House of Scary

Well, it's been 5 whole days of living at this crazy new house, and Ein is doing brilliantly in certain things, and terrified by others.

Things that terrify the little guy:
-New objects
-Big objects
-Fridge
-Vacuum cleaner
-Washing Machine
-Fireworks
-People walking around
-Dogs walking around


Phew.  And the thing is, because he's so little it makes sense.  All 14.2 lbs of him.  So what does this crazy little guy do when he's scared?  Runs and barks.  A lot.  Lots and lots of barking! 

So here's what we've done to help curb the fear.  We pick up Ein, put him in our laps, and then I pet or rub the thing that is scaring him.  For example, we sat in front of the washing machine, him in my lap, and me petting the door to the washing machine as it ran.  He slowly calmed down (sometimes I say quiet as he barks and gently hold his muzzle together to reassure him that we do not bark at these things, then say Good Boy when he's quiet).  He even reached his nose out to the washing machine door and sniffed it, and as he got more confident we put his paw on the door, and voilá!  Much better!

That has curbed the fear of all objects so far except the vacuum.  Vacuums are scary things man!  Oh, and the unknown people and dogs walking around.  He still doesn't know what to do about them, but we'll make it work!

Totally recommend this trick with your dog.  Hopefully you'll have less "scary" things around your house too!