# Fear stages



## Kasey71209 (Oct 6, 2009)

I'm wondering if V's or any dog for that matter go through fear stages at 2 (almost 3)?? I've noticed recently that Kasey gets spooked for the weirdest reasons at things he's seen and been around since the day I've taken him home like the fan.. Some toys.. He even gets spooked sometimes for no reason when he's eating! Has anyone else ever had this happen at this age??


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

I read about fear stages. However, I don't believe in them.

I think dogs generalize certain experiences in interesting ways. For example a fear of shiny, slippery floor may translate to fear of reflections from shiny things objects.
A bad experience with a very loud sound may make them apprehensive to sounds. I think it becomes a problem if even the human voice is a source of fear.

Our V was never afraid of slippery wood floors. We even raced on them....I won every race  
But, 10 min with my brother and he became terrified, walked leaning against the walls. Turns out, my brother made him jump up and down as opposed to just running on the slippery floor. Every time the dog jumped it would slip and fall. The fear of shiny, slippery floors generalized to a fear of heights. 
WE could have had a real problem had we not taken fast action. Took the dog outside, played fetch, tug, chase, in short everything to take his mind off the bad experience. 
It worked, and my brother is banned from just coming unannounced.

So you could say I believe in unfortunate experiences (not predefined fear periods) that the dog generalizes.


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