Random irrational fears

My catahoula pup is 5 months old. I know she is in the "fear stage", I'm just sure how to handle some of it. First it was a sudden fear of plastic bags.. She doesn't run in absolute horror at the sign of them anymore, but she's still nervous about them. Then it was a sudden fear of her food bucket and she wouldn't eat from her bowl until I moved the bucket away. Now, she's afraid to go through the entrance way to the room we spend most of our time in.

We used to keep a baby gate at the entrance way to keep her in (there is no actual door). There was also a swiffer mop in the area, and a container of plastic bags. Up until about a day or two ago she had no problems running through the entrance past all those items, but suddenly she decided that it was too scary. One by one I removed all the items to try to figure out what the problem was. Well, it would seem that now she is afraid of the A/C closet/vent that is on the wall of the entrance. Obviously I can't move that, so I'm not sure how to go about coaxing her into entering the room on her own again. I've tried calling her, enticing her with play and toys, high value treats, but she just refuses to enter the room on her own. If I take her collar and try to lead her in she pulls back with all her might. I don't want to traumatize her so I stopped pulling and ended up just picking her up and carrying her in. Once in, she won't leave. If she's got to go potty she'll scratch at the window (second story of the house, sorry pup you don't go out the window), or she'll stand there staring at the hallway beyond the entrance whining. I'll walk out and call her so I can let her out downstairs and she just whines at me and stays put. If she's got to go badly enough, she'll eventually bolt through the entrance like she's got the hounds of hell on her tail.

I admit I like not having to put the gate up to keep her in the room, but I don't want her to be afraid of her own home. I'm not sure if I should ignore it and stop carrying her in and out of the room (basically leaving her out of the room until she wants in badly enough to enter on her own), or if I'm supposed to sit at the vent with her to try to desensitize her. What is the correct way to handle this?

Sure seems odd at her age . No clue here !

My friend is a behaviorist and just did a consultation on a young dog that has fear reactions that sound a lot like your puppy. Since it was just a consultation, she hasn't started any real "training" yet, but I think she's planning on desensetizing the dog to all the things she has fears of, the way you did with the plastic bags. But, she said, the fear is very possibly genetic, and even when you desensetize to one fear, another one will crop up. I think you've seen this already.

The issue with the dog she's working with, she thinks, is that there is a deeper root to the problem. In this case, the dog is very demanding and the owners, having done basically the opposite of NILIF, are raising a spoiled brat. Hopefully, with some NILIF protocols implemented, the dog will start taking cues from the humans about what is scary and what is not, and some of the fear will stop for good.

I'm telling you all this, NOT because I believe you're raising a brat, but because I think it sounds like there is a deeper issue than just fear. IMO your puppy is a little old to have such severe fear reactions (despite the "fear stage" that younger puppies go through), and the fact that she doesn't get over the fear, even after desensetizing (still nervous about bags), tells me that this is not going to be an easy problem to "fix."

My advice: Hire a behaviorist who can come into your home and assess what you might need to do to get to the root of this problem, if anything, and how to prevent more fears from cropping up in the future.

Agree !!! You'll all be happier !

Unfortunately, we cannot afford to hire a behaviorist at this time. We've been on a very tight budget for the past year mostly due to having been unable to sell our condo in california and making double mortgage payments. On top of that we've recently had some unexpected vet bills for the ferrets and the pup had a few issues she needed to have taken care of when we first adopted her. We're trying to do a short sale on the property now, but if that doesn't work we may just ask the bank to take it in lieu of foreclosure. Once the condo is gone, we'll have an extra $2k a month again and would be able to do it at that time, but with the way the past year has gone I have no idea when that will be.

I read up a bit on NILIF. I've been doing a lot of reading since I got this pup. In fact everything I've read pretty much boils down to the owner needing to be a strong pack leader. Myself, I am a timid person and I'm trying very hard not to let this show to the puppy. I know I have to be strong for the puppy to show her that I am in charge, and she does not need to worry about anything. I've tried NILIF, but haven't been consistent enough imo. When she wants to go out, she scratches at the back door. I have her sit, and I open the door. She immediately stands up the moment my hand reaches the handle, and walks right out as soon as the door opens. For coming in, she sits and I open the door.. And she waits as she looks at me until I say "Okay" then she comes in. She will only do this at the back door, she always walks right in the front door despite my trying to stop her (It's a little difficult with the other dog trying to pull the door open from the inside). She's good about her food dish, in that she sits, I put the bowl down, and she waits for me to say "Okay" to eat it.

So maybe she doesn't have enough confidence in me, and doesn't know what to be and what not to be scared of. For now the best I can do is become more consistent, and hope that resolves the issue for the time being. I will hire a behaviorist when we are able to, because the other dog needs it as well.