My 16 week old puppy has reached some sort of fear period. About a week ago she started barking at something that she heard (I assume as nothing was there) her hackles were raised and she lowered herself to the ground. Another scenario is when we were out walking there was a man set on a bench, she stopped dead lowered herself down again and her hackles were raised, those 2 incidents didn't really concern me. Now she won't go in the garden, if i convince her too she won't come down the 2 steps back into the house. I left her for an hour and she still hadn't come in. How do I handle this one? She has been well socialized since we had her at 8 weeks we took her everywhere and this is also an ongoing we take her to as many different places, she's only shown fear in the last week.

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Step up the socialisation and positive training pronto. However, be careful not to throw her into situations she finds uncomfortable, as if she has developed fears, you need a slow process for her to get used to the scary situations.

Are you attending a training class/or do you do regular training with her already? Find out what really motivates her (food, toys etc.,) get rid of food bowls and begin to use her daily meal food & toys in training.

Yes we go to weekly puppy classes and I also train with her I do about 3 x 15/20 minute stints a day. I forgot to add she's also stopped going on the kitchen floor. What would be the best way to try and get her in from the garden? I've gone out and picked her up. I've tried to lure her with food and toys, but she stands at the top of the steps and barks at me.

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Have you some mats, that she's not fearful of you could lay down on kitchen floor to encourage her to progress, then reward calm behaviour, praise & play or praise & food. Handle gently and desensitise, but try and stay calm, unconcerned and unalarmed as much as possible.

Issue of teen fear periods discussed here, it's according to lFl less persistent than the first puppy fear period - teen worries, environmental change, ages & stages; ART

Just a little update. We put an old duvet down on the floor and she'll happily walk across that to the garden. She sometimes does the steps sometimes she doesn't it helps when a cat runs in front and she runs down the steps to catch them! I'm glad we've made a bit of progress was scared I'd broken my lil pup! I know we've got a lot of work to do, I'm going to start taking her to different places to get into new situations and smells etc, also going to make training sessions a bit longer. Took her to the lake this morning and she was greeting dogs and people as usual which I'm really glad as she is so outgoing and don't want that to change.

I noticed today she's lost a couple of front teeth so she's definitely going through some changes!

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The fear period usually often co-incides with teething. As hard as it is, do not pet or fuss her or tell her its Ok, any attention of this sort can reward the fear and cause further problems. Just give her the time and patience to see they fears are unfounded and let her work it out.

I have to put mats on my decking when its icy one of mine wont go out (Not a bad judge becase its really slippy) Gradually he has gotten over it as Nanuq isnt bothered in the slightest and he has obviously watched her.

I find with mine, if they are freaked or unsure of something in the garden, Saying absolutely nothing, walking down the garden and acting like Im checking it out and then calmly walking back still saying nothing has helped.
They then seem re-assured and go out, so thats something you could try too.
Another thing that sometimes gets them moving and out and has also worked is a cheese trail, throwing tiny bits of cheese ahead. One of mine didnt want to go out in the night to wee especially after there had been fireworks, and loves cheese and I found that worked (Or something else yours loves) so that too maybe worth a try. As they chase after and find one bit, throw another a bit further ahead again. Both works with mine as I said so maybe worth a go.

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