by Andy Sands, Certified Dog Trainer and Behavior Consultant
Hello Suncoast, and welcome to November! The last three weeks of Training Tuesday have been all about Halloween, and how to help prepare your dog for the array of ghouls, goblins, spirits, minions, and monsters. Now that Halloween is behind us, we are moving quickly into Thanksgiving and the Winter holidays. These holidays typically bring increased social gatherings, lots of children, and typically, large crowds. These are all things that can make some dogs very anxious.
Confident Canine
Dogs, like people tend to have their own unique personality characteristics. Just like certain people, some dogs can be more introverted than others. They may not feel comfortable engaging with new people or novel dogs. Sometimes these dogs are also easily startled by loud noises or unfamiliar sounds, such as large trucks, motorcycles, buses, skateboards, etc. Some of these dogs are this way due to a deficit of positive socialization during their puppy stage.
Others may have had some kind of traumatic event that has caused them to be more fearful. In some cases, social shyness can occur for no apparent reason whatsoever. If this describes your dog, it’s time to work on canine confidence building exercises, and help your dog adjust to the things that are causing negative responses.
The process of building confidence in your dog may seem like an overwhelming task. The truth is, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or intimidating. I hope to give you some simple steps to follow to make it easy for you and your dog. To help a timid dog feel more confident, it is vitally important to use only positive reinforcement. This means that no “training collars,” E-collars, prong collars, pinch collars, or other aversives should be used. Only positive responses – what the dog considers “good” – when he or she does something well, is key to helping your dog. This means trying very hard not to do anything the dog may view as negative; even if he misbehaves. To scold, punish, or otherwise cause pain to a dog that is fearful or anxious will only serve to magnify the fear and anxiety. It’s concerning enough that the dog is fearful of new people or things. You don’t want the dog to also be afraid of you.
Join me next week on Training Tuesday and we will break down the steps to take to help your pooch be a confident canine with new people, novel dogs, and around strange objects or machines. In subsequent weeks we will discuss the process of proper introductions between children and dogs; another source of anxiety for some of our canine friends. Have a great week, and I will see you next Tuesday!
