Helping Fearful Show Dogs

Honestly, I thought I had already posted this here, but then realized that I havent.  I probably keep shying away from it because it is a big topic to cover in a simple blog post.  I work with fearful show dogs constantly and have some solid methods and advice to offer on helping them.  This post wont cover everything, but will give you some tools to help your fearful dog or your clients fearful dog.

One thing I want to say is that I hope that people look for help because they are genuinely concerned for the well being of their dogs and want them to feel comfortable and safe, not just so that they will be successful in the show ring.  Many dogs suffer from fear and anxiety.  One of my most successful classes is my Confidence Building for Marshmallows which was designed to help fearful dogs gain confidence.  A large percentage of my dog and bird training and behavior consulting business is helpling people with fearful dogs and birds.  I see show dogs, pet dogs and dogs that do many other dog sports and activities as well.  It is our responsibility as their caretakers to find ways to help them so that they can live a life that allows them to feel safe, comfortable and trust in someone or hopefully, many people.

In addition to my client dogs, I also live with several fearful animals that have all made spectacular progress.  I have dogs that used to bark and lunge at people on the street, who would try to flee in a panic over vehicles and even parrots who would lunge at the side of the cage bars with their beaks trying to bite, all who have improved so much that you would not believe that they had those issues.  It took some time and it took work, but they got there.  On this point, there is something that I need to be very clear and honest about.  All animals are individuals and will have varying limitations.  There are a handful of dogs that I honestly do not feel will progress enough that putting them in the show ring is humane.  Imagine being terrified of people yet forced to be touched by strangers on a regular basis.  Much of the time we can modify the behavior to the point where the dog can be shown, but sometimes not and people need to be accepting of that.  It is heartbreaking to see people showing dogs that hate it, are terrified but are forced to keep doing it because there owners cant seem to accept the dog without a CH before his name.  And, dont even get me started on using those dogs in a breeding program, but I digress.  Let me just say that being structurally correct or "pretty" is NOT enough to justify putting a dog in the show ring, or in a breeding program for that matter, whose head wont allow him to be okay there.  This is an ethical responsibility we have.  We must put the animals well being ahead of our need or desire or ego to show the dog.  Work on helping the dog, learn how to modify the behavior, but always listen to the dog and accept it if the dog you had hoped would be your next big special (or agility champion or therapy dog or obedience dog or whatever) cannot do the job you are asking of him or her.  The animal simply MUST come first.

What Not To Do
There are some things that I do not do that pretty much apply to any and all fearful animals that I work with.

• No pressure or force.  We must allow the fearful animal to set the pace.  There is a difference between slow, steady, honest progression and pushing or forcing.  Dont do it.  You will not only slow the dogs progress, but you will damage the relationship with the animal.  Of course there are sometimes things we must do such as take them to the vet or groom them, but these are things we can condition them for.  Getting into the show ring or into some type of dog sport competition is NOT a necessity and is something that can wait until the dog can do it without being afraid.  
• Use only methods that protect the dogs comfort level such as classical conditioning, desensitization and counter conditioning and stay away from methods that force or overwhelm such as flooding.
• Even if things are going well, do not enter your dog in any shows until you are VERY sure that he is ready for it.  Doing so can cause major setbacks.  Depending on the level of fear, I usually have my clients attend some shows but not enter at first.  
• Do not taking behavior modification advice from non-professionals.  Dealing with fearful dogs is not simply "dog training", it is a whole other level of behavior modification that requires a strong and in depth understanding of animal learning theory as well as applied behavior analysis.  I find it extremely frustrating to be working with a client only to have their friend or breeder or handler or someone else pressuring them that they need to just "make him do it" or "correct him" when we have a solid training plan in place.  
• Depending on the level of fear and the specific triggers, I sometimes recommend that a fearful or shy dog only be handled by his owner.  Handing a fearful dog off to a stranger or even someone that the dog does not trust very strongly is a bad idea and again a trust breaker.
• Do not buy into the idea that a dog is being willful, lazy, dominant, stubborn or anything else.  Believe it or not, I have had longtime breeders, I am talking about someone with decades in a breed and "in dogs" tell me that their fearful dogs behavior was a "ploy" and that she knows these dogs and they "do this".  Newsflash, no animal behaves afraid on purpose, they just dont, so get over that one.
• Do not punish a dog for being fearful.  Fear can look like a lot of different things while still being a fearful response.  You cannot punish someone for being afraid or guess what you get?  If you guessed more fear and anxiety youre right.  Dont do it.  
• Do not allow yourself to be pressured into entering your dog before he is ready because someone told you he "needs to get over it" or because your breeder wants the dog in the ring or because your dog is needed to build majors.  
• Do not have other people offer food to your dog if he is afraid of them.  Many people try to force dogs by using food and when this happens you can see that the dog is trying to get the food without getting near the person.  This is dangerous and a very bad idea because it puts the dog in conflict.  Best case scenario is that the dog panics and tries to escape once the food is gone, worst case scenario is that he bites the person once the food is gone, in either case, he didnt learn anything we wanted him to learn.  Whenever I meet a dog that I know is fearful or aggressive I start out with no food.  I need to see if the dog has any interest in people, in interacting or even just "checking me out" before I start using food.  Let me be clear that we do use food, a lot of food in this training, but it doesnt come from scary strangers.
• Do not put anything above your dogs well being or your relationship with your dog.

What You Should Do

• Learn about canine body language.  I teach my clients to learn to read their dogs body language starting with the most relaxed and comfortable body language which is at home.  Once they can do this easily, they can learn stress signals which allows them to see the earliest shifts in comfort level.  This is critical because it allows you to monitor the dog and get him out of situations while he can still function, not after he has had a complete meltdown.
• Use desensitization and counter conditioning to teach the dog to be comfortable with the triggers that frighten him.  More on that later.
• Move slowly and allow the dog to set the pace.  This is the only way to get honest progress.
• Have the goal of the dog loving the show ring, not just accepting it.  Tolerating something is different from loving or enjoying something.  We need show dogs to really like it if they are going to be successful.
• Wait to show the dog until he is more than ready for it.

Desensitization and Counter Conditioning

Desensitization and counter conditioning is the best way to treat a dog that is shy, fearful or unsure.  Desensitization is the process of systematically exposing the dog to the "trigger", which is the thing that scares him at controlled levels so that he is aware of the trigger, but at a distance or level where he still feels comfortable.  This level of exposure is called "sub threshold".  

Again, "sub threshold" is the point where the dog is aware of the trigger, but is not worried or upset.  This is where understanding body language is important.  If your dogs behavior is changing once he becomes aware of the trigger, he may be starting to become anxious and that is when you need to start making decisions about what to do next.  This is certainly not a complete list, but here are some stress signals that would indicate that your dog is become anxious or that his arousal level is rising.  

• Unable to eat
• Unable to hear you
• Unable to focus
• Scanning the environment or hypervigilance
• Taking food harder, harder mouth
• Less blinking, hard eyes
• Changes in breathing
• Hard muscles in the face, ridges
• Curved topline
• Circling, spinning, trying to escape
• Avoidance of any kind including avoiding eye contact
• Sniffing the ground
• Panting when it isnt warm out
• Yawning

Most of the time when I start to go over this list with clients with fearful dogs, they start to notice that their dogs do a lot of these things.  The time to increase distance from the trigger, change the value of the food you are offering or make whatever decision is necessary is when you notice small changes in the behavior, not after the dog has come completely unglued.  Once the dog has had a full blown reaction, you are not likely to get him back.

Counter conditioning is the process of adding something that the animal likes with the presence of the trigger.  Its pretty simple, it looks like this:  >scary thing = choice for the animal + the animals favorite thing< and >scary thing is gone = favorite thing is gone<

With show dogs we have to desensitize and counter condition to different things or multiple things depending on the dog.  I have worked with dogs that we had to desensitize and counter condition to:

• Table
• Judges Exam
• Other dogs
• Testicle exam
• Bite/mouth exam
• Grooming
• Indoor shows (buildings)
• Grass
• Vehicles
• Crates
• Men in suits
• Hats
• Eye contact

Here is an example of a good desensitization and counter conditioning program, however, keep in mind that each step is determined by the dogs response to the prior step.  You dont progress until the dog is ready.  

Lets say a dog is okay with the table, but doesnt like the judges exam.  This is evidenced by moving back from judge, leaning away from judge, freezing when judge approaches, trying to jump off the table, turning to bite, etc.  For this example, lets say that the dog leans away or backs away from judge when the judge reaches to touch the dog.  Note that just strongarming and holding the dog in place forcibly is NOT okay, is extremely disrespectful and relationship damaging.  

1. Owner puts dog on table, I approach to 1 from table, stop, owner feeds chicken, I turn and walk away.  I repeat this until the dog has zero concern with my approach.
2. I approach table, pause, owner feeds chicken, I turn and walk away.  We do this until he is comfortable.  With each step, we repeat it until the dog shows no concern AT ALL or looks excited and anticipatory with my approach.  If at any time I approach and the dog is concerned, I back up to the last step or wherever he is comfortable and work from there.  You will be AMAZED at how quickly most dogs progress once they realize that they have some control over their safety and yes, it is safety to them.  Once they realize that you hear them and are listening, the confidence goes way up.
3. Once he is comfortable with approach and pause, I approach, raise my hand about halfway up, pause, owner feeds, I walk away.  Note that every time I walk away is critical. It is a second reinforcer to the dog, a release of pressure.  It gives the dog a moment to process it, to think about it and it shapes his future responses and decisions.
4. Next step would usually be raising arm higher, owner feeds, I walk away, owner stops feeding.
5. Owner will always feed, and I will always walk away, but I am just going to type in my steps now to save space.
6. Raise hand and reach out.
7. Raise hand and reach out and pause.
8. Raise hand, reach out, touch dog.
9. Touch dog for longer duration.
10. Pet dog down body.
11. Then, I would progress through desensitizing and counter conditioning for the entire exam.

I have worked with dogs who in the past had been just forced to stay in position and be touched even though they were terrified and those dogs, understandably, can take longer to regain the trust.  They have lost such faith in their owners that they need time and we have to give it to them. 

Again, the key is always that you must stop or move back in the program if the dog gets worried.  If you have to go back several steps, it is usually MUCH faster to get there the next time.  

Other Things To Understand

• Dogs do not "act" afraid if they arent afraid.  Dont buy into thinking that the dog is just doing it.  Fearful responses are not something the dog is doing, it is something that is happening to the dog.
• Being "in dogs" does not make someone an expert in canine behavior, behavior modification or animal learning theory.  I hear some of the most dangerous, inaccurate and inhumane advice given by people who think that they know everything about dogs because they have been showing or breeding for a long time.  Again, dealing with fearful dogs is not "dog training".
• A dog who has a fearful episode can remain "heightened" for quite a while.  Dogs that are constantly exposed to things that cause anxiety can literally take days (or longer) to decompress from that level of anxiety.  
• Fear is very real to the individual experiencing it, even if it may seem unreasonable to you.  For instance, I am very anxious of dental visits and plane rides.  I have never had a bad experience in a plane and have not had a bad experience at the dentist in a very long time, still, my panic attacks are uncontrollable.  Because I can choose to go to the dentist or not, to cancel an appointment, to see a dentist that allows me to stop him if I need to, I have somewhat been able to desensitize myself to it so that my fear of the dentist is much better.  However, I cannot ease myself into plane rides as easily, so that panic (of taking off) remains pretty bad.
• No matter how well trained an animal is, if they become fearful (or otherwise emotional in some way), the reliability of the training will not be as strong.  In other words, emotional state trumps training.  I have trained dogs to lift their tail on cue, however, if they become fearful and part of their physiological response when fearful is to lower their tail, that will happen and they cannot control it as they can when they are emotionally "even".
• Our relationship with the dog and the dogs well being comes first, always.

Relationship and Trust

It is critical to me that the dog and owners relationship remain strong and intact and that we work to build a lot of trust.  Trust that remains, not just until the owner really wants to win, or really wants the dog in the ring, or is really feeling pressure to show the dog.  The trust comes first, always.  Our job is to protect our dogs and to advocate for them.  If the dog doesnt have an owner he can trust, he has nothing.  

Trust in you and the relationship can be damaged easier than you think.  Handing your dog off to someone he doesnt know, especially if that person uses force or physical corrections, forcing your dog to be touched when he is afraid, disappearing at a dog show when he isnt used to that are all ways to breach the trust.  

One of my biggest pet peeves is handlers or breeders saying that an owner "coddles" or "spoils" their dog and has no respect for the owner, blah, blah, blah.  What they are really saying is that they are going to do what they want to do with your dog, your dog is going to cope with it, they know your dog better than you and what the dog deems important isnt.  It is extremely rude and disrespectful to the owner of the dog and the dog himself.

I hope that this post can help people to understand the process of helping fearful show dogs.  

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Can Dogs and Cats Cry

By Julia Williams

Have you ever seen your pet cry? And by “cry,” I mean actual tears from their eyes as an emotional response. Most people would say no; the general consensus is that animals lack the capacity for such a thing. We know that animals can “tear up” as a result of allergies, dust, upper respiratory infections, pollutants and such, but crying as an emotional response is believed impossible by most.

I don’t really like that word “impossible,” though. It would imply that we humans think we know everything there is to know about the emotional lives of animals. But how can we? Unless we are a dog, we can’t know what is in a dog’s mind or heart. We can form an opinion based on science and personal experience, but I think it would be arrogant for any human to say they know with certainty what emotions a dog or cat is capable of feeling.

Many scientists definitely have their own rigid thinking about the emotional capacity of animals. They base their opinion on carefully controlled research rather than the one-on-one bonding that takes place between people and their beloved pets. But here’s the thing:  a recent study proved that people could tell what emotion a dog was experiencing by looking at photographs of the dog’s face. The photos were taken after introducing stimuli designed to elicit a specific reaction from the dog.

Happiness was correctly identified by 88% of the study participants; anger was correctly identified by 70%. So if we can tell by a dog’s face whether he is happy, angry, sad, surprised or afraid, is it farfetched to believe we’ve only scratched the surface in terms of the emotional capacity of animals? I don’t think so.

Jeffrey Masson, author of the bestselling book When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals, believes that animals do lead complex emotional lives. To support his theory, Masson found hundreds of anecdotes from the published works and field studies of noted behaviorists, including Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Cynthia Moss.

Few scientists have acknowledged or researched animal emotions. Yet “most people who work closely with animals, such as animal trainers, take it as a matter of fact that animals have emotions,” wrote Masson. “Training an animal will meet with little success if the trainer has no insight into the animal’s feelings.”

Veterinary behaviorist Dr. Nicholas Dodman also believes that animals lead complex emotional lives. “Science cant prove it, but theres absolutely no doubt in my mind that dogs and cats have real feelings, just as powerful as our own. Its just that I have never heard of a case of a dog or cat getting upset or depressed, and then crying real tears as a response,” said Dodman.

Searching online, I found a site that discussed the idea of animals crying tears as an emotional response. The writer asked for stories from people who had seen their animal cry, and the responses poured in. Nearly 100 people recounted tales of their pet crying; they spoke of tears of sadness, heartache, loneliness, frustration, tears of missing another animal or a person…even tears of joy. Could they all be wrong? Could each of those stories have a medical explanation for the tears?

Sure. But I like to think it’s equally possible that the anecdotes are in fact, proof that cats and dogs can cry. I’ve never seen it with my own eyes, but does that mean it’s not possible? I can’t see the air, electricity or Mars, but I believe these things exist. We can’t see our emotions either, but there’s no doubt we all have them.

Have you ever seen a dog or cat cry real tears as an emotional response? Please share your story in the comments!

Top photo by kitty.green66
Bottom photo by Colin Davis

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Fearful Dogs and Trigger Stacking

Zen Django is my 3 year old Chinese Crested.  I adopted him when he was just under two years old, knowing that he was fearful and shy.  He has come a long way and is my canine freestyle partner.  He is great with other dogs and people and despite his debilitating sound sensitivity has learned to cope very well in the world around him.  He used to dart around and panic on walks, but can now walk happily and confidently.  Our walks have gotten much better and just last week I noticed that he ignored both a guy using a loud saw and a lawnmower running.  Those are both huge improvements for him because in the past, both would have sent him reeling.

I just got back from a neighborhood walk with Django.  The first half of the walk was awesome and I was thinking to myself how great he is doing and how amazing it is to see him to relaxed and comfortable.  Just over 1/2 way through our walk, Djangos worst nightmare appeared...a Fed Ex truck.  The noise of large trucks with their hydraulic screeches and random booms, as well as construction equipment are extremely scary for him.  I noticed it before he did and so I stopped heading in that direction and knelt down next to him.  I held the leash so that he was close to me and didnt have room to dart around just petted him and told him he would be okay.  After the truck was gone we continued with our walk.  After the truck passed he was no longer panicked, but was no longer relaxed and comfortable.  From the time we saw the truck, he became more reactive to cars which hadnt been bothering him before, as well as other sounds, even the sound of the leash attachment clinking with his harness.  He was still able to eat food, respond to me and walk, but he was walking faster and his movement was more jerky.  He was just clearly now "on edge". Unfortunately, we saw another large loud truck and again I had to comfort him until it passed.

There are two things about this that I wanted to discuss.  The first thing is "trigger stacking".  Trigger stacking is when there are more than one trigger in the environment and each one creates a layer of anxiety that lowers the dogs threshold for coping.  For Django, while he is much more comfortable going out of the house, there is a still a level of elevation in his normal emotional state when we go out.  Not enough for him to be bothered by vehicles or saws, but if he is exposed to something scary, like a Fed Ex truck, things he normally could cope with become more challenging and scary.  I realize that every time I take him out there is a possibility of us seeing a truck, however, I feel that because we usually dont see one, it is worth it for him to continue to be out in the world going on leash walks which he really enjoys.

Trigger stacking is something I see often in show dogs that are fearful or reactive.  They may be worried about one piece of the dog show experience, such as the judge or other dogs or the table, or they may be worried about many of those things.  If they are worried about several of these things, there is definitely trigger stacking happening because each trigger is breaking down the dogs ability to cope.  This is why it is so important why we deal with EVERY issue that a dog has with being shown before throwing him into a situation where he will be forced to deal with things that scare him.

Dogs, just like all other animals, including humans cannot help it when they are afraid of something. I have a fear of flying.  I have never been hurt in a plane and I can reason with myself that I will be okay, still, I have a panic attack every time I fly.  It isnt fun.  I would stop feeling that way if I could, but I cant.  It is the same for dogs.  There is no animal that will act fearful if they can help it.  If a dog is acting afraid, it is because he is afraid.  Dogs are incredibly honest that way.  I have actually had breeders tell me that "in their breed" dogs will "act afraid" so that they wont have to do things or to manipulate us, which of course is ridiculous and not at all true.  It is truly scary that people who have such a distorted view of how dogs behave have such a strong influence not only on a breed in general but also in people who buy their puppies who will listen to that and actually believe it.  But, I digress...

The other point I wanted to make of this story is that you may have noticed that I comforted Django when he was afraid.  There are still people who mistakenly believe that if you comfort a fearful dog you will "reinforce their fear".  Fear is an emotion, not a behavior, so it doesnt work that way.  If I was getting robbed at gunpoint and someone came up and started handing my $100 bills, do you think I would be more afraid the next time because I was reinforced for being afraid?  No, because at the time, I was not "learning" in that way, I was just trying to stay alive.  Any learning I would be doing would likely be "classically conditioned", meaning that it was learned from associations, not consequences, like reinforcement.  So, I could learn to be afraid of going to that same location because I had been robbed there, or I could even develop a negative association to a type of car that happened to be sitting nearby or to the shoes I was wearing that day because my brain happened to have made an association between those two things - that scary event and my shoes that I had on that day.  But, I wouldnt be more afraid because I was reinforced during the robbery.

This is all important to think about when dealing with a fearful or reactive dog.  I want Django to be comfortable with walks and I hope that one day I can get him to be okay with loud trucks, although I am not sure he ever will.  What I see now is that he is "better" than he was.  He still becomes very obviously afraid, but he doesnt completely panic to the point of trying to escape me like he used to.  Protecting him and comforting him has helped.  What would never, ever help him is what I see many people do when their dog is having an anxiety attack which is physically correct them.  Many owners view this as an intentional behavior of the dog acting up, but these fearful responses are not something the dog is doing as much as they are something scary that is happening to the dog.  Another important thing to think about because correcting a dog for being afraid is extremely relationship damaging.  It breaches the trust between the dog and owner which is never a good thing.

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Overcoming fears in Fearful Dogs

Dogs have fears for several reasons, that is a whole article to itself and weve covered it in the article link to the right called Fearful Dogs we also made a Lens at Squidoo for more general tips on Confidence Building for Fearful Dogs. Be sure to check them out too.

Here I hope to talk about ways to overcome those fears youll find in fearful dogs. There are several ways to do so. I think the most popular method is by using the clicker and treats. So I am going to cover some basics on using a clicker and some treats to help your dog overcome some fears.

The first thing you need to do, is make sure to charge the clicker. Be sure your dog knows what that click means. If your completely new to clicker training, be sure to check out Clicking With Your Dog along with Click for Joy! I can not recommend those two books enough. They are great for anybody interested in clicker training.

If you dont yet have a clicker, their are many out there to choose from. My favorite to use is the StarMark Clicker. However you can use iClicks too. Im not a huge fan of them simply because they are so quiet. If you have a sensitive dog or a fearful dog, those might be the way to go though. These also come with a wrist coil to keep them hooked to your wrist for easy grabbing.

Now that you should have the needed equipment, lets continue. Once your dog knows what the clicker means, you will want to teach them to target. Targeting is simply touching their nose to a certain thing. You can use your hand, finger, a lid off a container, a pen or even a stick to teach this. If your not sure how to teach target, I again recommend Clicking With Your Dog this book will teach you how to train target, along with several other things that will help your dog come out of his shell and gain confidence.

Once your dog knows how to target, you will be able to use it for several different things! Targeting is used in so many different training instances, its a must teach! Now you can start getting things your dog is fearful of and at first just start in the same room with the object or person, or what ever he is afraid of. If its another dog, then have somebody hold the other dog. Now you can practice targeting on the other side of the room, gradually targeting closer and closer to the feared object. You want to make this varied, sometimes be closer, other times move back. In doing so, your dog will pay less attention to moving closer to the object.

You might not get up to the object in the same lesson or the same day. If your dog is truly terrified, take a few days of just working in the same room with that object. Eventually youll be able to work right up next to the feared object, getting your dog touching all around it. Your end goal is to teach the dog to touch his nose to the feared object. Rewarding heavily when he does! The first feared object will be the hardest to get your dog close to and to touching, but every object after that will get easier and easier. Before long your dog will be running over to previously feared object, touching his nose to it then looking at you going... Now wheres my treat?. You can use this procedure with just about everything your dog is afraid of, if its a person, have them touch the persons hand.

If its a dog they are fearful of, youll take a different approach to teaching them how to overcome that fear. You still want to get them used to working in the same room as the other dog and working closer and closer, but not necessarily touching the other dog. Be sure the other dog is gentle and kind. You dont want to use an overly hyper dog the first time you do this. One that can ignore the fearful dog would be best. You want to get your dog up where he can feel safe sniffing the other dog with out the other dog scaring him off. Once your dog is able to meet several nice dogs, you can gradually start adding in a little more dogs who would like to play. Your goal here is to be able to let other dog go and both can play together. Dont use an overly playful dog on the first time either, if its too much for the fearful dog, they will run and hide. Fearful dogs dont always know how to play at first and need time to learn how.

There are several more ways to go about overcoming fears in fearful dogs, I recommend checking into Help for Your Fearful Dog: A Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Your Dog Conquer His Fears. This book is easy to read and really does take you step by step in helping your dog overcome fears. Another book would be Scaredy Dog! Understanding & Rehabilitating Your Reactive Dog.

Those two books can help owners of fearful dogs tremendously! Some other books you can look into would be The Cautious Canine
and Help for Your Shy Dog: Turning Your Terrified Dog into a Terrific Pet.

Any one of those books will get you headed in the right direction with your dog. Pick on and read it, get started on your dog!

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