Scared Pup

[hammer4]

So...last night about 8pm I took Chance for a walk on a route we have used once before. About 6 blocks into the walk we come to a house that has what appears to me to be a sheppard mix male dog. The last time we passed, he gave us his challenge bark, and a small amount of a growl, Chance was startled and a bit scared, as we approched this home last night, and even though the dog wasn't outside, Chance wouldn't walk by the house, he totally refused to go near it. I didn't want to press the issue so we turned and headed for home. Now normally he does some sniffing and pulling as he's still leaning to walk on a leash, but this time he wanted to get into a dead full run, of course I stopped, tuned and tried again, we did this about 8 times, 2 or 3 times I sat him to let him calm down, but until the last time we stopped, he wanted to run home, alas he slowed down to a slow gallop. My question is, how do I treat this to get him over being affraid..? TIA.

[valliesong]

Get some really yummy treats, and slowly desensitize him to getting closer and closer to the house. Only reward him when he is being calm, not when he is acting afraid. You should be able to move a little closer each day, but judge it by his comfort zone, not by what you did the day before.