Scaredy Cat Dog- anyone have one?

My Scoop is a great pup. He is sweet and gentle, barks at odd noises like a good watch dog but is frightened of large objects and certain noises. i can run the vacuum right around him but if a towel falls on the floor he jumps.

Last night, for example, when we walked he was frightened of someone's trash can.

perhaps this is native to some mix in his breed? he looks like a terrier/spaniel/poodle mix. does anyone know of any type of breed that is jumpy or is it just him? is there any way to desensitize him?

Just keep exposing him to different things and talk to him in a normal voice. You don't want to reinforce his ideas that certain things are dangerous or scary; you want him to get the idea that they are normal.

If he is afraid of things like towels around the house, let him see you put a treat on top of a towel (or whatever he's afraid of) and encourage him to take the treat. You can, after he's started to lose the fear, put the treats underneath the object and let him root it out. The Terrier in him will love that!

How old is Scoop? What do you know about his background? It could be that he's been in trouble for raiding a trashcan at some point . . .

OMG, 2 days ago Princess was in the dinningroom barking nonstop. I thought she must be looking out the window and barking at the cat so I went to shut the curtains, only she was looking towards my bedroom barking. She would back up slowly, go forward alittle, barking non stop. She was seeing something but I couldnt see anything. I thought MOUSE! My first thought was get on a chair and protect myself! Wasnt a mouse. Then I thought, oh no, what if I didnt hear someone come in or its a ghost or something, but then Gracie was walking around normal, she wasnt bothered by a thing. Then I noticed Gracie had gotten ahold of one of my slippers and had moved to the doorway in the direction Princess was looking. So I moved the slipper and sure enough, that is what Princess was freaking out over! She circled it, never getting close to it until Gracie thought that was me giving the ok to play with it and off Gracie goes with my slipper and Princess followed.
So yeah, Princess has her moments.

Peanut is petrified of the vacuum, trash cans, and she got spooked by a trash bag that blew onto our lawn a few weeks ago. She looked at it and then backed away. Anything that is out of place is an instant threat.

Princess always amazes me. She runs and hides when I sweep, but yet the lawnmower doesnt bother her, my husbands CNC Router doesnt bother her, saws, drills, ect., none of that bothers her. But let me turn on the sweeper and she hides until it's turned off.

Great advise Renee750il, I agree keep socializing the pup and don't coddle the pup when it shows fear. Just keep confident and praise the pup for walking past and object like the brave pup he is.
Fear of unidentified objects is an instinct that helped all animals including humans survive throughout the ages. It is called the "Fight or Flight" reaction. If it looks scary then it can possibly hurt or kill me, so for some pups/dogs they would rather flee and some would stay to fight...any cornered dog will have to fight.
When I first brought home each of my Newf's they each had a new item they had a fear of at first. One Newf would not walk across ceramic flooring (slip and fall fear), one almost died of fright when I picked up a bag of dog food and put it over my shoulder, he had never seen such a thing before and it scared the heck out of him. The dogs were never abused, they just never saw these items and reacted in fear.
So as Renee750il mentioned, keep socializing your pup, treat and praise when the pup ignores or braves a new item. Sometimes with new puppies I'll put an item on the floor and let them explore it themselves, I just sit back and relax so they don't pick up any anxiousness or nervousness from me.

Next time you are out walking and a trash bag or something else flies across the path..just keep going...most pups/dogs will react by looking at it, hunching their back and backing away from the item...but given time they will go up and explore it once they realize its not going to eat them.
Think of how you would feel if you were walking along and a big organic bubble rolls in front of your path...hey, it could be harbouring aliens for all you know You too would stop, perhaps back away...maybe even run from it...then curiousity would get the best of you once it showed it wasn't coming after you and you would explore...don't expect your pup to react any better. This is why socializing a pup to many different things in a positive manner is so important before the age of 16 weeks. A pup that is socialized properly is more confident and better able to take cues from their owner that the new items are not going to eat them.

i was using the trash can as an example. the other day i was moving my
weight set downstairs and he could not be coaxed to hang out with me. I got him at the pound and his owner wa s a woman who had him in an apt and the landlord said no, she did not want to give him up. i'v ehad him since 7 mths. i know of no particular trauma for him. he just gets spooked. he has been know to raise all 4 feet off the ground when startled

also i caled him pup affectionately but he is three now

I know a Yorkie who'll bite anyone, any time, but is terrified of mice. Jumps onto the bed and hides under the covers when he hears the mice down on the floor.

Sounds like Scoop really needs for you to be calm and very normal about things so that he can get acclimated to more and more as time goes by. Who knows what may have scared him in his previous life . . .

I Like your suggestions about the treats on the feared items, that is a will do

I also agree with the treats on the feared item. Good advice. BUT, I also believe that some dogs are just as they are. Just like some people are scared of the dark, others are scared of spiders and so on. I do also realize not to coddle.

Sadie, my cocker, would bark continuously at the trashcans on the end of everyone's driveways on trash pick-up day I try to let her out before people bring them out. HEHEHE (she's such an oddball) Nora, my westie, isn't really terrified of anything. Her personality is like OK jump in and think later, LOL. I guess in using an example, Sadie would be barking at the trashcans while Nora would be biting them wondering after what the heck was Sadie barking at? Oh, and granted Nora is only half the size of Sadie. What a pair they are.