Fearful Dogs
HELP FOR SHY or FEARFUL DOGS
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Overview of Behavior Plan
Many of the shy and fearful dogs that we get in at the shelter have not been properly socialized with humans and sometimes other animals. Some of these babies come from puppy mills or hoarding type situations where they have had little to no human interaction. Lack of exposure to different types of people, places, noises, and experiences is one of the most common causes of shy and fearful behavior.
Goals of the training plan
Confident dogs are often able to lead more enriching lives as they are comfortable and happy going on adventures and meeting new people. The goals of this training plan are:
Increase overall confidence.
Improve sociability and handling with strangers.
Increase confidence while in new environments and when interacting with new objects.
Increase leash walking skills
Training tools
These items will be integral to your success:
High value treats (ex: hot dogs, lunch meat, cheese, puppy crack) cut into pieces approximately the size of your pinky fingernail.
Clicker
6 ft light weight leash
Crate
Management
Carefully managing your fosters environment will help them relax so you can more effectively implement the training plan. Set up a “safe space” for him/her in your home. A quiet room such as a spare bedroom, study or laundry room works best. This room should have his/her crate, toys, bedding, food and water. This will be a place he/she can retreat to at any time that he/she feels overwhelmed.
During stressful times (such as when guests are visiting) put them in this area to reduce stress. Be sure to communicate with everyone in your home that this is their safe space and if they retreat there simply leave them alone until they make the choice to come out. Since strangers are stressful for shy dogs, be sure to be prepared if you expect them to visit by crating or leashing him/her when they arrive. The following training plan will outline specifics for handling these situations.
Notes
If at any time, the dog seeks attention/affection, feel free to pet and love on them as much as they like. ALWAYS have the “safe space” available as a retreat. If they choose to retreat, do not try to force them out. However, if the dog does choose to visit after they retreat, offer them treats.
If you are particularly busy or are otherwise unable to do any of the following exercises, it is ok to put the dog in their crate or safe space with toys and a Kong (or other chew toy) until you are able to focus on training.
Training Plan
Step 1: Increase Confidence
An important part in decreasing fearful behavior in nervous dogs is building up their confidence. This activity will help him/her increase his/her confidence when people are around by associating them with a positive thing.
Classical Conditioning
Shy dogs are usually stressed by strangers. Our first step in the rehabilitation process is to build a positive association between the presence of triggers (the things that cause your dog stress; strangers) and something that has inherent value to them (yummy treats). When we use classical conditioning, the dog will get treats anytime the triggers are present, regardless of behavior.
After getting them home and introducing them to the “safe area”, allow them some time to relax and adjust to their new surroundings on their own.
Once your dog has settled in, we want to desensitize them to strangers in the home. Have everyone load up on yummy treats (excluding Children under 10). You want to be sure the treats are particularly high value as stress can cause dogs to lose their appetite. Hot dogs are a great choice for this. As you are moving around the household, toss treats into the safe area every time you pass by. Give a piece every second for 30 seconds, then leave.
Wait a minute to walk by again and repeat the treat shower. Have all adults in your household do this several times so that your dog can become familiar with strangers leaving and entering the “safe area”. However make sure the visits have breaks between one another so they do not become overwhelmed. Eventually, your dog should start associating that your presence means yummy treats and begin to feel more comfortable when you walk by.
Be sure to toss treats regardless of the dogs behavior (hiding, running away, etc.). I know it can seem a little counterintuitive but ultimately the exercise will change the emotional response to strangers.
Have everyone continue these steps daily until your dog learns to associate a person's arrival with a positive thing. Try this exercise in multiple rooms and outdoors as well to increase their confidence interacting in different environments. You can also continue to toss treats at them anytime you are staying in the same room.
Step 2: Increase Sociability with Humans and Comfort with Handling
These activities will help shy dogs learn how to socialize with humans.
Hand Targeting
Hand targeting is a great way to teach nervous dogs to greet new people. It reduces the stress/intimidation that comes from people leaning down over the top of the dog to pet him/her while still allowing new people to interact.
As always, load up on high value treats, grab your clicker and sit on the ground.
Hold your hand out flat, palm forward a few inches from their nose.
Wait for them to sniff/touch your hand with their nose.
Avoid calling for them as your dog should learn to touch your hand on their own.
As soon as the nose touches your palm click and give a treat. This will help him/her associate interactions with you with a positive reward. If at first they don’t touch your palm, you can click anytime they are very close to you or they look at your palm. This will help associate positive rewards to interacting with you.
Give your dog time to think. If they do not touch your palm after about 10 seconds, put your hand behind your back for about 5 seconds and then lay your palm out again.
As your dog begins to associate touching your palm with a click and treat, move your palm further away from them and turn it in different directions. You can even ping pong them between two people with this exercise.
Once they are consistently touching your hand, regardless of where you put it, you can begin to attach a verbal cue to this behavior. Hold out your hand and say “touch”, then click and treat as soon as the nose touches your hand.
Practice having a family member silently hold out their hand while you cue your dog to touch. Once they get the hang of this, you can start practicing with strangers.
Also work with hand targeting outside as it will help your dog learn this in different environments. Remember to click any time the nose touches your palm and reward with a yummy treat immediately afterward.
Look At That (LAT)
This exercise is a wonderful tool for desensitizing shy dogs to strangers (both people visiting your home and people they meet on walks). LAT teaches the dog that looking at scary triggers without reacting brings rewards. It is more effective than teaching the dog to completely ignore the things they find scary and also serves to build a positive association with the triggers.
Start by establishing your dog's threshold.
Threshold refers to the distance between the dog and a trigger (such as strangers/objects) where they begin to show signs of stress and anxiety.
If they are below threshold, your dog will be able to respond to known commands (like sit or touch), eat treats, and respond calmly to the environment.
If your dog is above threshold, they will lose the ability to respond to commands and may even stop eating treats. Ideally, we want to keep them below threshold for the entire training session. As their behavior improves, the threshold distance will decrease.
Once you have figured out where the dog's threshold is, put them on-leash and stand at a distance that is below threshold. Make sure you have yummy treats and your clicker handy.
Wait quietly, resisting the urge to say anything and watch the dog closely. As soon as they glance towards the trigger, click and give a treat. Repeat over and over again until they look towards the trigger readily and then look back to you for the reward as soon as you click.
As you proceed, you should see them visibly relax and possibly even move closer to the trigger on their own.
Gradually decrease your distance, 1 foot at a time. You don’t need to (and likely won’t) make it all the way to the trigger in one training session.
If at any point the dog starts to react to the trigger (shaking, not eating/responding), simply back up to a point where they feel comfortable and start over again.
Try to keep training sessions short for this exercise; 10 minute sessions tend to work really well.
This exercise is a great option when you have guests visit. By placing your dog on a leash and practicing clicking when they look at people, you will be able to build positive associations with strangers without the stress of asking the dog to interact with unknown people before they’re ready. I recommend putting the dog in a crate until all your guests have arrived and then bringing them out for a short training session. After you finish, put them back in the crate, or other safe space, to relax.
You can also use this exercise for objects that scare the dog if they become nervous when interacting with new objects or new environments. For example if they become very nervous around a vacuum, or outside around a swing, you can practice the entire LAT exercise with these objects instead of with a stranger. This will also help introduce an exercise on object targeting in Step Three.
Step 3: Increase confidence in new environments and with new object
These activities will help shy dogs learn how to socialize in new environments and with unfamiliar objects.
Object Targeting
Object targeting involves the same concept as hand targeting, however it will help increase their confidence when interacting in new situations and with new objects.
Grab your high value treats and clicker.
Start with an object that seems to cause minimal stress; we want to start with something that isn’t incredibly frightening to your dog, so they don’t become overwhelmed. We’ll use an example of a leash, but you can use any object that your dog is not comfortable with.
Lay the leash on the ground. As soon as your dog’s nose/paw touches the leash click and give a treat. This will help build an association between interactions with the leash and receiving a reward. If at first they won’t touch the leash, you can click anytime they get close to or look at the leash. This will also help build a positive association with the leash.
Use this same concept for different objects in your house. It can be anything ranging from a broom, vacuum, or even objects that move such as rolling chairs etc.
Once your dog becomes comfortable interacting with new objects indoors, you could try this exercise outdoors. You could use objects such as a rake, bike, or anything that makes your dog nervous.
Additional Resources
Videos
Introduction to Clicker Training by Karen Pryor Clicker Training
Guide to Dog Body Language by Zoom Room
Look at That! By Ellen Clary
Books/Reading
The Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell PhD
For the Love of a Dog by Patricia McConnell PhD
How to Greet a Dog Blog post by By Sophia Yin, DVM, MS
Hand Feeding / Management Tips by Homeward Trails Animal Rescue