It hurts my heart to see people cater to their dogs fears instead of calmly and patiently insisting that no, they CAN survive being in the presence of an oven timer going off or whatever the everyday terror is. Without that, the dog never learns that there is any other option besides fleeing in terror, and their lives are ruled by their irrational fears.
An anxious dog is that way for one of three reasons. It is genetically predisposed, it has been allowed to self-reinforce for fearful behavior and believes it is a successful tactic for its survival, or a combination of the two.
I have yet to meet an anxious dog unimproved by good training. Although profoundly anxious dogs may never achieve the rollicking disposition of the average retriever, offering them the opportunity to learn how to overcome their fear can absolutely help them cope with stressors.
It doesn’t really take much more than understanding what truly motivates dogs and how willing they are to achieve comfort – whether that comfort looks like the ability to escape or avoid something they fear, or the desire to access something they *need*, more than they fear the obstacle they perceive as in their path. Thank you to Linda Kaim for the words above.
Fear is natural. Too much fear is unhealthy, but fear drives a lot of behavior, in humans as well as dogs.
Humans are afraid of what they perceive as ‘the wrong thing’ and tend to overreact based on limited data. They have ‘heard’ that a technique or piece of equipment is ‘bad’ so any reference to it is colored by that unqualified information and the possibility of help gets rejected.
We all know it’s far easier to live with an issue than it is to face it and make the effort to fix it. Procrastination is a key element to strengthening behavior. It’s easy to put off what should be done today. What the *dog* learns, is since the behavior goes unchallenged, the new strategy can be stored successfully for future use. Persistence is the key. Do that enough times, and the behavior becomes difficult to eliminate.
Interesting that the same things that strengthen a behavior can be used to weaken it. It takes so very little to help a dog learn to cope with stressors. It just takes effort.
Falling back on previously trained skills not only strengthens them, but if they have been reinforced appropriately, the dog will see those opportunities as rewarding, and develop enough temerity to push through the ‘hard stuff’.
Dogs that lack confidence tend to develop it quickly once they see how to achieve reward, whether that reward looks like an external reinforcer like a piece of food, a toy, or a game, or the opportunity to get a bit of a mental break, take a breath and organize their thoughts.
Pushing through will get a result, but quiet, meditative practice will get you there faster.
I find great satisfaction working with anxious dogs. Helping the *real* dog emerge from the weight of profound anxiety is intensely gratifying. If you have such a dog, they deserve the opportunity to feel freedom from that emotional turmoil, and you don’t need drugs to achieve it.
Once an owner sees what is possible, then it is up to them (with the guidance of their trainer) to become the equal of their goals and challenges with their dog. This almost always includes immense amounts of mental, emotional, and physical effort. Skills have to be learned, new ways of thinking and acting have to be developed, and lifestyle needs to be adjusted.
Of course this is a tall order. In the same way that most everyone would love to be in great shape, be financially abundant, and have great relationships with friends and family… these accomplishment all require great effort, great sacrifice, and long term discipline and commitment.
And because we all know how us humans are wired—instant gratification with long term costs almost always beat out delayed gratification with long term benefits—we find most humans know precisely what’s needed, but find that cost simply too high to pay.
So when we proclaim how much we desire to transform our dogs and their behavior, it’s best, if we want to avoid appearing foolish and hypocritical, that we first examine how much of ourselves and our behavior that we’re truly willing to transform.
Said another way, don’t complain about the results you didn’t get from the actions you didn’t take. The results are waiting for you, but only come when you’ve become their equal.
Thank you to Sean O’shea of the Good Dog for these words of wisdom!