How to Help A Fearful, Shy or Timid Dog

Learn how to help a fearful dog become more confident, learn new behaviors and change the way it feels about things that scare it.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• a treat pouch
• tasty food treats
• lots of patience!

1. 1. Begin by creating a list of things that scare your dog. These are called ‘triggers’.

2. 2. Determine the duration, distance or number of triggers that your dog can tolerate before displaying the unwanted behavior. A stranger across the street may not be a problem but one closer is, small dogs are ok, big dogs aren’t, you can groom your dog’s body but not its head. This is your dog’s ‘threshold’ to its triggers.

3. 3. Find out what gets your dog’s attention in a positive way, this could be a tasty food treat, a tennis ball or a loving scratch behind the ears. You can use all three with food being the #1 on the list due to its powerful effect on brain chemistry. This is the ‘reward’.

4. 4. Keep your dog ‘under threshold’, meaning it is aware of one of its triggers but is not responding in an unacceptable way, and pair the trigger with a reward. Proceed slowly, increasing the intensity of the trigger only when the dog is able to remain calm and behaved. This reconditioning can take days to months. Reward your dog for appropriate behaviors even if it appears frightened. Emotions, unlike behaviors, are not ‘reinforced’ with rewards. Don’t worry that you are telling your dog it’s ok to be afraid when you give it a treat as a child roller blades past. With repeated practice your dog will begin to anticipate a ‘yummy treat’ when it sees something that it was afraid of.

5. 5. By changing your dog’s behavior you can change how it ‘feels’ about a fearful situation. Along with using rewards to make positive connections between how your dog feels about its triggers you can encourage behaviors that are incompatible with fear. Behaviors that are incompatible with fear include; eating, playing, self-grooming & exploring. A dog that is afraid of strangers may show no fearful responses when also playing with another dog, or when the stranger tosses a ball. A dog that is afraid of thunderstorms may be able to gnaw on a bone while the storm approaches.

Tips & Warnings

• Think twice before assuming your dog is trying to get the upper hand in your relationship. It might just need a helping hand to get over its fear.
• Learn to read your dog’s body language.
• Natural supplements as well as medications are available to help extremely fearful dogs.
• Positive reinforcement training and agility help dogs develop confidence.
• The www.fearfuldogs.com website has more information on helping scared dogs.
• Be sure to have a complete exam by a vet to rule out medical conditions that may be affecting your dog's behavior.

Resources

• Help For Fearful Dogs

[walker7]

on 1/14/2009 Great ideas! Thanks!

[Vanessa22]

on 1/14/2009 This is a great article. Thanks for the tips! :) 5*