The main thing I wanted to do with Sierra when she was a cute fuzzy 10 week old puppy was to use her as a therapy dog. She has displayed such a wonderful personality and sweet temperment, I am sure she would make a wonderful therapy dog.
Recently though she has begun showing fearfulness towards some people. I've only seen it with men so far. She will start to bark, her hair will stand up and most of the time, she will whine and run with her tail between her legs. Today she almost went through a plate glass door trying to get away from Jeff's brother, who we recently spent a weekend with, with no negative reaction from Sierra. She had a great time that weekend with his dogs. I thought maybe it's because Jeff's brother is a pretty big guy, but she acts the same way towards his other brother and my step-son's friend who are not big guys. None of them have shown any sign of aggression, fear or negative responses to her. She used to love both of Jeff's brothers.
I just don't get it. A month and a half ago she was fine. Now suddenly this fear. And only certain people.
Any ideas what could be going on? I was so happy because the obedience is finally starting to sink in, but this behavior does not look good for my dreams of owning a therapy dog...I can tell her actions are based on fear, not aggression or dominance. I just don't know why it has suddenly developed.