There are three main components that shape a dog's personality. They are genetics, puppy socialization and experience. Puppies that are born to parents that are fearful themselves may have a genetic disposition to fear. Also, puppies that are not adequately socialized, especially in the first four months of life, to lots of new experiences and environments can suffer from a lack of experience just as much as a puppy who has had a bad experience.

When we adopted Brutus back in July of this year, everything appeared ok. As he was decompressing, we noticed different behaviors were surfacing every week. First is was behavioral issues. Whenever, we approached him with the leash, he would urinate. Sometimes, he would roll on his back and urinate. It was becoming a serious issue. We were told to train him to build his confidence. It was much more complicated than that. Brutus needed behavior modification training and not basic obedience class. This was out of our area of expertise. Brutus tried a half a dozen of medicines for his anxiety. Some made his condition worse. Trazodone and Reconcile seemed to work the best. We still needed professional help with the training. I sent an SOS to the vets office and the vet behaviorists referred us to someone. By the time she came for her first house visit, the urination problem was starting to subside. My husband and I spent hours everyday doing relaxation training that I found in a social media group. When the trainer arrived, Brutus wasn't sure what to make of it. The visit lasted three hours and we gained knowledge on how to train Brutus the correct way for anxiety and stress. The trainer is a dog whisperer and just wonderful. There was a second visit with the trainer that lasted two hours. Again, we were giving homework for Brutus.