Your dog walked past those bins for 9 months. Tonight they stopped dead, stared, and would not go near them. A wheelie bin, an umbrella, a man in a hat, a bag caught on a hedge.
What owners mean by a second fear period
Somewhere in the second half of the first year, plenty of confident adolescent dogs become wary of ordinary things. Trainers and owners commonly describe this as a second fear period. It usually eases over weeks.
Whether or not that label is exact, the handling is the same. You do not want your dog spending those weeks rehearsing fear of the bins while you wait.
One rule for the next few weeks
Do not make your dog approach the thing. Working below the point at which your dog reacts is the condition for learning near something they find frightening. Distance is how you get below it.
Let your dog look, then let them choose to move. A dog who is pulled toward a frightening object learns that you come with the frightening object.
What to do at the moment it happens
Stop walking. Do not tighten the leash, and do not tell your dog it is fine in a bright voice.
Move away 10 to 20 feet, calmly, on a curve. Let your dog watch from there for as long as they want.
Feed a few pieces of food on the ground while your dog looks at it. Stop feeding when they look away.
Then carry on past at whatever distance your dog can manage, even if that means crossing the road.
Then 5 minutes a day, on purpose
Pick one thing your dog has become wary of, and find an example of it somewhere quiet.
Stand at the distance where your dog can still take food from your hand. That is usually further back than you expect.
Feed 1 piece each time your dog looks at it, for 2 minutes, then walk away while it is still going well.
Move 3 feet closer only when your dog can look, eat and turn back to you 8 times in a row.
Never finish a session with your dog closer than they are comfortable. Ending on an easy rep is what makes tomorrow's session possible.
Three things that make it worse
Walking your dog into the middle of the thing so they get used to it. That usually ends with a more frightened dog and a leash you can barely hold.
Correcting the reaction. Punishment-based approaches are associated with fear and avoidance, so the bark goes quiet while the fear stays where it was.
Dropping walks altogether for a fortnight. Short, dull walks at quiet hours are better than none.
Safety note
Get help now if your dog is frightened of most things rather than a few, or cannot eat outdoors. The same applies if they have growled, snapped or bitten when cornered. Severe fear needs a veterinarian and a qualified behaviour professional. Book the veterinary examination anyway, because sudden behaviour change warrants one and pain often presents as a change in behaviour.
How long this takes
Owners usually describe weeks rather than months, with progress that moves around from day to day. Do not judge it on one bad Tuesday. Nobody can promise you the dog you had at 6 months old, and this work is what gets closest.
Tonight's version, in one line: 20 feet back, food on the ground while your dog looks, and no approaching.