# Fearful dog tips



## Tarielle (Oct 22, 2010)

Hi all, not sure if I have posted this question in the right section but I wanted to ask if anyone can give me some tips or point me in the right direction to get some help with a fearful dog.

Maybe some books I can read or websites I can visit to understand what makes a fearful dog and what I can do about it. Fear biting is also an issue.

Thanking you in advance


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

What kind of things is this dog afraid of? When does she/he resort to fear biting?


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

you may want to read Scaredy dog by Ali Brown. Uno has some fear reactivity issues, especially towards intimidating looking men. I just keep a pocketful of small treats when we go on walks and everytime we walk past something that would otherwise cause anxiety, I start feeding him treats as we walk past the person (or dog), so it builds the positive association. I dont think he'll ever be comfortable with strangers (hes very overprotective), but at least I can help lessen his anxiety. 
Its important to socialize the dog as well, theres some good tips in that book, for example if your dog is afraid/reactive of strangers, have a friend thats never met your dog meet you at a park or someplace quiet. Tell your friend to walk past the dog and without making eye contact, toss treats to the dog, do this until the dog anticipates the food coming from a stranger. 

I think there was an episode on its me or the dog with a reactive dog that hated visitors, so she advised to keep a basket with toys and treats outside the door, and everytime a new person came in, throw/give a toy/treat to the dog, whichever is the favorite. 

But like I said, a lot of it stems from insecurity/anxiety, chances are if you're anxious, your dog will pick up on your body language and start acting out. Theres some supplements you can try like St. John's wort and you may also want to read up on T-touch which is very helpful for fear reactive dogs. 

Hope this helps.


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## Tarielle (Oct 22, 2010)

She is scared sometimes of dogs when we walk but only from a distance. When they are up close and if I pat them, then she will give them kisses which kind of worries me too but so far the other dogs have been receptive. I have noticed though that when we go to the park (all dogs on lead) then she doesn't seem to have any problems with the other dogs walking around and we pass quite a few.

Today I took her to get her nails trimmed and she was fearful from the moment we walked in the door. I have tried cutting her nails too and she just won't let me get very far. The vet however, she never has a problem going to whereas I know some dogs hate the vet. She did try to bite the vet once when he had to take her temperature. She is very up and down and unpredictable.

She is extremely fearful of anyone or any dog approaching her from behind and will turn around and want to bite if that happens.

She has bitten me a few times (only nips and never broken skin) when I have tried to get something out of her teeth that got stuck and if I put my hand on her back or her rump she jumps. 

I have heard of T Touch and would like to learn how to do that one day. We have workshops here but they are always run during working hours, they take about a week and are fairly costly. Not sure if I will get the opportunity.

I was wondering if I should be using treats to encourage her to do the right thing when she is scared. For instance, if she is looking really insecure and I tell her to sit and she does then I would reward her with a treat so that she forgets what she was focused on.

I would say she is very insecure and I would love to learn how to make her a more confident dog.


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## werecatrising (Oct 15, 2010)

I really like this book Amazon.com: The Cautious Canine (9781891767005): Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D.: Books

My current dogs both started out extremely fearful. Darla was mostly afraid of people. Seriously afraid. If she saw a person- even way off in the distance, she would go into sheer panic. Quinn was terrified of everything. He was supposed to be euthanized due to his fearful nature. He was afraid to move when we brought him home. My husband and I had to carry him everywhere. I took both dogs to a behaviorist that focuses on Patricia McConnell's methods. Both made MAJOR improvement.


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I actually bought this and its been very helpful when going to the vet:
Amazon.com: Premier Pet Gentle Leader Calming Cap-small, blue: Kitchen & Dining

You can also get a book on t-touch, most of the techniques are pretty basic, so I'm sure you can do that. 

As far as her being afraid of another dog approaching from behind, I again, would enlist a help of a friend with a dog, but in this case, let them walk forward, then actually start walking behind them, keep your distance and slowly come closer, but not close enough that the dogs can sniff each other. Let your dog know that its ok to walk behind another dog with no confrontation, once your dog relaxes, you can walk next to your friend. 

I do this a lot with Uno when he go on hikes, he does not like anyone walking behind me, so he keeps turning around, I usually let the other person pass and walk behind them. 

As far as biting you, it doesent sound like shes really aggressive, just very nerveous, again massage and t-touch would help with that. You may also want to look into acupuncture. 



> I was wondering if I should be using treats to encourage her to do the right thing when she is scared. For instance, if she is looking really insecure and I tell her to sit and she does then I would reward her with a treat so that she forgets what she was focused on.


You can do that, if she goes into sit and focuses on you and not the distraction, reward her for that.


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## Tarielle (Oct 22, 2010)

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I definately will be reading some books and will try to find something on T Touch. I did use a T Touch technique around her mouth so that I could get close to her without her thinking I was going to stick my fingers in her mouth and doing something nasty. She would never let me near her and would bite me.

I will also make enquiries about acupunture for dogs, maybe there is someone in my area I can go to.

I started some massage over the weekend and she was fairly receptive to it so will keep that up and see if it makes a difference.

She is a constant challenge and this problem just caps off a whole lot of other ones. It's a good thing I love her like I do. Sometimes I wonder if her brothers and sisters are the same way and I hope that they have owners who love them and care for them too.


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## Jack Monzon (Jul 25, 2010)

I'm in a similar situation. My 13-month-old dog, who I adopted at 7 months, is afraid of all strangers. He was a real mess when I got him this past May, and my vet, whom I've since fired, suggested I might have to give him back (or worse -- his words are, "you might have some difficult decisions to make very soon"). My dog would not walk outside for the first several weeks, he'd just freeze up and stare at every person, and flop down on his stomach. 

I moved to a new apartment after 6 weeks, and a lot changed overnight. I now have a massive park, which has forest trails, just a block away, and he loved it from the very beginning. I started taking him to a dog park every day, sometimes twice per day, and he started warming to other dogs very well -- he'd just keep his distance from humans. He's now fine with walks and with most other dogs. People can pass us in the park by only an inch or two, and he doesn't care. Once in a blue moon he'll growl at another dog, or not want to say hi to one, but mostly he's curious and wants to sniff, play.

That said, he still won't let strangers touch him, ever. This is problematic, because I work all day, and there's no one home. I NEED someone to walk him, especially if I have to work late. He's great about not having accidents in the house, but his energy needs to be sapped. 

Tarielle: Funny you mention the siblings. I had the same curiosity. I went to a first-ever family reunion with my dog's siblings this past Sunday, and my dog was by far the shyest with people. He was perfectly fine with his siblings, though. A couple of the other siblings were very fearful upon arrival -- tail tucked, very wary -- but warmed up within 15 or 20 minutes. My dog was great with the other dogs from the get-go, running and playing, but not with the people. All of the other dogs let the people pet and touch them, but mine didn't. =(

I guess I don't have any useful information for you, I just wanted to share my situation. I'm eager to hear what other people say, and to check out that Patricia McConnell book.


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## mike487 (Mar 30, 2010)

I think a good resource for fear/anxiety/aggression issues is Dr. Sophia Yin Browse Recent Articles - Dr. Sophia Yin, DVM, MS
Please ignore her thoughts on raw feeding tho 
She uses counter-conditioning to deal with issues that I think are similar to yours.
Check out this toe nail trim counter-conditioning video YouTube - Dog Aggressive for Toenail Trim | AskDrYin.com
She has many more great videos on youtube YouTube - SuperBark1's Channel


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## Sophie45 (Jan 3, 2011)

I also have a nervous/fearful dog, and I LOVE Patricia McConnell!

I'm surprised no one so far has suggested Click to Calm by Emma Parsons. Clicker training is WONDERFUL for nervous dogs, but it's a lot of work and takes patience!

@ Jack-you mentioned that your dog won't let strangers touch him ever, and my question is: do you need for strangers to touch him (except the vet)? Is he ok once he gets to know the person? Could you go for a few walks altogether with whomever would be helping you out first? And maybe have them hang out at your place a few times, and have the person just sit on a couch close to your dog, gently toss treats near him (I'm guessing he won't take treats out of their hands at first). My Sophie won't let a stranger touch her, but once she warms up to them, she's fine (the first week I started dating my boyfriend he must have tossed a pound of cheese towards Sophie until she warmed up to him! Now her world revolves around him) It offends some people who want to pet her, but I just tell them to not take it personally, she doesn't let any person she doesn't know pet her.

Just some of my thoughts raising a nervous/fearful dog...


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