George seems to be scared of pretty much everything and anything in the world.
Below are a few things I have noticed are particularly scary so far:
- People
- Dogs
- Children
- Noise
- Bin bags
- Bikes
- High-vis vests
- Large TVs
- My ukulele
- Narrow paths
- Signs
- Hats
- Mailboxes
- Awnings
- Motorbikes
- Voices
- Anything with a face (dolls etc)
- Plants (or anything) in a different place
- The outside world in general…
It's pretty interesting what he is not scared of.
So far, George seems completely unperturbed by:
- Vacuum cleaners
- Cars
- Trains
- Planes
- Helicopters
- Insinkerator (waste disposal)
- Sirens
- Fireworks
- Thunderstorms
I appreciate that his fear might not always be obvious. For example, I've noticed he seems less reactive when there are a lot of people compared to one person. I don't think he's less afraid in this situation, he's just overwhelmed.
But with the list above, he genuinely does not seem to be afraid.
He's never been afraid of the insinkerator despite it making a scary and loud noise. As a young puppy, he was next to the kitchen area from birth so I am assuming he was desensitised to it from a very young age.
Perhaps that is also true for the vacuum cleaner. Growing up, all of our (generally not anxious) dogs were wary of the vacuum cleaner so it surprises me that George couldn't care less.
There is a train station next to his daycare and he was exposed to planes and helicopters from quite a young age where we live.
But I am surprised by the fireworks one. I was very nervous ahead of the fireworks season.
It's quite hard to understand when George is scared of a neighbour clearing his throat three doors down but isn't scared of explosives going off next door.
It just reiterates that George decides what is scary, not me.