Fraser is now 5 and, of course, a lot of puppy excitement has died away. He gets extremely excited when people come to the door, barking and squealing, but otherwise is quite quiet. He's scared of big dogs and will bark and growl at them unleash whereas with small dogs, he does the usual routines of greeting. However, he is showing a variety of scared behaviours. He loves to greet people and scans passersby to see if they will make eye contact so he can go over and greet. Or at least, he used to. He still wants to greet, but will go over, tail wagging, then back off as if he's scared, sometimes yelping. This came on over time. He still really wants to greet, but panics at the last moment. When he gets his carrot at mealtimes, he used to take it out of my hand, but at some point recently, he got scared to take it out of my hand and wants me to throw it. I experimented tonight and just stood quietly with the carrot drooping down from my hand so he could approach and take it, but he came forward and then backed away. He's done the same with his food dish. He'll be milling about, waiting for me to assemble the meal and then when I put it down, he yelps, cringes before he comes forward. I've started telling him to sit and wait while I put the dish down carefully, making sure not to clatter it in case that's what happened to startle him. So, at five he's developed an assortment of cringe, fear, yelp behaviours for a variety of occasions. Otherwise, he seem reasonably confident. Enjoys his walks and trots along with his tail cocked midway. Does perimeter patrol of the garden with his tail cocked up as it's his territory. Still loves people and wants to say hello, but has a quick cringe before he settles into putting his paws on them and licking them if they will let him. Even with me he will occasionally cringe at a sudden movement. Does any of this seem familiar to other owners? Dogs that seems a bit neurotic though basically okay? Onset of such behaviours when you'd think they'd be fully settled into adult confidence?