Socializing a Fearful Dog

Five years ago, I rescued a 14-month-old Border Collie, who had several very severe behavioral problems. One of those problems was his fear of humans. I’d like to share with you some of the things that I did to help this dog overcome that fear.

One of the major problems Jack had was that he knew that biting and snarling, showing his teeth and growling had always worked for him when he wanted to keep people away. I had to help him get used to people being around him BEFORE he got so stressed that he’d begin to show these behaviors. First, I purchased a Gentle Leader Collar. This collar fits on the dog much like a horse’s halter fits on a horse. The function of this collar is to give the handler absolute control over the dog’s head; a dog cannot lunge at someone if his head is not facing that person. So, when Jack wore the collar, I did not have to worry that he’d pull on the leash if he spooked at a person who was walking past us. This allowed me to relax. You want to be as relaxed as possible when working with your fearful dog because if your dog senses that you’re nervous, he will also become nervous. Another important factor that you must pay attention to is the leash. ALWAYS keep a loose leash on your dog. When a leash is pulled tightly, it will actually make the dog aggressive; a dog will tend naturally to pull against a tightened leash. The tighter the leash, the harder the dog will pull against it. So, make sure there is a decent bow in the leash at all times while walking along. NEVER pull your dog in too close to you. This will signal your dog that there is definitely something out there to be scared of because his handler is trying to keep him away from it.

The first time I took my dog to a park, I came home with a migraine headache. My poor dog, I’m sure, had one too! But... we both learned a lot that day. We set out on our walk at the worse time of day - lunch time. This park was in the very center of an industrial area. People who worked in the area were out walking during their lunch break, mothers were walking along with their babies in strollers, and lots of young children were kneeling and playing around the lake where the ducks and swans were swimming. We didn’t walk ten feet before a group of strollers came walking toward us. I heard Jack start to give off a quiet growl, and I could feel the vibration of that growl through the leash. Because the path was not terribly wide, I pulled him off to the side of the road, and turned him around to face these people as they walked past us. He surprised me because he did stop growling at that point. I praised him to the heavens because this was a very difficult thing he was doing, and I recognized that. When the pathway cleared, we resumed our walk and it didn’t take too long for more people to approach us. Again, I pulled off to the side of the path, and Jack could see the people walk in front of us and then pass. More praise! At one point, I was standing with Jack and a jogger stopped to talk to me about how beautiful he thought my dog was. Then he asked me about the Gentle Leader he was wearing. I was happy to give him information about the use of this collar, but when he wanted to approach the dog to check out the collar, I told him that my dog was scared and was now growling at him. He said, “He is? I can’t hear him growling.” Neither could I, but I was feeling vibrations again. I couldn’t praise my dog at this point because he was showing a lot of nervousness with this gentleman, but I just ignored his behavior and we kept on walking. The pathway at this park is exactly one mile. By the time we ended our walk, I felt like we’d walked twenty miles. However, I have to say that I noticed that my dog was “getting into the routine” of getting off to the side of the road and watching everyone. He didn’t seem quite as tense at the end of our walk as he was when we initially started out. This was good!

The next time Jack and I ventured out, I chose a different park that had a much wider path and was not quite as crowded as the first we’d gone to. I decided to bring my clicker with me on this second walk (don’t know what a clicker is? Go to www.KarenPryor.com for information). By using the click and treat method, Jack knew exactly what behavior I was asking of him. So, this time we were able to stay on the pathway when people walked
toward us. When the dog made no sounds and he calmly walked along with me while the other people were passing us by, I immediately clicked the clicker and gave him an extremely high-value treat (leftover roastbeef). This is one of the greatest positive reinforcement training techniques around today. One of the advantages to clicker training is that it produces pretty quick results. By the second time I walked Jack in this new park using the clicker, he began to drool whenever someone came walking toward us! I found this to be totally unexpected and a wonderful side-effect.

Socializing my dog meant teaching him to accept the presence of visitors to my home. When my visitors settled down, I asked them if it would be okay if I brought Jack out to meet everyone. I kept him by my side onleash until I knew he was relaxed. At this point, I trusted him enough to allow him to go and sniff these people (his favorite thing in the world to do), and then I brought him back to sit by me again. I gave everyone some treats and asked that they toss them on the floor so the dog could go and get them. This was a great confidence builder for Jack. He started to realize that visitors to the house = great food treats. The better he got at behaving well, the more freedom I was able to give him, but I continued to use my clicker. As long as his behavior was calm and appropriate, I was then allowing him to approach my visitor to be hand-fed. Each time he went over to someone in a friendly manner, I clicked him, and my visitor fed him his treat.

Jack's progress was amazing, but it was a lot of work requiring a ton of patience. There are many ways to go about desensitizing fearful dogs; I’ve just given you one way that proved very successful. For those of you who are struggling through this problem with your own dogs, I’d like to recommend that you read a book entitled, THE CAUTIOUS CANINE... How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears, by Dr. Patricia B. McConnell. This book can be purchased directly at www.dogwise.com

Be patient with your dogs, especially if they've been abused, mishandled or under socialized. Take it slow. Sometimes socializing your dog can mean taking him out for a walk for only 5 or 10 minutes at a time. Always end your training sessions on a positive note. Don't wait until your dog is too tired or stressed. Less is sometimes better. GOOD LUCK!

Written By Renee Premaza

Renee Premaza
Dog Obedience Trainer & Behavior Consultant
(609) 280-9338
www.jerseydogtrainer.com

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