My pup is four months old. We got a DAP diffuser for when we brought her home, but it didn't seem to calm her down at all. She would walk over, sniff it, and then carry on with the behaviours that DAP was supposed to calm. We had some problems with her settling in that when she would play or mouth at the blanket and toys we brought back from the breeder that smelled of her mum and litter mates, she would whine and get very unsettled, so on the advice of the breeder, we washed the toys and  decided that reminders of her mum and siblings was actually causing her some distress. I was worried that the DAP was doing the same, because it smells like lactating females, and so in the end I took it out of the socket and forgot about it. Now the fireworks season has started, and my pup got a little anxious when she first heard fireworks that were set off in the garden behind mine, so on the advice of my vet I dug out the diffuser and decided to give it another go. Now she will ignore it, but when she walks past it, she wil stop, sniff it, and then really starts barking at it, like she is telling it off. I am sure she is not barking aggressively, but she is barking in the same way she barks at the dustpan and brush (play bowing etc and really running around it). I am not sure whether she thinks the DAP represents a real dog that is 'behind the wall' or something, but it just seems strange that she should ignore it (and any dogs sense of smell would know that the smell was in the room), but when she smells it right up close, it really sets her off. Why would this be?

Hi NannyOgg
I think she's just being a silly shepherd. My older girl goes ballistic if I pick up the can of air freshener. Not that she doesn't like it, she likes to bark at the hissing sound it makes. In fact, when I come out of the loo, she stands looking hopeful! My old shepherd used to bark at a stone pineapple in someones garden on our walks. Oh shepherds, I love 'em! They can be SO quirky.
Kat

I think she is a silly shepherd. Evey shepherd I have ever met has been silly, and she is proving how silly she is by barking at a cardobard box right this minute!

I rest my case :D
Kat

My friend has a litter of 4 week old sheps and I can attest to the fact that they're born silly. There are few things as amusing as being barked at by a 3 week old shepherd puppy!

They look so pathetic at that age too! I went to see my pup at 4 weeks, and again at 6 weeks before collecting her at 7 weeks, and at 4 weeks when I picked her up, she subjected me to the most penetrating and what I can only describe as p*ssed off stare I have ever seen! She looks at me as if to say 'unhand me I tell you!' She was incredibly fluffy and tubby looking so she ended up just looking constipated more than anything else!
It is amazing how a dog that grows into something that can be an object of fear is in general just a bag of sillyness!

So far, she has started barking at coffee jars, dustpan and brush, any form of brush, the mop (and all these are whether they are moving or stationary!), towels, any treat she is given... I am sure the list will grow as she does!