BY FRAN JEWELL
(Stretching and yawning) “It’s time to get up. Breakfast. I love breakfast. But wait! The humans are hitting that darned noisy thing again. I hate when they hit that. Are they mad at me? I will hide in the closet until it stops that noise.
“Now they are heading downstairs. It must mean that breakfast is coming. But the tall human is putting on their jacket and has my leash. We must be going for a walk first.
“Oh no! All I want is my breakfast. I hate those walks. The dog next door is always yelling at me. He hates me. I keep tucking my tail to let him know I mean no harm. But he keeps barking so mean. It scares me.
“Oh great. Now here comes another human. They always want to pet me on the top of my head and I hate that. I will hide behind my dad. They walk behind and still try to touch me. Don’t they know I don’t like that. I am trying to tell them by hiding.
“She scares me. She won’t leave me alone. Now she is bending over me. Oh no! That means I must have done something wrong. I’ll duck my head so she can’t… Oh no, she touched me. Now I am shaking.
“I wish my humans would just let me hang out in the backyard. I really don’t trust people and I get so shaky. I can’t stop shaking. Then my humans say they think they should get me out more. They call it socializing.
“I want to feel safe. I don’t want to get to know everyone and every dog. So many dogs are not nice and push me around or yell at me. And I really don’t understand the things humans do. I don’t understand their body language. They treat me like another human, and I just don’t understand that. So it makes me scared.
“I just want to hide. Don’t my humans understand how nervous this makes me? I’d rather just sleep in a warm, comfy den. Dens make me feel safe. I don’t want to be social.”
So many times we feel that more socialization is good for an insecure or fearful dog. In fact, continually placing a dog in situations where he is uncomfortable can push the dog into using the only means he knows to protect himself – biting or nipping. It is important to learn that not all dogs need to be “social.” Just like people. Some people like big parties and others would rather stay home and read a book.
When too much pressure is put on a dog to interact, his fears can actually compound the problem, especially when stress hormones stay in the body and accumulate, making it even harder for the dog to cope.
We also need to learn our particular dog’s “threshold,” or what he can tolerate comfortably. In doing so, we must learn dog behavior. Again, truly understanding and respecting dog behavior is the key to helping a fearful dog enjoy his life.
Depending on whether the dog’s fear is genetic or learned, this can contribute to how to work with the dog. As with most solutions in life, there are many elements that will contribute to finding a solution. There usually is no “silver bullet,” or one thing that will change a dog’s behavior, if it is changeable at all.
Fran Jewell is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, IAABC-certified dog behavior consultant, NADOI-certified instructor #1096 and the owner of Positive Puppy Dog Training, LLC, in Sun Valley. For more information, visit www.positivepuppy.com or call (208) 578-1565.