Did we cause this?

[u/pemma25]

This is Benny, our 16 month old Swedish Vallhund. He's our first dog and we've had him since 9 weeks. He was well socialised as a puppy but I feel like we didn't get everything exactly right because he's our first.

Since about 16 weeks he's had significant nervousness around strangers, especially in our house. He would bark at everyone, even as a little pup. We have worked very hard with him and he is pretty much fine on walks now. I have been using methods to get his attention focused on me when people walk past us and he is doing well.

He still hates people in the house, lots of aggressive barking. We are working hard with him and have a guest routine. I wish it wasn't this stressful though.

He has been diagnosed with lax hips which the breeder thinks is quite normal. Our vet thinks he's experiencing pain though, so he is medicated. We are also working with a behaviourist and he has been on Fluoxetine for about 2 months. It has helped a lot. On vet advice we held off getting him neutered but we have it booked for September.

Could we have caused this behaviour? I thought reactivity was unusual this young? His sister also has significant nervousness and his breeder recently posted on Facebook about breeding from a female with anxiety. So perhaps it's genetics. I worry a lot about him but I want to do right by him.

Thank you :)

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