What can we do with a dog that is afraid of everything? Loud noises, objects, people can be a real nightmare for our four-legged friends. A dog that is afraid of everything makes life difficult for his owner but above all for himself. We asked the trainer Genny of the Wolfspirit dog center, how you can help your dog overcome those particular fears of objects, people or other animals.
How fear reveals itself in dogs
Understanding when the dog is afraid is very intuitive, just observe him: when he feels in danger and uncomfortable his tail is retracted and he has a vigilant posture with tense muscles, usually lowers his head by bending it, and slowly looks away and retracts the tail even more.
The dog is afraid of an object, what to do
If your dog is afraid of an object, such as a watering can, you must never approach the object that scares him, saying “Look, it won’t hurt you!” because we will do nothing but foment the negative emotion that the dog feels towards that object and consequently increase his state of anxiety. Put the watering can nearby and let the dog approach it, study it and understand if it is actually dangerous or not.
If the dog is afraid of a particular noise, for example of cars, and you are walking on the sidewalk and a car passes by, do not pay too much attention to the dog: be calm, assume a relaxed posture, look at him out of the corner of your eye. When he begins to recover the state of calm, only then ask him for attention, if he looks at you say “Bravo” and give him a treat.
If the dog is afraid in the presence of another dog or a person, it may be due to poor socialization. Do not pamper him or reward him with food, you risk strengthening his behavior, thus communicating to him that it is good to be afraid. Instead, try to keep calm and quiet, gaining his trust, and then distract him from what scares him. The best method in this sense is food or play, thanks to which you can induce the animal to get closer and closer to what scares him.
Never scold Rex when he is afraid, try to be close to him and follow our suggestions, you will help him overcome all difficulties. If you don’t see any improvement, get help from a dog educator.