My Gytha has been acting very sullen. Im a bit worried. Need some guidance!

[Momtogytha]

So Gytha is my 6 month old Dobbie pup, who is a firecracker. Shes super active, jolly and LOVES play to a point that sometimes exhausts us lol. She normally doesn't get scared easily either. But for the past 4 days we have been having some construction going on in my bathroom which is attached to my room, and since she spends most of her time in my room, she hasn't been able to have her afternoon naps in there. We only go in to sleep at night. Since the construction began, she has been terrified by the noise. I try my best to keep her in a place thats as further off as possible from the noise (and stay there with her myslef. I dont leave her alone), but the noise still travels and she gets so scared. What she has started doing is, is that she gets scared, jumps up on a sofa with me, cuddles me and almost starts going to sleep or becomes VERY slow and lazy suddenly. This lasts for a WHILE. Many times shes well rested, but she still almost goes into a depression nap.

Its worrying me a lot. Though once shes regained herself, she slowly starts to get better and eventually does return to her hyper, neurotic, firecracker self. But the fact that she gets all scared and just drifts away for hours, worries me a lot. Is this normal for pups when they're scared?

Her weight, height, eating habits, are all ideal. Shes also become more obedient, biting is almost to a null (almost). Should I take her to her vet?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Kaiser2016]

It is probably mentally exhausting for her to make sense of this new noise, so she sleeps it off when you are close by. Also, if they're not usually allowed on furniture, they will curl up and go to sleep to avoid being corrected. But she's still very young, so it's probably a fear period. They go through these stages where suddenly they seem scared. Best not to coddle it by petting her or reassuring her. Just act like nothing is happening and she will follow your lead. You could show her the source of the noise, or play with her near the noise so she can see that this is all fine.

 

[Ddski5]

Absolutely agree with @Kaiser2016

- fear period
- do not coddle
- engage in play or feed: something pleasurable during the stimulus that causes fear. Do this a lot to desensitize her from the fear of the stimulus.

do not baby or coddle her….

 

[Gelcoater]

Absolutely agree with @Kaiser2016

- fear period
- do not coddle
- engage in play or feed: something pleasurable during the stimulus that causes fear. Do this a lot to desensitize her from the fear of the stimulus.

do not baby or coddle her….

Yep. Engage in play. Ball, tug toy, a simple rag tug, or distract with scent games.

 

[Ravenbird]

do not baby or coddle her

In case you are wondering the reason behind us all agreeing to this: If you coo & coddle her when she is afraid, you are sending the message to her that "Yes, it's big noise and it's scary and dangerous but if you snuggle up I'll help hide you from it". What you'd like to teach her is "Yes, it's big noise and different, but we just carry on with what we were doing because it's no big deal". In other words, build her confidence by showing her that you will be there for her and there's nothing to worry about.

 

[Momtogytha]

In case you are wondering the reason behind us all agreeing to this: If you coo & coddle her when she is afraid, you are sending the message to her that "Yes, it's big noise and it's scary and dangerous but if you snuggle up I'll help hide you from it". What you'd like to teach her is "Yes, it's big noise and different, but we just carry on with what we were doing because it's no big deal". In other words, build her confidence by showing her that you will be there for her and there's nothing to worry about.

This is wonderful and makes so much sense! Thank you so much for explaining so well!

 

[Momtogytha]

It is probably mentally exhausting for her to make sense of this new noise, so she sleeps it off when you are close by. Also, if they're not usually allowed on furniture, they will curl up and go to sleep to avoid being corrected. But she's still very young, so it's probably a fear period. They go through these stages where suddenly they seem scared. Best not to coddle it by petting her or reassuring her. Just act like nothing is happening and she will follow your lead. You could show her the source of the noise, or play with her near the noise so she can see that this is all fine.

Makes so much sense! Thank you so much! I was going the opposite way hahah. Thank you very much for explaining this so well!