Today we will be discussing insecurity, what causes it, what the signs of insecurity are, problem behaviors arising from insecurity, and treating insecurity.
Most problem behaviors that we see are rooted in either anxiety or insecurity. When we discuss a dog’s insecurity we are talking about a dog’s lack of self-confidence or just general fear based behaviors. Most people understand fight and flight response.
When a dog hears a loud noise or is confronted with something they perceive as a threat, they may run and cower underneath something. This is an obvious and easily recognizable sign of insecurity. However, dogs can choose to fight instead of fleeing. Most people do not understand or recognize this too can be, and most of the time is rooted in insecurity depending on the context.
We get asked all the time by our clients why their dogs have insecurity.
There are a number of things that can cause insecurity to be present in our dogs.
How To Fix Insecurity In Dogs
Now that we know how to recognize insecurity, we can talk about how to address it.
The first step in addressing insecurity is knowing and understanding what is causing the fear response. For dogs it is the presence of other dogs, sometimes it is a thunderstorm, it can be strangers coming over to the house, and can be something simple like a vacuum cleaner. We have to introduce whatever it is that is causing the fear response and then provide our dogs with a positive experience. This is called desensitization.
The key here is introducing the fearful thing at a level that is not overwhelming to our dog. For example, if the stimulus is other dogs, maybe we go to a dog park and stay 100 yards away from other dogs while we perform engagement. Another common one is strangers coming over to your house. In this scenario oftentimes the trigger is the doorbell, as this begins the stressful situation of a stranger coming over. So maybe we want to ring the doorbell ourselves and try to perform engagement.
In this scenario the dog is presented with a trigger that causes some insecurity, but is not overwhelmed because a stranger is not actually coming in. You can even take it a step further and instead of ringing your doorbell, play a recording of a doorbell on your tv and then work engagement and progress from there. The key to desensitization is finding what level stimulus you are still able to provide your dog with a positive experience, and then building the level of the stimulus until it no longer elicits a fear response. Desensitization is something you can start with little to no training at all.
In many cases, we see dogs that have such high levels of insecurity, there is not just one event that causes insecurity. They typically seem fearful of really anything and everything. With these dogs it can be difficult and time consuming to desensitize every little thing. While desensitization should still be utilized you are going to have to rely on a system of training.
While we recommend training for all dogs, training can be particularly important for dogs with overall high levels of insecurity. The first step when starting a training program is introducing structure. Check out our article on structure for details on implementing it. Introducing structure decreases our dog’s level of insecurity simply because it puts us in control of their environment. This begins to teach our dogs to trust and rely on us. When we control the environment we can prevent putting them in scenarios where they are fearful until we can complete the desensitization process.
The other aspect of training that is crucial is teaching obedience. Teaching obedience is part of teaching our dog a set of rules and expectations to live by. We must train obedience to a very high level. When we give our dogs a command, they must follow it. Once you have trained obedience to this level you can really make progress in addressing insecurity.
The Top 4 Things That Causes A Dog’s Insecurity:
For one, it can be genetic. All mammals come with a natural instinctive response to fear. This instinct can be exaggerated in some. Insecurity can be inherited from a pup’s parents. If a puppy’s mother has high levels of insecurity, she is under high levels of stress. This means she is stressed during pregnancy, as well as during the first 8 weeks of her puppy’s lives. This clearly has an effect on the pups and often results in many of the pups being insecure themselves.
Another cause of insecurity can be improper breeding practices. While there are crucial things provided by the puppy’s mother during the first 8 weeks, there are also very important things critical to the development of the puppy that should be provided by humans. Proper exposure and handling by humans at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way is a big factor that can determine a puppy’s outlook toward humans. This also goes for exposure to other dogs, animals, noises, environments, etc. These factors are all contributing factors to whether or not a dog is going to develop insecurity.
Another way dogs may develop insecurity is through traumatic events. If a dog at an early age, or really at any point in life, is attacked by another dog and is injured, for example, this can cause a dog to become insecure towards other dogs. If a dog is abused by a human, a dog can become insecure towards humans. Dogs may experience a loud noise for the first time and all of the sudden become insecure every time they hear a loud noise (thunder, fireworks, etc.).
Lastly, insecurity can be learned as well as reinforced by us, our dog’s owners. How we react to our dogs displaying insecurity can be a huge factor. If our dog reacts fearfully to thunder, for example, we may coddle them and pick them up attempting to provide comfort. When in fact, we could be reinforcing their insecurity, establishing to them how they should continue to act when fearful, thus making insecurity worse and worse over time. These are just some examples of how insecurity can form in dogs.