← Behavior help
Fearful and shy dogs
The dog behind the sofa. The rescue who has been home three months and still will not come to you.
Where this shows up
- Rescue and shelter dogs in their first year home
- Dogs who will not take food from anyone new
- Noise phobias, including thunder and fireworks
- Dogs who freeze or bolt rather than growl
- Puppies who missed socialisation and are now frightened of the world
Give him the choice
Almost everything done to a frightened dog with good intentions makes him worse: the reaching hand, the encouraging stranger, the treat held out at arm’s length, the insistence that he will be fine once he gets used to it.
Fearful dogs improve when they get to control the distance. My job is to arrange things so that approaching is always the dog’s idea, and then to make that idea pay off.
Scent work helps here
Nose work is one of the best things there is for a worried dog. It is done alone, at his own pace, and it lets him succeed at something without having to cope with anybody. I often use it as part of a fear plan.