Scared puppy :(
 

Zoey is about to turn 6 months and ever since getting her fixed & her first groomer's, she has been scared of new people/strangers & other dogs!

She was fixed at four months because I moved in with the boyfriend who owns Guinness (male rottie&husky mix) and didn't want her to go through her first heat with him around so we both got them fixed. After her surgery (which went well) I started to notice that had some separation anxiety issues but thought maybe she'd get over it. At five months, we took her in for her first groomers and long story short, she had a HORRIBLE time there & granted, I'll never be taking to her there again. I had warned the groomers that it was her first time and that she had suffered from separation anxiety but once I had gone to pick her up, Zoey leaped into my arms.. clinging for dear life!

She gets along amazingly with Guinness. This past weekend, we took the two dogs to the dog park; Guinness on the big dog side & Zoey on the small dog side. It was her first time at the dog park and she didn't want to walk around or play with the other dogs that had approached her. All she kept doing was looking for me to pick her up or watched Guinness through the fence on the other side. I brought her over to the big dog run and she had a blast chasing Guinness around.

What worries me is that prior to her spay/groom, she was very playful with other dogs (especially her sisters & mother) and now it seems like she's afraid of new people/kids and other dogs aside from Guinness. Is there any way for us to help her get over this?

I would suggest that you don't reward/reinforce her scared behavior by petting and reassuring when she is acting afraid. If you act calm and self assured and don't react to her timid/scared behavior you will send a message to Zoey that there is no reason to be afraid. Start with small low level stress situations and let Zoey learn from you that there is nothing to be afraid of and as she learns to be more self-confident progress to more scary situations.

I learned this from my favorite horse trainer, and it works with horses, dogs, and humans as well.