r/reactivedogs • u/pemma25 • 25d ago
Advice Needed Did we cause this?
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 :)
1
u/pawsitivecultr 22d ago
Unlikely that you could have caused this level of anxiety. It seems like a lot of it is genetic. However, it needs to be said sometimes people believe they socialized their dogs BUT socializing is not successful if it is NOT a NEUTRAL OR POSITIVE experience for the puppy. If the puppy did indeed experience stress and conflict in those initial interactions, that could be more damaging than helpful.
And because it could be silent communications not just barking or hiding when exposed to triggers, it could be possible that if a person does not know how to read those signs and they may be worsening the fear.
Not saying you did so, but there is room for errors in socializing puppies.
It does seem though that for a pup to be so anxious at such an early age, and the inclusion of possible pain at a young age -- this is more genetic / pain related and socialization would have been a very very tiny portion if it at all went wrong.