[OnyxTC]

Hi,
I have a two year old female victorian bulldog and she is so afraid of everything, I mean a box or a bag or sudden movements all these things make her so skiddish. I don't understand the root of this, she has never been abused at all, we treat her like our little baby. She is very obedient and she was very easy to train, but since she was about 6 months old she has just become afraid of things, I just want to break her of this so she is able to enjoy more things.

[Emily94]

Has she ever escaped the yard? Has she ever been babysat by someone? She could have had a bad experience then. The best way to fix it is not make a big deal of it. If you see a bag blowing and she see's it and gets scared do not cuddle her, your rewarding her for "bad" behaviour. I'm not to sure on anything else just thought I'd give my 2 cents.

[shazamataz]

Sometimes there isn't anything that has happened to her to make her frightened, they can just be timid dogs.
Same as people, some people are a bit more anxious, or reserved than others.
It can be improved, but it depends on your dogs genetics as to how much.

I have a poodle here who was rather timid, her fear was of people and places.
I got her out every day for about a month to our local dog park, plus we hosted several parties at our house.
I just ignored her when she was scared... acted as if there was nothing wrong, and eventually she got much better.

So for my dog, throwing her in the deep end worked. I just bombarded her with people and new places constantly until she finally 'cracked'.

For yours it might be as simple as playing a tape with loud sounds on it in your house, and sitting there at night rattling a bag for a few minutes.

[Alty]

Many times it's our reactions that cause fear.

The first time she jumped or showed fear, what did you do? Did you ignore it, or did you baby her, cuddle her, tell her it's okay and try to soothe her?

We're humans. Usually we try to soothe, because that's what we accept as comforting. Sadly, when you do this with a dog, you're confirming that there's indeed something to be afraid of.

Once the fear has been instilled, it's hard to reverse it, but not impossible.

You have to start slow, introduce her fears to her, but no forcefully. Start with the paper bag. First take her for a long walk, make sure she's good and tired, then sit her down, bring out the paper bag and place it on the floor. If she's upset, afraid, ignore that, just talk in soothing tones, calm, and then, when she calms down, give a treat and move the bag closer. Continue until the bag is right in front of her.

Keep this up and within a few days, or weeks, depending on the extent of her fear and your consistency, you should be able to bring the bag in with no reaction from her.

Tons of praise through this process, never any coddling, or "It's okay baby, don't be scared". Strong, calm, and praise.

That's my recommendation.

Good luck.