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The Anxious Dog: Learning to Let Go of Fear

28 15:00:52

The Anxious Dog: Learning to Let Go of Fear

Shaking. Barking. Growling. Biting. Believe it or not these are all ways in which a dog shows their feelings of anxiety or fear. Let’s look at some real-life examples taken from questions raised at a recent Holly & Hugo Q&A session:

My Shih Tzu x Maltese barks at people who try to pet him
My small dog is in her second home, she is poorly socialized, and makes a lot of noise when dogs or people approach her
My dog is frightened of life and won’t go in the garden for fear of the neighbors.
In a previous post: The Anxious Dog: #1 Turning Distress to De-Stress we looked at decreasing stress hormones to get your pet to a mental place where he can learn. Let’s assume your dog now knows how to relax, and he is ready for retraining. This is a slow, steady process that needs consistency and patience. Before starting, ask yourself if you have the stamina and motivation to help you dog. If ‘Yes’, read on.

Step 1: Stop Rewarding Anxiety

Picture this: Your Maltese-cross is on your lap. A friend approaches and the dog starts shaking. To reassure your pet you speak softly and pet her. The dog starts barking.

Sound familiar?

OK, good as your intentions were, you accidentally rewarded the pup’s fear. Soothing her sent out the message she was right to be afraid. But neither should you scold her. Always ignore any fearful behavior, and better still until she is retrained put her in a separate room when visitors call so this behavior is not reinforced.

Step 2: Find a Reward she will Work For

I don’t like spiders. If you offered me cabbage in return for putting a spider outside – forget it! If however the prize was a box of Belgian chocolates, you’ve got my interest.

Every dog has something they love so much they are prepared to work for. It might be food (sausages, ham, chicken, salmon, cheese… you name it) or a game with a favorite toy. Find out what your dog’s must-have treat is, because this is going to be their motivation.

dog training

Step 3: Dilute the Fearful Thing

Let’s say your dog is afraid of other dogs in the park. Your aim is to introduce a stooge dog sufficiently far away that your dog does not perceive it as a threat. Then reward their bravery. For the dog that is fearful of people, get a friend to stand at the end of the street, or put them behind a barrier (such as a screen). Or for thunderstorms, play a CD of thunder at a very low volume… you get the idea.

Step 4: Reward their Lack of Reaction

Your fearful dog sees another dog at the end of the street and he doesn’t react. Wow! That’s amazing – so tell him. Give him a reward and a huge fuss. Help him to understand that good things happen when other dogs are around. Have the other dog move a step closer. Still no reaction? Double wow! Give another reward and more praise. Always end each session on a high, so don’t rush and take baby steps. Have a secret signal to the handler of the other dog, and when your dog’s body language shows he is growing uncomfortable, get the stooge dog to back off. Get your dog’s attention with a “Sit” command. This allows you to reward the dog for sitting, rather than have him think his fear caused the dog to go away.

Step 5: Beef Up Basic Training

Back in a safe environment, beef up your basic training. Hold regular obedience training sessions where you get your dog to “Sit”, “Drop”, and “Stay”. This gets the dog used to focusing on you, so that when scary situations happen you have a rock solid way of getting his attention to distract him. Commanding your dog to “Sit” in a scary situation is hugely reassuring to him because he gets a clear message “Mom’s in control” which frees him from the need to be frightened. Be prepared for a long hard road, but the prize at the end of the journey is a dog freed from fear, so it’s worth every painstaking step. [*] This question was asked at a recent Holly & Hugo Q&A webinar. These sessions take place twice a month and are free for all Holly & Hugo students. To sign up click on Webinar banner in Your Virtual Campus. Not a student yet? Sign up to our Newsletter to get discount offers for our courses and FREE guides and resources. Sign up Now!