The best thing we can do for our dogs is to protect and grow confidence. But what does that really mean? What is a dog who is worried, or fearful, or growling, or showing aggression telling us? Why do our dogs change depending on where they are and what is around them? When we have a baseline and know what our dog is saying to us, we can start confidence building exercises to help our dog in all situations.
In the episode you'll hear:
- What my friend Greg Louganis taught me about confidence in different situations.
- How your dog’s body language can tell you a lot about how they are feeling.
- Why to observe your dog’s baseline confidence in your home with no distractions.
- Confidence factors including breed, genetics, and socialization.
- The dangers of putting a label on your dog or puppy and confirmation bias.
- How every dog has the potential to express a lack of confidence by growling.
- The two ways to desensitize dogs to help grow confidence.
- What I’m doing to grow confidence for my puppy, This! around water.
- Why flooding a dog who is fearful seldom works.
- How distance will help grow your dog’s confidence.
- About using cues to mean “something amazing is going to happen”.
- Why motion stimulates arousal and can help your dog be more confident.
- The reason we want to prevent our dog from going over threshold.
- How to keep a journal to help your dog.
- How to grow your dog’s confidence in stages easily.
Resources:
- Podcast Episode 4: T.E.M.P. (Tail, Eyes/Ears, Mouth, Posture)
- Podcast Episode 8: Get Your Dog in the Belief Loop of Awesome
- Podcast Episode 29: Understanding and Preventing Reactivity and Aggression in Your Dog
- Podcast Episode 38: 3 Keys to a Confident Dog
- Video Blog: Vlog: Understanding Your Dog’s Triggers
- Podcast Episode 71: Pro Dog Trainer’s Secret to Help Your Naughty Dog
- Podcast Episode 66: Resource Guarding: Dog vs Dog Aggression
- Podcast Episode 70: Critical Info for Your Puppy’s First Day and Night at Home
- Podcast Episode 78: How to Train a Rescue Dog with Behavior Problems
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
My dog has developed a fear of going into many public buildings, even places she used to enjoy, for example, pet stores, hardware stores and the vet. It might be because I had her nails trimmed at a pet store and the vet once. Thanks to “Pedicure Please” she now allows me to dremel her nails! But, she’s afraid of these places, new and old. I’ve been working on desensitizing, especially at the vet where they encourage “happy visits” and they have been trying to help with this also. If I take her blanket (target) in, she will get on the scale or move where she needs to go. Getting her in the door is also hard, but I don’t think the doors are the fear, the first few times she expressed fear at these places it wasn’t until after she was inside. Last week we took her to a hardware store she never had a problem with in the past. She initially did not want to go in, but when I walked in first, she followed. Yay! She enjoyed the pet supply aisles, we walked through half the store just fine, but at one point she suddenly froze. We back tracked to areas she was ok, but anytime we tried to head toward the exit, she refused, and we ended up carrying her out. Any thoughts on what is triggering her fear or additional tips we should try? She is generally not a fearful or anxious dog, other fears we have been able to easily desensitize her to, but this one has us stumped!
We have a 2 yr old wheaten that we rescued at 8 mos from a puppy mill in Mayerthorpe, Alta.
Oh my, what a journey!
He has come a long way, but still exhibits some fear and anxiety issues!!!
A neighbour told me about this site, are there any special episodes you could suggest?
He refuses to come when called, not food motivated at all, very smart, would rather be outside than in!
My jack Russel is exactly as Susan describes, he barks a lot when stressed
“Dogs are people too!”