Strong nerves = never afraid?

[Emoore]

If a dog has strong nerves, does that mean that dog doesn't show fear? Does it mean the dog recovers quickly from fear? What exactly does it mean?

I ask because Kopper has never shown fear (with the exception of the vet looking into his infected ears with her Evil Flashlight of Doom) until a few nights ago.

I took him down to my neighborhood's National Night Out. There was a firetruck with the lights going and they would occasionally turn on the siren. There was a firefighter walking around in full fire gear. There was another firefighter giving a demonstration with the hose. There were police officers, kids, neighbors, lights, and those "poppers" that you throw on the ground and they make a noise.

He didn't flinch at any of this.

Then when it started getting on towards dark, I we started to walk home. Two young kids-- maybe 14 or 15 were walking towards us in the twilight, both wearing big baggy sweaters with hoods. They asked if they could pet him and I said sure. One kid came up to him with his hand outstretched and his hood on and Kopper hackled, growled, and backed up-- obviously a fear reaction. I had the kid take his hood off and Kopper looked at him a minute with his hackles up, growling, then decided he was ok and let him pet him.

He's met people in hoods before so I'm not sure if it was the twilight, the accumulated stress from national night out, or all of it together.

Just wondering if this might be an indication of poor nerves on his part?

[JakodaCD OA]

he sounds pretty bomb proof to me, and just that one incident wouldn't make me think he had poor nerves,,he's still pretty much a baby right? could very well have been not being able to really discern a face under that hood??

I dunno, this isn't something that would bother me since he recovered very nicely and otherwise he sounds like nothing much bothers him))

I think Masi is pretty bombproof, sounds, new things, whatever, nothing bothers her, she takes it ALL in stride,,BUT , she is petrified of my vet office is fine, techs are fine, the vet walks in and she's a bowl of quivering jello.. I don't equate that with poor nerves, I figure it is what is, and we deal with it..Worse things to deal with I quess, just a quirk for her..

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by JakodaCD OA

he sounds pretty bomb proof to me, and just that one incident wouldn't make me think he had poor nerves,,he's still pretty much a baby right? could very well have been not being able to really discern a face under that hood??

9 months. And that's what I was thinking-- he couldn't tell if it was a person since he couldn't see their face?

[Freestep]

I think it's unrealistic to expect our dogs to never experience fear. It's more about how they react to, and recover from, a scary experience. I would say that a strong-nerved dog is one that recovers quickly and learns what not to fear.

Originally Posted by Emoore

9 months. And that's what I was thinking-- he couldn't tell if it was a person since he couldn't see their face?

That would be my guess. Some dogs react that way to people with hats on, or helmets, or whatever--so it sounds like he was confused and a little afraid. That's okay--at 9 months of age, he's still a baby and the fact that he's never been afraid of anything until now (and the fact that he got over it quickly) tells me he has pretty good nerve. At his age, he's probably just now starting to recognize things that *could* be a threat; his defense drive is starting to come out. Keep socializing, he'll be just fine.

[sharkey19]

I don't mean to be stereotypical about teens, but were they trying to walk all "gangster" -like with a limp or swagger? Sometimes dogs will react to people walking with an abnormal gait.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by sharkey19

I don't mean to be stereotypical about teens, but were they trying to walk all "gangster" -like with a limp or swagger? Sometimes dogs will react to people walking with an abnormal gait.

Nah, kinda nerdy skinny kids. I've seen them around the neighborhood before; they don't seem like bad kids. If they seemed like trouble I wouldn't have let them near my dogs.

[PaddyD]

Your dog is still a 'child'. Give him a break. Especially if he couldn't see the kid's face at first meeting, it must have spooked him .... he is probably used to seeing faces on top of bodies. People expect too much of their dogs.

[SitUbuSit]

It really could have been the hoodie. When you think about it, there's no parallel to hoodies in the animal world. It's not like dogs are used to seeing each other cover their heads and change forms willy-nilly, which is the effect that hats and coats have on humans. To animals, we may as well be shape-shifters! Even I would growl at a suspected shape-shifter.

Kopper sounds like a good boy. I wouldn't let this incident worry you too much. Maybe practice with people wearing hoodies and big coats around him more.

[LukasGSD]

So long as he recovered ok, I do not think it has to do with weak nerves.

I think Jaxon had a fear period for like 2 days last month. I took him for a walk when all the kids were out and about. One kid asked if he could pet him, I said sure. As soon as he approached, hand outstretched, Jaxon hackled up and barked. A second girl approached the same way, same reaction. A third person holding a younger child came up and just pet him - completely fine. No reaction. Second day we were in petco and he found a man he didn't like who was kneeling down. I asked if he would let me walk by and have him offer some treats and then he was fine again. Hasn't happened again since. And before that he had never shown any signs of fear. He just turned 8 months old.

[JakodaCD OA]

freestep said it better than I,,you can't expect "nothing" to ever scare a dog, but it's about recovery