All things can be scary on a Saturday afteroon.....

Last Saturday I only had Maroo for a few days and was not too quick to let him run in the yard during the daylight hours since there is just too much going on in the neighborhood on weekends.......people passing, children playing, other dogs barking, cars and trucks driving a bit to fast. sirens sounding.....many things to stimulate a "normal" dog......so I did not want to overwhelm my little boy with these attractions....Since his progress has been steady and each new day Maroo gains new confidence I thought it would be a good idea to let him experience Saturday afternoon in Morrisville.....bad idea :( After letting the rest of the gang out the back door into the play yard I then took Maroo out onto the deck and let him run out into the yard.....something he has been doing many times over the past week ....The first thing he noticed was the neighbor boy behind my house playing with his basketball and Maroo totally freaked when he locked his eyes on this boy....It may have been the sound of the basketball so I really don't know but he was not happy with what he saw.........He started to run fast back and forth and kept coming over to me so that I would pick him up........I am trying my best not to "baby" him each time a new uncomfortable situation arises with him so that he can learn to deal with it with me present but not with me picking him up each time.........I then knelt down to his level and stroked the back of his head and rubbed his little ears a bit so that he knew that I was there for him...he then ran up onto the deck and back to me and continued to do this over and over again for a few minutes......by this time a few loud trucks had passed and other people were making noise passing the yard out on the sidewalk.........he became more anxious at this point and after he came back over to me I picked him up in my arms and told him that everything was ok and that no one was going to hurt him......it did not matter because he was starting to go into the "Zone" withdrawing into himself with his eyes wide open and very vacant.......I stroked his hair and told him that I loved him and again that he was safe.......I placed him back down on the ground and he ran up onto the deck with my other dogs who were waiting to go inside for their dinner.......Once he went back into the house he jumped up onto the sofa and sat there watching me as I prepared dinner for the pack.......I opened his crate door and gave him the command to go into his crate for his dinner....He seemed to have calmed down by now and his little heart was not beating as fast as it was when all of those scary things outside upset him....There is a thin line between helping him when things become too scary and treating him like he is a baby......I do not want him to think that each time something new occurs which he cannot handle that I am going to pick him up and baby him.......but I also do not want him to become so afraid that he won't take risk and explore a new situation or stimulation in his world. Since Maroo had no socialization as a puppy and never experience anything other than a 4x4 pen with his dog family there is so much that this little guy has not seen.........Inside the house he is so much more at ease.....with the other dogs near him he feels safe......I just have to be patient with him and slowly expose him to the things that a Saturday afternoon can be all about in his eyes..........Of course each time I see this little guy suffer and become afraid of new things I curse the son of a bitch that did this to him! But that is a completely different post and I really need to focus oh Maroo's present and future because he is never going back to that past again!