Scared/nervous male

Question
Hello! My husband and I have a 4 month old male boxer and he is terrified of strangers and noises. We got him right when he was 8wks and have exposed him to many different kinds of people and places (we also recently moved across the country and Diego accompanied us on the drive). He is very comfortable with my husband and I, but he is very scared of people who aren't us - both inside and outside our home. When he sees or hears something "scary" he puts his tail between his legs and tries to run away or hide behind us (this often results in one of us being tripped). He completely loses his sensibilities. We've tried rewarding him with treats to reinforce calm behavior and consistently have people offer him treats. Our finances are really tight right now from the move, and can't afford to take him to a puppy class. We do take frequent trips to the local pet store and he goes on walks daily. We thought it was something he would grow out of, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. He is a really beautiful dog and people literally stop us in the street to ask about him and it is really embarrassing when they want to pet him (or even get within 10 feet of him) and he tries to run away like a beaten animal. Can you please help? We want to be able to enjoy him to the fullest extent, but we aren't sure what else we can do to correct this behavior.

Answer
Puppies typically go through a 2nd or 3rd fear stage at the age of Diego.  It's perfectly normal.  What wouldn't be normal is if he's displayed this behavior from day one.  You don't mention if this is a new phenomenon or if it's been on-going.

Continue on with what you're doing, you are definitely on the right track.  One thing, though, is to not let people approach him but to let him approach people.  When you have company, let them sit on the couch (with treats) but have them ignore Diego.  If he's in the same room, and calm, have them toss treats to him (not hitting him).  These people shouldn't make eye contact or speak directly to him but having should toss treats while having a normal conversation with you.  If Diego approaches, great.  If not, that's fine.  Don't force anything.  If he does approach, let him have a treat out of hand and a pat on the side.  If at any point he looks nervous, you've gone too far and should take a step backwards.

When he cowers, don't pay him any mind.  You'll only be reinforcing the behavior.  While you shouldn't force strangers on him, you also shouldn't coddle him when he's scared.  Give him a quick 'let's go' or 'ok' in a cheerful voice and continue with your walk.  When he's displaying confident behavior THEN you praise him.

There are CD's you can purchase for about $20 that help desensitize a dog to noises.  You start them off at a very low background volume and gradually turn them  up (over time).  http://www.victoriastilwell.com has a good one.  You could also look on Amazon.com or eBay.

If this is a fear stage, he should be over it in a matter of weeks.  If it is behavioral, you may want to consult a behaviorist.  Chances are he has a very timid temperament and a behaviorist could give you some tools to help him.

Had you bought him from a proper breeder (I don't know if you did or didn't) they'd have done the Volhard test with the puppies and been able to place a dog more suited to your lifestyle with you.  It is still something that you can do with him and I'd be happy to read the results.  Here's the link:  http://www.volhard.com/puppy/pat.htm

You can e-mail me privately at Nicole@boxerdogplanet.com