If you are around dogs long enough, you will find that fear is a common issue in puppies and young dogs.
For puppies, fearfulness plays a critical role in helping them reach maturity by tempering their boundless energy and inquisitive behavior to ensure their survival. Experience helps dogs differentiate between harmless fear-causing experiences and experiences that actually are dangerous. Because human society is so diverse and complicated, dogs need socialization help to become confident in our overwhelming world.
In older dogs, aggression sometimes becomes the coping mechanism of choice. Becoming aggressive tends to make the scary things in life go away. That’s why early socialization is so critical. Playing “catch-up” later in life is more difficult.
Your dog’s fears can be difficult to change because avoidance behavior is powerfully reinforcing. The trick is to make your dog feel that it is more rewarding to cope with his fear than to avoid it. This column will explore the six fundamentals of changing fearful behavior. Next month, we will take a look at specific strategies for desensitizing your dog to new people and situations.
Don’t reassure your fearful dog. A soothing tone can sound like approval of your dog’s behavior, and we all know that behaviors that are rewarded usually increase. Instead, speak in a happy, confident voice – “Look! A dog is coming, how fun!” Your upbeat attitude goes a long way toward convincing a fearful dog that the situation is safe.
Don’t isolate a fearful dog. Although it seems easier in the moment, isolation feeds fear. Introduce your dog to new people, environments and dogs by following the points below.
Don’t push your dog to deal with his fears at a rate that is faster than his coping abilities can handle. Sometimes people mistakenly believe they should force their dog to interact with a feared object to “prove” to them that they are safe. Knowing that a person or object is benign is immaterial if, in your dog’s mind, that thing is dangerous or scary. Instead, find an appropriate distance for him to observe the scary thing and reward him for remaining calm. Gradually decrease the distance to the person, dog or object, but go slowly.
Reinforce any behavior that seems less fearful than the last reaction to the same situation. This might be as minute as not hiding behind you or not withdrawing from the approach of a child. It is more difficult to notice and reward the absence of a behavior, so be aware. This is the heart of the desensitization program.
Go slowly, but don’t let your fearful dog become dependent upon flight behavior. If running away from stress is the only response your dog uses, he won’t learn to cope with his fears. This requires good judgment on your part. Have you been working with your dog’s fears and reinforcing his improvement? If so, keep him in the moment by asking him to sit or shake or by offering him a treat. If he learns to respond to a command in those situations, he cannot simultaneously retreat.
Continue to reward your dog for coping with his fears. It’s dangerous to think that a fearful dog will maintain his hard-earned confidence without continued practice, and it’s also dangerous to ignore a confident attitude in situations that caused fear in the past. Remember, bravery is not the absence of fear; it is overcoming that fear.
Julie Winkelman is a certified pet dog trainer and a certified dog trainer. Reach her at www.retinc@frontier.net.
