Will your fearful dog get better?

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I routinely work with fearful dogs. And many of them get better. Completely better. They become confident dogs who greet new people, places, and things without any obvious hesitation. It’s remarkable to watch “merely shy” or terribly scared dogs evolve after careful work, varying amounts of time, and a great deal of empathy and patience.

Though it often feels magical, there’s truly nothing “magic” about what I do. And what I do isn’t a secret - many qualified dog trainers (and psychologists) get the same results using well-established methods based on the classical conditioning work originally written about by Pavlov (remember hearing about him in high school?). It’s fascinating and deeply-rewarding work to help fearful dogs get better. After all, it’s not only heartbreaking to see dogs suffering - it can be downright dangerous. Dogs with bite records often landed their bites due to fear. Take away the fear and you can greatly reduce the probability of being bitten by that dog.

But…

It doesn’t always work.

Or it may work, but not quite as fully as I described above. And it’s terribly disappointing to all of us (the dog’s human family as well as their veterinarian and their trainer). But that’s the truth I’m sometimes left to communicate to the family.

Debbie Jacobs is a great resource when it comes to fear issues and dogs. A recent statement she made in her Facebook group prompted me to write this post. With Debbie’s permission, here’s what she said:

“Sometimes I feel like that kid in the neighborhood who when they tell the other kids how babies are made and where they come from, are met with shock and disbelief. No way! Not my parents.

I'm sharing another fact of life; that 3 year old rescue dog you just brought home may always be afraid of people, other dogs, novelty and sudden changes in their environment. I can give you information that can help the dog learn to be less afraid, to behave differently, to move more comfortably through their world. But they may always have a default response to behaving in whatever way they behaved when you first got them. Unless we can re-structure their nervous system, to whatever degree with can, taking advantage of medical technology and thousands of repetitions of positive reinforcement, we are going to have a dog who is going to require certain accommodations, management and restrictions that impact our lives as well.

Maybe they were 'ok' as described on the website or by the foster caregiver when they were living in that house with other dogs, no children, on a cul-de-sac, with an enclosed backyard, dog door and few visitors. Or maybe they were not as ok as someone thought.

And if you don't want to believe me, that's up to you, but please don't believe the trainer with the shock, choke or prong collar who tells you they can fix them. They can't. We can't fix fear with force, pain, threats or intimidation. We may end up with behavior 'we' find acceptable, for awhile, under very specific conditions. The dog that 'was ok' when they came back from the board and train that used aversives cause 'all dogs are different' and some need to be scared or hurt to learn (which is not true) and has developed a new crop of inappropriate behaviors is not an outlier. Their behavior is a product of their history with reinforcement and punishment.”

So, what to do?

First, do your best not to install fear in the first place. It’s terribly easy to do either by acts of commission or merely by omitting important socialization at a very early age.

If it’s too late and your dog is already fearful, you may be able to partially but not completely help the dog learn to feel safer using training, medication, or frequently both. In that case, careful avoidance of situations which make the dog uncomfortable and management (including baby gates, leashes, taller fences, muzzles, etc.) can (and often “should”) be implemented to keep everyone safe. And, like Debbie points out, be careful to avoid training methods which rely on the use of things that are painful or scary (so, specifically, no shock collars, choke chains, prong collars, leash corrections, penny cans, etc.).

Depending on the severity of the issues, you may be faced with making difficult decisions about whether or not this dog should remain in your home.

I’m so often thrilled with what we can teach dogs to do - and yes, even what to feel.

But I think it’s only fair to also point out that there are limits to what can be accomplished due to the wide variety of factors that make up a dog’s temperament (that may not be the best possible word - personality? character? behavior?). Sometimes I have to be the bearer of honest - and disappointing - news.