Considering he is fearful, George is surprisingly curious.
I try to let him investigate things for himself as much as possible (safely). And not by dragging me around.
Once he's had a chance to investigate, he tends to be less fearful of an object. As long as nothing scary happened during the investigation of course! It needs to be something which isn't likely to move suddenly or make a noise.
It works with mailboxes, flags, signs, bins, and other stationary objects we can investigate on our walks. Similar to when he was a puppy, we try to investigate different surfaces and textures. I think it really helps to build his confidence.
Whenever we get a delivery at home (which is quite often given I can't leave him alone!), he gets so excited. He knows to run behind the baby gate until I have brought the delivery inside and closed the front door.
Then he knows I will open the baby gate to let him come and investigate. I haven't taught a cue for this, it just always happens so he knows what to do.
He sniffs all deliveries. Best is grocery shopping of course - all the smells! It's excellent enrichment.
The baby gate separates the kitchen from the main living space which has been very helpful. Given he's always so close, he'd be a dangerous trip hazard in the kitchen! I like to keep him away from spills and hot surfaces.
He's been doing really well with just chilling out when I'm in the kitchen. But I made the mistake of getting him involved the other day when making some homemade dog treats. Since then (my fault entirely), he's found it difficult to relax when I'm cooking. So we'll go back to working on this!
He has terrible FOMO and always has to see (and be involved) in what's going on.
Obviously all household chores like putting the shopping away take a bit longer 😆
And now that his appetite has returned with a vengeance, I need to be careful he doesn't eat anything. Or sticks his head in anything dangerous like bathroom cleaner. Or gets his nose trapped as his head will be in every open cupboard or bag. Or gets stepped on or knocked because is always so close.
But I love that he is curious. I love that he wants to investigate scary things rather than shying away.
I just need to make sure his investigations are safe and positive experiences which I hope will continue to build his confidence.