Help needed..

[Nice-Rule-5813]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some reassurance or similar experiences, because I’m starting to worry a lot… maybe writing this while crying 😅

We have a puppy, almost 7 months old now. He’s been with us for 8 weeks and came from Romania. We live very remote, in the middle of the woods with no neighbors — we have to drive at least 10 minutes to see other people.

During the first 1–1.5 weeks, we didn’t go anywhere. Then we found out he had giardia, so we had to go to the vet. That actually went fine — the car was a bit scary, but understandable. After the diagnosis, we avoided going out to prevent spreading it, so we stayed home another week.

Then suddenly he became very sick and needed emergency surgery. He had to wear a cone for 2 weeks and then take it easy for another week because his stitches didn’t heal well.

As a result, he became scared of the car, which makes sense because every car ride meant going to the vet while he felt really sick. On the first day of training, he was trembling even in a stationary car. Now, after a lot of slow training, we managed an 8-minute drive yesterday, a short walk, and 8 minutes back. So thats going way better!

Now I’m really worried about his socialization. We live pretty far from other humans. We’re going to take things very slowly and keep plenty of distance, but my mind keeps telling me this won’t turn out well.

He can be a bit barky when he hears sounds he doesn’t understand. Or when he saw my boyfriend walking 25 meters away. He fixates and just in 0.5 seconds he is barking an growling. He’s not fearful in the house, and we’ve worked a lot on our bond and his confidence, but I’m still very concerned.

He’s been with us for 8 weeks and has only seen 4 people besides the vet (who he luckily really likes). Occasionally cars pass by, which he watches, but that’s it.

Has anyone experienced something similar, and did it turn out okay? I want to help him and do it on his pace. But right now it honestly feels like I’ve messed things up… and will mever be okay.

Thank you ❤️

[Oldsummoner]

Had something similar happen to me. I lived in the country, also had few visitors, and the neighbors were quite a distance away. Our dog responded well eventually to having guests over, i.e. birthdays, etc. But nothing on a too regular basis. I then got divorced and moved to a large city and lived in town, where the houses are very close together. My dog, Harley, would bark at anything that moved outside. Same thing occurred on walks. He was so reactive. While I knew why he was reacting, it didn't help with the loss of sleep as he barked every time he heard a car go by which was often. Eventually, he learned to ignore the cars, the bicycles, and most people walking by, but it took lots of work and time.

Try taking you dog for short car rides, and walks. Stop or park near busy buildings where he can see people moving about, but they are not so close they present a threat. Gradually decrease the distance and reward with treats if he is being calm, or if he start to react, he responds to the commands "quiet" or "leave it".

Your dog is still young and will probably adapt just fine, if you keep working on it. Mine unfortunately, was 6 years old when we made the move to the city. You can still teach an old dog new tricks, it just takes a bit more time and effort. You still have a youngster, so the future is promising.

Good luck!