Lets talk about Fear Periods in Dogs. Dogs go through fear periods during their developmental stages. During these phases, dogs may gradually become more fearful of situations they once appeared to be accepting of. The fear may be manifested by overly cautious behaviors, where the puppy or dog approaches people or items tentatively or defensive behaviors involving barking, lunging, growling. Is your loving, social dog suddenly reactive to people coming in your home? Even people they have already met? Are they hiding? Or are they in full fight mode? Here are some common tips offered to help your dog get past these terrible twos as they are sometimes called. ~Avoid traumatic experiences during this time such as shipping dogs on a plane and any other overwhelming experience. ~Continue socializing as much as possible but without exposing your dog to overwhelming situations. ~Create positive associations through counter-conditioning. ~Build confidence through training and confidence building sports and exercises. ~Avoid traumatic experiences during this delicate phase. ~Remain calm. You can lie to your boss, but when it comes to dogs, they are masters in reading our emotions and body language. If you are overly concerned or just a bit tense about your dog acting fearfully or defensively, rest assure your dog will perceive it. Dont put tension on the leash, get tense or talk to your in worried manner. Stay relaxed and loose. ~Pretend its no big deal. Your dog feeds on your emotions. Just as mother dog would take her pups out from the den and guide the puppies through threatening and non-threatening situations, manifest to your dog that the stimuli he fears is not a big deal. Some find that saying in a casual tone Its just a _______(fill in the blank), silly boy! helps the dog understand its not a big deal. ~Counter Condition. If your dog acts fearfully towards a certain stimuli you can try to change your dogs emotional response by using treats or anything the dog finds rewarding. The moment your dog sees the threatening stimulus give treats, the moment the threatening stimulus disappears take the treats away. The same can be done with sounds the dog finds startling, make the sound become a cue that a tasty treat is coming. ~Dont overwhelm, desensitize. Work, under the threshold from a distance your dog or puppy does not react fearfully and is able to take treats. If you overwhelm and flood your puppy, you risk sensitizing your puppy which means you make him more fearful. Don t force your puppy to interact with the feared stimulus; rather allow him to investigate whatever he fears on his own and remember to praise/reward any initiative your puppy or dog takes! ~Socialize. Fear periods are part of a dogs developmental stages. The more your dog is exposed to stimuli and learns there is nothing to be scared about, the more confident he will be in the future when he will encounter anything intimidating. ~Dont Punish the Fear. It appears that the majority of dog aggressive displays are due to fear; therefore, by punishing the behavior, you will be only exacerbating the fear. Ignore the fear and let your dog build confidence by letting him investigate things on his own when he is ready and praising for the effort. With your support, you can help your dog get through these stages of development that you were not expecting. Be kind, be patient and be firm. That loving social dog you fell in love with is not gone forever. This is only temporary! If you are at wits end, reach out for help. To your breeder, your doggie friends or someone at a local dog club. Dont give up on your dog. They are well worth the effort.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 03:11:46 +0000
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