Help For the Fearful Dog

Fearful behavior is both treatable and manageable. Here some helpful tips for assisting your fearful dog.

Be aware of your body language at all times with your dog.

Keep a sideways stance to your dog and avoid eye contact as a frontal stance and eye contact can increase his fearful responses. Be sure new people coming to your home are aware of their own body posture. Remember that a forward posture can communicate aggression to your dog and increase his fear.

Ignore all of your dog’s fearful behavior.

By trying to help him through his fear by petting and talking to him, you’d actually be rewarding the behavior and increasing the likelihood of him repeating the behavior again in the future.

Keep tasty treats around your home, especially for the first few weeks living with your new friend

You will want to give him treats when he approaches you, other family members, or decides to explore different rooms or items in your home. It is important for him to learn that something good happens when he chooses to explore novel people or things.

When strangers come to your home, give them tasty treats to give to the dog if he chooses to come over to sniff them.

If the dog chooses to not approach new people, he should be ignored.

If your dog is dog-friendly, arrange for him to go for walks with other dogs who will give him an added level of confidence on the street.

We want you and your dog to create a strong bond, but also for the dog to see the joy in life when there is no fear anymore.