Scared Dogs

Dogs always display signs about how they are feeling. It’s up to us to recognize what their bodies are telling us.

If your dog has a number of problems or fears, begin by addressing one you can most control e.g. a sound at your house like a doorbell. Other stimulus like other people approaching, the mail man etc. are more difficult for you to control.

Always work at your dogs pace and what you are trying to achieve will have greater effect. Go too fast and you may break trust or take a few steps back on what you have achieved so far.

The aim is to change the association with the stimulus from negative to positive. E.g. He hates getting in the car, however now he gets a high value treat for firstly getting near the car, secondly sniffing or standing near the car, thirdly for getting in the car. If you get to a point where he will get in and come straight out again voluntarily you have made good progress. Eventually he will work out that there is another way for him to behave around the car. He doesn’t have to baulk at the thought or dig his heels in. Note: if the only place you ever take your dog in the car is say, the vet, please do not expect him to be enthused about the car.

Set them up for success. Make sure you can control the stimulus so you can do more or opt out if you think your dog is about to regress or have a bad experience. If you’ve been using high value food as a lure or reward and you get to a point where the dog will not take the food you have probably reached his threshold and it is time to stop for that session.

If the dog is scared of people, it is a different approach in that the owner will not deliver the treat, but that’s a whole different blog.

Leah & Angela OMeara
Hound Dog Day Care (Specialists in Dog Minding & Dog Boarding, Pet Sitting Brisbane & Doggy Day Care Brisbane)