Ignoring Fearful Dogs? Think Again

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Cleaning out computer files I ran across this article I found last year during the dreaded July fireworks.  I loved what the author wrote and it made more sense to me than ignoring the dogs.  Sure, there are different methods but here is another perspective I think we all need to read.  This one, for some reason, makes more sense to me. Thoughts.

Fast food thinking about dogs

Posted July 8, 2011
Filed under: Helping fearful dogs | Tags: dog training scared timid shy fearful rehabilitation counter condit..., reinforcing fear
Comments (15)

Tis the season for bad advice. It seems no matter where I turn-blog posts, website, forums, chats- someone is putting ‘don’t comfort your dog when they are scared’ messages out. The last I read, provided by someone who by choice or certification, is identified as a ‘behaviorist’, was a list of tips for dealing with fireworks and storm phobias included; no cooing or baby talk because it will only be telling the dog that they are right to be afraid. Really? Where I come from the way we let someone know that they are right to be afraid is to shriek, “LOOK OUT IT’S GOING TO KILL YOU!”

I suppose if we’ve paired cooing and baby talk with enough negative experiences then it might reaffirm a dog’s concern. I imagine the scene from a bad crime drama in which the killer calmly looks at his victim, knife glinting in his hands and says, “Don’t be afraid, it won’t hurt…..for long.” Hopefully we have not done this, and instead our cooing and baby talk has been used to get a tail wag and to let our dogs know who is “the cutest, fluffiest, most handsomest, doggie on the planet.”

And let’s face it, if you’re really terrified no amount of, ‘don’t worry darling it’s going to be alright’, is likely to help. Often we seem to be either unaware, or unwilling to acknowledge how scared our dogs are. So why, if comforting a dog may not help do I get my knickers in twist when someone advises against it? Because sometimes comforting helps, because if you believe that being kind and gentle with a scared dog is going to reinforce their fear you might take that line of thought, as many do, and assume that making a dog deal, on their own, with what scares them, is the thing to do. And it is not. But more importantly it’s because it’s wrong. And it doesn’t take much deep thinking to see why that is.

It would appear that when it comes to dogs we have adopted a ‘fast food’ way of thinking. All it takes is for someone to assert that; dogs need leaders, that they live in the moment (This one tickles me particularly because it implies that every moment in a dog’s life their brain is a clean slate, that what they experienced yesterday had no effect on them in which case I wonder-how do they remember their name?), that they will try to dominate their owners if given the chance, that their noses should be rubbed in their poop, that a smack with a rolled-up newspaper is an appropriate thing to do-for whatever reason, that every single dog on the planet must be spayed or neutered, that breed is destiny, and you shouldn’t comfort scared creatures.

The next time you read something about dogs and how to handle or train them, after you’ve bitten through the crunchy sugar coating, take some time to mull the information over. You may find that that first bite leaves you with a toothache

[Christine & Camus]

My thoughts on this boil down to - Love, Human kindness, Common sense, and Respect, which is how I raised my son.  He turned out fantastic! 

I've had 2 dogs with significant fear issues, and pretty much used the same thinking.  I was not coddling them - it was necessary to hold and comfort them at critical times. Roxanne had what the vet told me was a mental breakdown (a long story). The animal psychologist would not touch her out of fear of being bitten.  I knew my dog and I knew she would not bite.  I held her tight and when she was ready went back to her puppy commands to start rebuilding her confidence.  She was never 100%, but she improved and lived for another 10 years.  My 2nd experience  was with Nietzsche.  When I found him in a state of absolute panic (separation anxiety that I did not know he had) I picked him up and sat down on the floor, him wrapped in my arms and held him tight, a human "thunder shirt" if you will, until he was breathing normally, only then did I relax my hold on him.  I cannot imagine having done otherwise with either of them. And then there is Camus, who I reassure with kindness and warmth (I do believe in hugging my big puppy), but he also needs me to be firm and reassuring with some of his fears.  He has grown in leaps and bounds when it comes to his fear of people. So, I may not be following the conventional wisdom, but as is said - "the proof is in the pudding!"  

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Joanne,

Thanks for posting this!  This is so interesting since all I've seen in my researching is to ignore.  I think with puppies and with small children, they pick up on whether things should be scary from their caregivers.  I am a teacher, and my older son stayed with my mom during the day.  She took great care of him, but she has some major fear issues herself.  I have had to fight those myself because I was taught that everything was dangerous and everyone was out to hurt me.  I have mostly overcome all of that, but didn't really think about it being a problem again until my mom's fears started coming out with my son.  For example, he is a big 11 year-old boy who will not be outside very long because of bees.  He is scared to death of them.  My DH had to "lie" to get Shane to go on the hike the other day by telling him it's too early for most bees to be out & we wouldn't see any.  Thankfully, the only one we saw was on Bexter's nose on the way BACK from hiking (and my son was asleep in the back of the van).  Whew!  Anyway, I think the same thing with dogs.  Don't freak out around things or encourage them to freak out by giving them all kinds of reinforcing words, etc.  Bexter is scared of nothing basically.  Maggie is scared of some things, for example, the vacuum.  So, when I vacuum, I just talk to her normally so she knows that there is nothing to worry about.  She's doing pretty well.  I like this article!