[celstu1]

Well I gotta be serious for a bit here.

I'm having some issues with my Fletcher. He is almost 3 years old. He is afraid of EVERYTHING. Its heartbreaking! I slap at a mosquito he goes running to hide himself either on someone else or his bed. I NEVER hit him, no clue why he is afraid of me slapping myself. I'll have a cup of coffee and he's afraid of the mug, or a bowl of cereal and hes afraid of the bowl. He's soo petrified of my dishwasher Ive resorted to running it only once a week IF THAT, because it breaks my heart to see him SHIVERING so hard in a corner. (but at anyone else's house he does even notice the dishwasher is running) He's afraid of running water also, so its getting hard to wash my dishes! (haha) He's started barking at airplanes, motorcycles and kids on bikes. When a kid or person runs by him and startles him he goes ballistic. He is afriad of trashbags when I need to put a new one in the barrel. There are a million more things hes petrified of. The vaccuum, the AC compressor outside, the lawnmower are a few more.

On top of this fear he has, he has anxiety or OCD. He gets fixated on something or sees something and never forgets it. he saw a cat in BFs yard last week, it took off so fast and for HOURS Fletch kept going back to where it was and where it went sniffing and whining. I know that this weekend when I let him out at BFs house he'll go straight to where the cat was FIRST thing, he does not forget anything! He obsesses about things actually. He will bring you a toy, and you can only play with him with THAT toy. No other toy will do.

He used to lay with me at night on the couch to snuggle before we went to bed, but lately he's been laying all by himself in his bed in the kitchen. Whether BF is there or not he won't come over. If I call him over he just stares at me. If he gets up to check out something and I call him over he goes right back to his bed. If I go get him and bring him back to the couch with me, he won't stay with me, he fights me and then when I let him go he goes right back to his bed. Once we go to bed though hes my loving little boy again, plenty of kisses and snuggles. Just not on the couch like he used to be. This is just in the last 2 weeks.

I know I need to take control of my dogs and be the pack leader. I want to start really buckling down with training but Im afriad that his mentality is fragile right now. I don't want to put more things for him to be afraid of in his life right now.

BF and I joke about how he's such a wimp, but in all honesty Im genuinely upset at how nervous he is. I don't want him to get neurotic and out of his mind!

Ive tried holding him in front of the running dishwasher and talkign to him, touching it, making him touch it.... doesn't help. Ive tried holding a cup or bowl against him so he sees it won't hurt him, doesn't help. Ive exposed him to these things in hopes that he'll realize they won't hurt him, but nothing has helped.

Any other ideas at this point. My poor baby is going to have poor qualitity of life if he stays sooo afraid of everything!