Helping a Fearful Dog – Part 1
When Janie first saw Cosmo at the shelter, she fell in love with him. He was a two year old male Sheltie that had a sign that said “Very shy with people, but a sweet little dog.” He was very shy with her at the shelter, but she felt sorry for him and wanted to give him a home. She had lost her other Sheltie to cancer several months before and felt the time was right for another dog. Cosmo did warm up to Janie over the next few days, but he was terrified of her husband Roy. When Roy tried to be friendly with Cosmo, the dog would run and hide, and if Janie held him near Roy he would struggle to escape. But it wasn’t just Roy that was the problem. Cosmo showed the same reaction to everyone except Janie.
Janie struggled with the problem for several months trying everything she knew, before calling us. Cosmo wouldn’t come into the same room with us during the first hour we were at Janie and Roy’s home, and when he did come in, he would shoot past us and hide behind Janie. He wouldn’t take treats from us and he wouldn’t play. What caused Cosmo’s fear of people and how could he be helped?
Dogs are fearful of people for several reasons. There may be a genetic predisposition to fearfulness of people. Fifty years ago, researchers found that fears of people could have a genetic basis in dogs. While extra socialization, behavior modification and medications all helped, dogs with these predispositions were never able to completely overcome their fears and behave like normal dogs.
Contrary to what you might think, dogs aren’t inherently accepting of people. Dogs, like many mammals and birds have to learn whom to like and to whom to be fearful. Most puppies that have good experiences with people during the sensitive period for socialization (4 – 12 weeks) grow up to be friendly to most people. But if young dogs don’t have consistent contact with a wide variety of people, they are quite likely to be fearful of at least some people and may only be capable of developing strong social bonds with only a few individuals. Inadequately socialized dogs can become less fearful of people, but it can require a long time and a lot of effort.
Third, traumatic experiences with people at any age can cause some dogs to become fearful of people. Unpleasant experiences with children can lead dogs to become fearful of them. Painful or fear-provoking experiences with adult humans who look a certain way, or dress or behave in a particular way can lead dogs to be afraid of anyone with similar characteristics.
Often a fear related problem is caused by a combination of these factors. When we work with fearful dogs, we often never really know what has produced the fearful behavior. In Cosmo’s case, the shelter knew nothing of his previous life or experiences, so neither we nor his new owners knew what caused his fearful reactions. Fortunately, knowing the causes isn’t always necessary to help with the problem. In a future article, we’ll talk about what we did to help Cosmo.
In the meantime, if you want to know more about helping fearful dogs, take our On Demand Tele-webcast course by the same name.
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14 Responses to “Helping a Fearful Dog – Part 1”
Suz and Dan
Dear Pat – our blog is not set up to be able to offer detailed advice on individual problems, especially when they are as complicated as you describe. If your new dog is not eating or drinking well, your first step is to take him to your veterinarian – all kinds of medical problems could be contributing to his behavior. If your dog is afraid of men, then find a female veterinarian, which should not be too hard to do as most practicing veterinarians are women!
It sounds as though your dog has had a rough life, and likely has not been well socialized. There may be limits as to how much your dog can change, but that’s just speculation on our part based on the thumbnail sketch we have from your comment. See if your veterinarian or local animal shelter can refer you to a certified applied or veterinary behaviorist or a certified professional dog trainer or a KPA (Karen Pryor Academy) graduate who is known to have TONS of experience.
In terms of who to listen to – seek out someone with professional credentials. The University of Pennsylvania has a behavior service headed by Dr. Ilana Reisner. If that is too far away from you, call them and see if they can refer you to someone closer. Do NOT attempt any kind of punishment or force-training techniques with this dog.
Good luck to you both
Suzanne and Dan
Pat Harris
My husband recently adopted a 1 1/2 year old mixed breed (German Shepard and Rotweiller/ Lab mix)
The dog came from a young women who adopted him from an animal shelter in Oklahoma and proceeded to drive the dog to her home in New Jersey. After failing to adapt to the family and being kept out of doors the dog was offered to my husband who wanted a dog very badly. During the 1/2 ride home to Pa. the dog seemed okay, but it took over and hour to coax him out of the car. When he finally did come into the house he would not move out of the tv room to even go outside and relieve himself. The dog will not eat much and over the past few days has increased his water intake. The dog follows me everywhere and sleeps by my side of the bed. My husband who actually wanted the dog is unable to even take the dog for a walk unless I go along. We have 2 cats who seem not be be afraid of the dog, and the dog doesn't show any signs of aggression toward them. The dog hasn't even barked. We have had him for 4 days now, but as dog owner novices we are stumped by the amount of information online and who do we listen to.
Please let me know if you have any helpful ideas or have had a similar experience. I like the dog, but am not able to walk long or far due to recent achilles tendon surgery so it is not easy for me to go on long walks, but its the only way to get the dog out of the house. Please Help!
Suz and Dan
If you acquired him at 8 months, it could also be a lack of socialization during the sensitive period for socialization. There is no way to parcel out with any accuracy how much different factors contributed to his fear. The role of genetics can only be quantified in a population of animals whose genetic history is known – these are called heritability quotients (the portion of variability within a trait that can be attributed to genetic factors ). Requires well controlled research to arrive at these numbers.
Doesn’t really matter from a practical sense – we work with fear related problems very similarly, regardless of what contributed to them.
Suzanne
Suz and Dan
I agree that “shyness” doesn’t always have to be a problem. It depends on whether it is affecting the dog’s quality of life and/or is combined with threatening behavior. Not that you are, but I’ve heard many people describe their dogs as “shy” when in fact they were defensively aggressive. I do not know of any studies about shyness and stress hormones. I think you may have misinterpreted the affect on females of being positioned between males in the womb. According to Dr. Ben Hart’s book (a veterinary behaviorist at UC Davis), masculinzation of females under those conditions has been demonstrated in some mammals – can’t remember if it is cattle or sheep, but the effect to my knowlege has not been documented in dogs – only speculation that if it happens in some mammals, it can happen in others.
suzanne
Suz and Dan
No matter about they “why” – whether it’s inadequate socialization, predispositions, a ‘bad’ experience, or any other factor – not all dogs are going to love everyone. Just like some people are much more social butterflies than others, who would be more content to curl up with a good book than go to a party, dogs vary in their socialiability.
Suzanne
Suz and Dan
Some dogs find doorways “mysterious”. A calming cap might be an option for your dog, as well as investigating a bit more why this is a problem for him. A good cat behaviorist should be able to help you sort through this, and come up with some way to “bridge” the doorway so it isn’t as frightening for your dog
Suzanne
Suz and Dan
It’s understandable your husband would feel bad about how your dog behaves around him, since he loves her and has never done anything to harm her. Sometimes strangers do better because they don’t try as hard. If your husband, especially early on, tried too hard to coax your dog into approaching him and ‘making friends’, it could have actually had the opposite effect – “turned her off” so to speak. Similar to what we said in a related comment – too much too soon for some dogs can have a detrimental effect.
You have a number of options, but we’d need a private consult to know what would be best for you and your dog. Target training often helps. If you are really stuck and her behavior is really interfering with her quality of life – (and your husband’s
) , you could talk to your veterinarian about a short term course of anti-anxiety medication combined with a new and improved behavior modification program.
Suzanne
Suz and Dan
Glad your B.C. has improved Tracy. It’s of note that you waited a year after you acquired her before enrolling her in agility. Too much too soon can overwhelm fearful dogs and actually contribute to their fear, but it sounds like you timed your “interventions” just right.
Suzanne
Tracy Schneider
One year after I adopted a fearful border collie (she was a little over a year when I got her), we enrolled in a agility class which has helped her enormously. In a normal day prior to the class, we just couldn't introduce her to enough people. I did use clicker training with her initially which helped her relax around people. The class introduced her to new dogs and people, all in a positive environment (lots of treats and praise).
Thanks for the article. Very useful and helpful.
barb welsh
I look forward to part 2. We adopted a "shy" dog from the shelter 1 1/2 years ago. She has bonded to me but is afraid of my husband – a real dog lover. She was warmed up to even strangers more than she has to JD with whom she lives. We've consulted a dog rehabilitator and taken her to obedience classes. All has helped but she still scurries away from JD whenever he walks in a room, watches him and remains on alert if he is even in the house but a differnt room. Needless to say, her fear bothers him and he feels terrible when she avoids him.
judith kingsley
My dog, Dandy,a miniature schnauzer is friendly, so that is not the problem. Often he has a fear of leaving one room and entering another,so he will stay in the hallway,until he gets up the nerve to proceed.It is not only in my home, but also in stores,when I cannot get him past the door.He is very well adjusted in every other respect.I bought him from a fine kennel when he was 8 months old,and he adjusted to me instantly. There is alot of love between us, and he is very welcoming of people he knows.
Crystal
I am so glad that you used an example of a shelter dog that was fearful and stated that in some cases there may be a genetic predisposition. I worked at a shelter for 4 years. No ever believed me that some of the dogs that came through the shelter may never like every human they meet…….
AMY-MARIE
As an owner of a shy dog myself, I find it interesting that people jump to the assumption that he has been abused. Like people there are shy ones, I don't think there is anything "wrong" with that as long as it doesn't manifest behavior problems. My pup was well socialized and is of good breeding but, he is shy.
I was reading recently that these "shy tendencies" can actually become realized in the womb by responding to the hormones and "stress or shyness" of the mother. It also said that a female dog positioned between 2 males (or several) in the womb can be more dominant because of hormones. I don't know how valid it is but it was by Dr Fogle.
I love to learn and found these bits interesting.
Ruth
I have a dog like Cosmo. My pointer mix is afraid of people; not loud sounds, strange objects, storms, or other animals, just people. We adopted him at 8 months of age, he is now 6 years old and has come a long way with me but is still afraid of my husband. Genetics play a big role in his fear. I look forward to part two!