5 months old Development questions

[Rotten666]

So my 5mo old DH has been a joy , I believe I'm a experienced dog a and puppy owner , and my husband and I have completed puppy class and have now graduated into the"obedience 2 " classes
but she seems to be developing a little fear issues, When I take her with me to the beach, walking , hiking and the barn where my horse is she is fine with everything and everyone noises other animals ... I'm defentaly the alpha but when my husband takes her with out me she has been getting a bit jumpy , hiding behind him , barking at other dogs just developing a bit of shyness . Should I just let them figure it out or not let him take her without me for a few weeks?
The other thing I need advice on is sometimes the more I do with her the more energy she has . I spent hours with her at the barn then playing with a friends young dog that included swimming and a hike and training, when we got back home she was still running around , this has happened a few times I finally had to just crate her to get her to sleep ( she doesn't mind the crate) .
The other thing is what is it with Dutches caring around their food bowl ? Oh my gosh it's the cutest thing! I need to get a picture !

[centrop67]

Should I just let them figure it out or not let him take her without me for a few weeks?

Unfortunately, these situations rarely just figure themselves out. The dog is likely loaded with stress when out with your husband, which probably stresses your husband. I recommend a small change to the routine when your husband walks the dog. You want him to do something that engages the dog's brain but on the simplest terms like basic obedience or simple nose work with some dropped treats before going on the walk. Then, it's important for your husband to act calm on the walk. If a "situation" occurs during the walk it should initiate a calm turn-around and walk back to the house. This is something you should be learning from a good trainer. There's a progressive set of actions to take before during and after that can build a better bond between them, but cannot be fully explained here. The best case scenario is to NOT put the dog in "situations" until you've mapped out a plan of action.

when we got back home she was still running around

Yep - endless energy. That's why there needs to be brain work on top of exercise. I know you said there was training, but perhaps mix it up with new stuff and challenges.

[borellar15]

Yea it sounds like there may be something different going on when your husband walks the dog. He may not know he’s doing it but it could be initiating behaviors that are not wanted. For instance putting tension on the leash as another dog is approaching can signal to the dog that the approaching dog is a threat and this warrants some defense behaviors such as barking or lunging.

As Michael stated I would avoid putting your dog in “situations” as much as possible until they are ready as it can negatively impact your dogs behavior in the future. Zoey was fearful of other dogs for a while because she had a huge labradoodle run up on her when she was very tiny and it freaked her out. I was careful afterwords about what kind of exposure she had to other dogs and it took her a while but she is no longer fearful of other dogs and has gained quite a bit of confidence. She seems to know where she fits in on the food chain now but that incident when she was a puppy definitely set back her socialization a bit.

[Dutchringgirl]

letting a DS "just figure it out" is not the way to go, they look to you for guidance. It seems like the pup is bonding to you and you are now her human, so when she is with your hubby, she is with out her human. DS are one human dogs, they like others but will bond to one and onely one. For now minimize the hubby alone time and go with them, let her grow up and come into her own. Have the hubby alone time be small time slots and as she grows and learns , they can become longer. But she may never like being with him as much as she like being with you.

These are protection dogs, they are meant to listen to one. My Thalie who had great top of the line training would not listen to anyone else. Nor my Sadie who has just been a house dog.

They never run out of energy, you can put her up for a nap, its always a good idea.

[Rotten666]

Thank you all , my gut told me that I needed to change something with the two of them , the only thing I can't stand is a fearfull dog so I have been very careful, so when he told me that she was acting different I new it needed to change, when she is with me she is mostly fearless , when anything causes her to be worried I make sure to reassure her , we have had encounters with all kinda of animals, people ,noises it seems that once she sees, or hears it and I tell her it's ok she doesn't react the next time , including dear , Turkey's horse's, although she is still a little shy of the cows.

[Tennessee3]

As others said, if there’s a difference between behaviors with two known people then yeah there might be something there.

5-6 months is also prime fear period timing too, they start getting hormones they don’t know how to handle. My pup went through a weird fear faze at 6 months where he was scared of all sorts of random things and little dude’s been a rock, territorial, and a bully to other dogs/people when not introduced. Since the day we brought him home at 9 weeks.

I say that just to say I wouldn’t go overboard either till you figured out what’s actually going on.

[Dutchringgirl]

dont baby talk to or tell her its ok, thats human talk, if she is reacting in a fear full way, ignore her reaction and you be the strong one and stay calm and focus like nothing is happening. when you tell her "its ok" you are telling her how she is acting is ok and you will teaach her to be scared.

[Rotten666]

Michael thank you for the good advise I have been changing our play days up with more brain training we have been doing some beg tracking and she loves it ! Then at night when she goes crazy I have started putting her on the leash and just having her near me big difference, any good books with other games to play ?
MNicholas , thanks for your thoughts on her hormones I have thinking about researching herds ( I do live in Santa cruz)
Duchringgirl I have a different opinion on telling my dog " IT'S OK " I don't baby talk to her I reassure her that she is safe. Examples. When I'm riding my horse sometimes she is tied up outside of the arena wa have a few large cows next to her, when thay walk over to the fence to smell and lick her she usallly stands up goes away from them ,I ride over to her and tell her " SHE IS OK " today when the cow came up behind her she didn't get up she even licked it back, We have a friend come over a few days ago on a very loud motorcycle Hannah was in the yard with me and she bolted up to me I scratched her head told her that she was ok and walked up to my friend who had a helmet on she wouldn't get out from behind me I gave my friend a hug and we talked for awhile then I walked Hannah away from the loud bike before he started it , when he did start it I scratched her on the head and told her that she was ok, I had my friend come back the next day and when he pulled up she walked up in front of me to say hello before the bike was off , I can't always be next to her when new animals or noises happen I can look at her and tell her she is ok .