the air, vaccuums, thunder, big beach balls, water guns, noise from toy guns, garden hose, sprinklers lol he's the biggest suck ever...

My boston's can't say they are afraid of much if anything... We were at the park and had a ledge to walk on or walk in deep water (about knee high the kids rode their bikes thro), we had a wall to our back and no problem Junior and T-bone walked at ease. They have no problem going thro tunnels (of course I make sure it is safe, children tunnels at parks), walking across the lil swinging bridge... They seem pretty relaxed to do things I ask of them... Weird to cause Taz has had so much socialization compared to them... Mind you they are afraid of thunder storms and really like to bark at the vaccuum and chase it around so I have to lock em up so I can get something done... They will jump on anything or over anything. People is another story they tend to shy away and may growl if people approach and don't let the dogs approach first. I usually give people treats and get them to offer one to them. But if they are excited to be petted they walk over and put their feet up on them to be petted...Dozer well he don't really let anyone touch him unless he is in our house and he slowly goes over if he likes you, if he doesn't he just stays away... If the kids are walking them then no one can come near cause they let out a growl then bark.

[Ritz459]

Well, Rose is a poorly socialized, timid dog, so she is pretty much afriad/wary of everything. But the things that top the list is loud noises like thunder, dumptrucks, trashcans banging, schoolbuses, etc. But she is fine with Combines and tractors. Go figure. lol She is also scared of strange men (or heck, even men she knows) but she is fine albeit a bit timid around women. She is fine with kids though.
I don't know what Blackie is afraid of. He doesn't like loud machinery (jack hammers, etc.) but he is more wary of them than afraid.

[calgal]

Delsi, my 13 year old Chihuahua, has never been afraid of one single solitary thing in her life. Nothing even remotely fazes that girl. Zada, my 5 month old Yorkie is afraid of the noise the wind makes when your driving with the window half way down, and bumpy roads. That's all so far for her.

[Carrie]

What a kick. Yup, Calgal, I can attest to the Chihuahua temperament. They look so tiny and fragile, but their tough as nails, aren't they.

Oh, I thought of something Lyric is worried about and that is the hose because guess what Mom did to him last summer? LOL. And he isn't into spray bottles. I brushed him this morning until he gleamed and then sprayed some show sheen on him....stuff you put on horses to make them shine....hair polish. He didn't much go for that, but put up with it, especially after I explained to him how beautiful and shiny he was. LOL.

He also won't go in the lake or any water past his pasterns.....thinks he'll die or something. The Chi's won't go in voluntarily, but when I set them gently in the lake last summer because it was incredibly hot, they didn't look particularily alarmed and swam from the end of the dock back to shore....great swimmers too! Then they shook themselves off and just sort of glared at me, like, "How dare you?"

But I guess those things aren't really fear. They're just pet peeves of the dogs.

[calgal]

That's really funny. I love days I can get a good deep belly laugh. My Chi would look like a sea-horse in water. Never could figure out why her bottom half sank. I bought her a life jacket, but it was too big. Needless to say her swimming days were over.

[Carrie]

Never could figure out why her bottom half sank.

LOL. Does she have more body fat in the front part and more heavily muscled in the rear part? Funny. Did your dog look like she liked it all right? Lots of dogs hate it. I don't think Lyric will ever get in voluntarily. He's such a big baby. Maybe I'll think of something. It's like...what if they would like it and they're missing out? LOL.

I got kind of use to my Lab...she, of course got into any body of water she could find. And my GSD liked to swim too, but wasn't nearly as beautiful a swimmer as my Lab, Bonnie. She glided through the water without a sound. You could hardly notice her and she was strong and fast. She could really cover the distance. I miss watching that.

Yeah...I was suprised at how beautifully these two little Chi's swam. They got themselves streamlined right off right off the bat and smoothly and strongly, no splashing....swam straight back to shore. They didn't look afraid, but they looked kind of ticked off, glaring back at me over their shoulders when they got back to the beach. LOL.

[oc_spirit]

Nothing really phases OC, he's seen and experienced so much that he has a pretty stable attitude. He does get surprised but I mean, that's very common and he's quick to investigate what startled him in the first place. He used to be afriad of cats but now will chase them without a second thought. As a young pup he was afraid of pop bottles but now they're his favourite toy although he's not a big fan of large water jugs (5 gallon ones) so I'm working at getting him comfortable with them. With all he gets exposed to daily it's just better if he's not scared easily. Also wouldn't be very good if I brought him to a fight rehersal and he was trying to run away from everything because he might snap his leash and run between two people fighting with weaponry

[WingedFoal]

Bitty isn't afraid of much. She's not fond of going down stairs, but that's understandable. The only thing she truly hates (and we've never been able to figure it out) is when someone stands in front of her and points their finger at her. When she was a baby, she had a horrible roaring fit if someone did that to her. Now, her lip twitches and she bugs her eyes out, so she's calmed down a bit. But that's not a fear.... So I guess what sums it up is that Bitty doesn't have much fear!!

[calgal]

Yes, Delsi was very thin from the bottom of her ribcage on down, but not anymore. Since she had her last eye removed she just doesn't want to walk at all and has gained weight. I really have to keep her on a strict diet. She may be able to float better now but I'm sure she would not want to be in the water. I should try her in the tub. She used to love being in the water and would just bob up and down like a cork looking ever bit like the sea-horse........pointy nose and all.

[Ritz459]

Oh, ya, I just remembered; our dogs are afraid of the hose too. (Carrie mentioned a hose, so that was why I rememebered. lol ) They hate it when I mist them or spray them, even if it is for a good reason. The only time they'll brave the hose is when they are really thirsty and I'm giving them fresh water with it. Then they'll come up and drink out of their water dish while I have the hose filling it up.

[RedHotDobe]

Well, Duke was afraid of the beep from the oven timer. It was only that one sound, even if it sounded *kinda* like it, it didn't scare him. It was only the oven beeper. He also hated the counter. His water and food bowls were next to the island, and he didn't like the overhang or something. I'd have to pull them out for him and put them in the middle of the kitchen for him. He didn't like the steel drain cover things either (do they have a name?). I would walk on them and show him they were safe, and he'd look at me like I was nuts, lol. Oh, and he didn't like kitties. As long as they were being good, he didn't mind. But when the big bad, 10lb kitties would run at him, he'd take cover.

He was a crazy dog.

[Michelejc]

JC is afraid of thunder, reflections of light on the wall and this ceramic sun that I have hanging in my living room.....

[Odie]

Odie isn't afraid of fireworks or thunder, either. Sometimes he gets scared of sculptures in the park, especially at night when he can't see very well and can't figure out what the bulky things are. He barks at the sculpture, tries to get close but then steps back in hesitation until he has enough courage to sniff the thing and see that it's not even alive. And sometimes when he's just sniffing around, I startle him with a roar for fun, and when he realizes it's me he wags his tail and wants to play with me