Confidence Boosting for Fearful Dogs

Dogs might have fear related anxiety for numberous reasons and regardless of why they are suffering (trauma, lack of socialization, etc) there's a lot you can do to improve your pet's quality of life.

Start by making a list of things your dog is nervous or anxious about. These things can include anything from strangers to other dogs to stuff animals to vacuum cleaners. Anything your pet shows discomfort around can be on the list.

Teach your pet some fun tricks that keep him/her moving so they have a distraction when the scary thing/event is happening. I love hand targets, spin, loose leash walking, chase (dogs chases you), jumping, etc. This gives your dog something else to concentrate on.

In Where's Your Sit's Confidence Booster class we teach the dogs the tricks and then introduce low level scary stimuli like a dog across the room or a weird noise. As long as the your dog is able to keep eating and "playing" then they are learning to tolerate the scary event. Make sure to start really slowly (this is where working with a dog trainer would be helpful). 

Allow your dog to look at the scary thing and then reward with a tasty treat when he/she looks back at you. Try to keep sessions very short (less than 5 minutes) and keep your attitude upbeat (but not over the top). The more your dog is exposed to scary, new stimuli that doesn't hurt them and that is paired with something fun like games and food the quicker their confidence will increase.

Photo: Marco learning that sheep are fun!

Fearful Dogs

I recently got back home from a seminar in Vancouver to see Nicole Wilde, CPDT-KA. Nicole is a very respected dog trainer with a background in wolves and wolf-dogs. Over two days we examined "Fearful Dogs" and "Creative Client Coaching". 

I wanted to share some of the information I learned about Fearful Dogs. Nicole also has a great book on this topic: Help For Your Fearful Dog. I highly recommend it for anyone who has a dog that needs help in this area.She has also written a book specifically on Separation Anxiety which is a must read for anyone dealing with that particular issue.

There are different types of fears: anxiety, fears and phobias. Anxiety is not dependent on a specific trigger or cause. My own Miniature Schnauzer has anxiety which makes her fears worse. A fear is a response to a specific trigger such as a dog who is scared of men. Phobias are a profound reaction (out of proportion) to an actual threat. Learned fears are the easiest to undo while anxiety and phobias are much more difficult. 

Root causes of fearful behaviour include genetics, lack of early socialization, abuse, traumatic experience, learned or associative fears and pain/illness. It's important to note that even if we can't pinpoint what might have caused the fear initially there's still help. 

When training your own dog you need to be aware of how he/she is feeling and responding. It's not uncommon for dogs in group classes to be displaying fearful/anxious behaviour and the owner misinterprets it as stubborn or aggressive. Many dogs who are fearful will actually shut down and just stop moving/offering any behaviour. If your dog is fearful or anxious then he/she will not be able to learn. I highly recommend private training or a fearful dog class for dogs with these issues. 

When Heidi first arrived in my life we spent 6 weeks in a group class where she hid under my chair the entire time. I decided to ride it out with her and offered her treats (which took until class #5 for her to accept). We eventually graduated with 0 new obedience skills but at least she would come out from under the chair. I opted to enroll her in agility after that and she did great with time, encouragement and positive reinforcement. I never force Heidi to do anything since that is more likely to increase her fearful behaviour. She was never being stubborn but was simply too fearful to work. Even to this day if we're at an agility trial or a new class if she gives me signals that she isn't feeling alright then we either head home or move to a quiet space to chill out.