Take Your Pup On a Walk
Depending on how skittish your dog is, you may have trouble getting them on a leash. This may take some conditioning, but that isn’t impossible either. Try putting the leash on your pup before giving them a treat and doing something like sitting on the couch to watch TV. This will let your dog know that there is nothing bad associated with the leash.
Once you have your dog on the leash and are outside, avoid walking your pup in noisy or “scary” places. Start by walking your dog in residential neighborhoods before gradually shifting your walks to busier locations. Don’t leave the house without grabbing treats that you can give your dog when anything loud or unexpected happens. You want your pup to get comfortable with being outside and being exposed to life outside of your home in a positive way.
A dog with trust issues may not always trust you, but are usually comfortable around other dogs. Give your dog the opportunity to socialize with other dogs to help relieve any stress and help build up their confidence. If you are planning on socializing your dog, avoid closed dog parks, as they are often noisy and chaotic, not to mention extremely overwhelming for fearful dogs. The best route to take is to have your pup interact with one dog at a time, preferably one that is very comfortable and trusting with humans and has good habits. The role model may help in making your pup feel like there is nothing to be scared of.
After the obedience classes were over, the trainer suggested that I try agility classes with Lilah; she’d had great success with nervous dogs in agility training, as their confidence increased through some of the activities.
And each time, after she touched something new, I could see the pride in her eyes. She’d stand a little taller, wag a little swifter, and smile a lot broader.
I also had agility jumps at home that I bought when one of my previous dogs was learning, and Lilah was rewarded for standing near them. Then walking between them. Then stepping over the pole. And finally leaping over.
With the help of an incredible trainer and lots of practice and love, today Lilah is a sweet, friendly, well-adjusted dog who is quite comfortable and centered. Most folks who meet her today are surprised to hear about her struggles and fears.
The weather forecasters were predicting a long, rainy day — the kind that seem to last forever with alternating showers, storms, and downpours. Lilah is a bit suspicious of umbrellas, and since I’d be using one all day when I took the dogs outside, I figured it might be a good idea to get some nose touching in before the torrents began.
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Learn how to help your fearful dog with my 5 keys to fixing fear
When Lilah first came to live with us as a puppy, she was a little timid. Then she became skittish. Then nervous. Then terrified. A hyper-aware Border Collie mix, Lilah lived in a world where there were so many new things and strange sounds that she was never really sure what was safe and what was not.
With the help of an incredible trainer and lots of practice and love, today Lilah is a sweet, friendly, well-adjusted dog who is quite comfortable and centered. Most folks who meet her today are surprised to hear about her struggles and fears.
In one of the early classes with our trainer, we practiced having different people approach us. Lilah barked nervously, backing up into my legs. “She’s okay,” I told the trainer. “She isn’t aggressive. She doesn’t bite.”
Her response shocked me: “Yet. She hasn’t bit anyone yet.” That’s when it became clear to me that scared, nervous dogs — reactive dogs — are potentially aggressive dogs. I was not going to let that happen to Lilah.
So, I worked with Lilah. One of the most basic things we did was a little game I called “touch it with your nose.” To start, I just had Lilah touch my closed fist with her nose. Touch my fist, get a treat. Once she understood that and trusted the concept, I then had her touch my fist near a Scary Thing. A box. A trash can. A purse. Eventually we worked up to having Lilah touch the Scary Thing itself with her nose. A bag of groceries. A TV remote. A hairbrush.
She learned that every time — every time — the thing we’d asked her to touch was safe. So even if she approached the object with a little trepidation, wagging her tail tentatively, she did it willingly.
And each time, after she touched something new, I could see the pride in her eyes. She’d stand a little taller, wag a little swifter, and smile a lot broader.
After the obedience classes were over, the trainer suggested that I try agility classes with Lilah; she’d had great success with nervous dogs in agility training, as their confidence increased through some of the activities.
At our first class, Lilah was obviously intimidated by a field full of Scary Things. At first, it was a huge success to just get her to sit near the tunnel as other dogs went through it. By the third class, Lilah touched the tunnel with her nose. The next class, she walked through a shortened version. The following week, she ran through the entire thing.
I also had agility jumps at home that I bought when one of my previous dogs was learning, and Lilah was rewarded for standing near them. Then walking between them. Then stepping over the pole. And finally leaping over.
That was four years ago. I continued to work with Lilah after we stopped taking agility classes, and still do. She began approaching Scary Things on her own and touching them with her nose. They were slowly becoming just new things, and not scary. Greeting people at the door became a joyful event, with Lilah wagging and smiling and happily accepting pets and hellos. Visitors walk in the door with suitcases, and it’s no big deal now.