The general belief has always been that a dog should not be afraid of anything – whether we put them in elevators, have them ride in big rigs, have dozens of children surrounding them, or even flying in a plane. But what about any of these (and thousands of other things we do to our dogs everyday) is natural to a dog? They don’t understand the need or usefulness of an elevator or a big rig, they don’t innately know that those dozens of kids aren’t going to hurt them, or that flying is a much quicker way to get somewhere that is (hopefully) fun.
We have a bad habit of “humanizing” our dogs and treating them like they are our children. In some ways, this may be good; we love them as if they were our flesh and blood. BUT, it also means we sometimes forget that a dog is still an animal and the many things we ask of him throughout his life are usually not something he would do on his own, given the choice. And, often, fear is involved as well.
The Problem
It can be hard to relate to, but let’s try. Do you remember when you were afraid of thunderstorms as a kid? Why? For most kids, the loud sounds and the fear that it could somehow harm us – no matter how much your parents tried to tell you that you were safe inside the house and that the rain, thunder, and lightening where nothing to fear. (Obviously the exception would be people that live in tornado, hurricane or tsunami areas).
Dogs go through the same thing, except they can’t understand our languages, so we can’t explain rationally to him why the kids and the elevator are safe or why fireworks are meant to be enjoyed and not feared.
And that’s the problem. Most of us don’t remember what it was like to fear a thunderstorm and we don’t understand what looks, to us, like an irrational fear. I don’t know how many times I have heard a dog owner say to a dog that is frightened “Why are you afraid? We/that/it’s not going to hurt you. You are being silly/stupid/stubborn.” Or they think if they just force the dog, it will “see” there was nothing to fear.
Tell me, if you are afraid of spiders and someone dumped 100 on you, would you suddenly say, “oh, I am not afraid, this is fine. I was clearly just being stupid.” Or would you scream bloody murder and now be more afraid, not just of the spiders, but also of the person who just broke your trust? After all, they knew you were afraid and still pushed you to do it.
The Solution
Luckily, there are ways you can help fix dogs that have fear issues. It does take time. I have a 3 year-old Shetland sheepdog named Irish. Irish is a sweetheart, a bit bossy to her canine housemates sometimes, but overall a “soft” dog when it comes to how you speak to her. Even a raised, excited voice will send her cowering. At five months of age (when I got her) she seemed “normal.” But, due to her health, we were not able to take her out and socialize her as much as we should have. She grew into a dog that was afraid of everything. She would run and hide when you wanted to take her outside. If I wanted her to eat a treat (for training) outside of the house, I had to use the highest value foods (steak, easy cheese) and even then she wouldn’t always eat. Long story short, she is now my demo dog for rally classes and I use her kibble. She runs to the door to leave the house. She still has fears, but she has overcome a lot of them. So it is possible, but it’s not an overnight fix.
Training
Here are some tips to helping your dog get over fearfulness. You should be working with a certified professional dog trainer or a certified animal behaviorist. Doing any of this incorrectly could make the fear worse.
Patience
Patience is one of the most important steps. You cannot rush this. You cannot force your dog to not be afraid and you have to work at their pace, not yours. If at any time your dog is “over threshold,” meaning won’t eat, is looking for an escape, has shut down and is not listening, etc., then you need to add more distance between him and whatever he is afraid of, or leave the environment for that training session.
Counter-conditioning
This is going to become your best friend. You need to help your dog see there is nothing to be afraid of by pairing that scary thing with something good – toys or treats.
This teaches your dog that scary object means good things.
Most likely, it will have to be something very high value at first (like easy cheese was for Irish). Eventually, you will be able to use lesser value items, but not at the beginning.
Distance
Always start far enough away that your dog sees the object but is not reacting fearfully. Be careful to not reward any fearful reaction. If your dog is fear barker/lunger and you click/treat him for that, you just reinforced his reaction, which is not what you want to do. Instead, set him up so he sees the scary thing but is not reacting. Then, start click/treating him for looking at (or listening to) that object without reacting.
Short Sessions
These sessions shouldn’t be long. Confronting fear is exhausting physically and emotionally. Keep your sessions short, 5-10 minutes. Then give your dog a break. If at any time your dog starts showing signs of being over threshold or of having “too much” it’s time to take a break. You may be done for just a few minutes, while he relaxes, or you may have to call the day. You will have to start pay attention to your dog’s signals and learn to read his body language.
Controlled Experiences
It is absolutely imperative that these are positive experience. Anything negative will make the fear worse. So, if you are working on overcoming fear of other dogs, men, kids, etc., make sure you choose the subjects wisely, so they won’t make the situation worse. For example, don’t chose a loud, obnoxious kid as your first child or another reactive dog. It will be too hard on your dog.
Above all, I can’t stress this enough: be positive, seek professional help, and listen to your dog. He can overcome his fear, but you need to help him in the correct way.
About the Author
Based in Wilsonville, Ore., animal lover Kristina N. Lotz is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and works as a full time trainer. She is the founder of A Fairytail House, a unique all-positive all-sport dog training facility that helps rescue dogs in her area and provides free seminars and training classes for the community. In her spare time, she trains and competes in herding, agility, obedience, rally, and conformation with her Shetland Sheepdogs. She smartly married a Veterinary Technician, who helps keep the fur kids happy and healthy, and provides a quick resource for articles.
