Hello everyone,
I have been lurking in the background for a while, but have became completely dependant on checking the forum boards at least twice a day for help with my new pup.
We have an almost 12 week border collie pup, Kailyn. We absolutely adore her, even when she is shredding my houseplants and digging up disgusting things in the backyard that she thinks are good to chew!
We are begining puppy class in one week and we can hardly wait. She has already learned a few basic commands and we are socializing her as much as possible. We walk her in the busy downtown areas to meet people, other dogs, and get used to louder vehicles etc., and she is adjusting quite well.
Our problem: when we try to walk her at night, she is absolutely terrified at any small noises and goes crazy to try to get home. We end up having to carry her halfway home when she's so scared. This happens even when we just take her outside for a quick pee in the evening. While we understand that she is still very new to the world, we would like to be able to walk her in the dark as well as the daylight and we aren't sure how to reassure her. We understand that it won't help to give her treats and console her because she will think that she is doing the right thing being afraid. We don't even have a chance to give her treats during a few minutes that she's calm because it rarely happens as she is so freaked out.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.