Overly Sensitive?

I had a really long post but it was deleted -_- so long story short, J-Roc has been reacting to every day interactions as if I'm going to euthanize her. For example when I came home I saw a couch cushion lying in the middle of the floor. So I picked it up and put it back without saying a word.

When I looked over at her she was curled in a tight ball at the end of the hallway. Her eyes were bigger than an anime character's and she seemed to be absolutely terrified that I was even looking at her. I chalked it up to her being a weirdo and continue on to my bedroom.

J-Roc eventually slinked into my room and asked to go out. So I get up and when I go to put the slip lead on her she kept backing away and had the whites of her eyes showing. At that point I backed off and softly called her over and she slowly approached with a soft somewhat anxious look. I got her leashed and headed outside with her. Once outside I took her off the leash and told her to go potty. J-Roc proceeded to pace behind me as if she was scared to walk in front of me.

I don't know if she is going through a phase or some kind of personality shift. It's very frustrating because I have treated her like the sun shines out of her ***. The only thing I could think of that would have her act like this is I was involved in an epic fight over the weekend and I'm wondering if my chernobyl sized meltdown left her terrified of me? J-Roc was only around for half of it but I definitely sounded like a demon.

If anyone has any ideas and maybe some insight on getting her to understand that I'm not someone to fear, J-Roc and I both would appreciate it!

That's my dog in a number of situations. I get the slinky, petrified look, ducking away from my hands, etc., pretty routinely.

Certainly could have been how you were acting on the weekend. Raised voices are one of Venice's triggers for her turning into a chicken noodle. Pretty much the opposite is what gets her back to normal - 'jolly talk', silly babbling, lots of invitations to play, generally acting goofy without pressuring her at all. Not moving into her space but bouncing around chatting to her and getting toys out and she ends up crawling over and shaking her 'scareds' off. Still acts tentative for a half hour or so after.

J-Roc's young, right? Could be a fear period. Help her out with happy happy happy, and do whatever she likes doing.

I think it's very very likely due to your fight or whatever, even if it wasn't directed at her, especially if she's tuned into you, that can be really traumatic.

How old is she? How long have you had her/who had her before? Maybe if she's been exposed to abuse or violence (towards her or anyone else) she might be more sensitive to fights, but lots of dogs are sensitive to that anyway.

It could even be something like - a thunderstorm really scaring her, or someone knocking on the door aggressively while you aren't home. But I'd put money on it being your recent situation.

Is she exposed to anyone else who might yell or punish her for behaviors she might do while you're not home? Ex: a dog that's been corrected harshly or abused for chewing might be afraid of a person returning after they chew. But if this is sudden it's probably the fight, so I'd just work on limiting confrontations/your reaction, and if you feel yourself getting into a hostile situation, try to remove her so she doesn't witness it sorry you had such a stressful weekend, once J-Roc realizes you're not going to yell again she'll be more normal!

J-Roc is approximately 6 months old, she lost her last baby tooth last week. I've had her since the second week of November. She was listed along with her littermates on Craigslist and had been born and lived outside with no fence under a shed. I've been J-Roc's only owner since picking her up.

I am guilty of yelling "JAMIE, BAD DOG!"(Jamie is what we call her when she's naughty. Equivalent to a mother using their child's full name.) when I've caught her in the act of chewing the couch pillows before. I then would substitute the pillow with an appropriate chew immediately afterwards. I leave her African buffalo horn out for her to chew at her leisure whenever I leave. It's apparently indestructible.

Y'all are most likely right about my roommate and I's recent blow-up. J-Roc is very sensitive to our emotions and actions so the tension might have caused her to just shut down and have a freak out of her own. We've since put our fight to rest and have been working on respecting each other much more. My roommate is committed to training her the way I've told him to and is consistent with that training.

We've been acting very upbeat and have randomly engaged her in playing with her toys. Along with calling her over and treating her for following the recall. So far she doesn't seem quite as anxious. We'll keep up the positive interactions and I'll work on keeping control of my temper.

At 6 months most likely entering a fear stage, and the fight majorly does not help at those times.

Be calm with your pup and J-Rock should come out of it fine in a short period.