Dealing With Dog Anxiety - What It Looks Like & What To Do
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 พ.ค. 2024
- One challenge that can make dog training more difficult is working through dog anxiety. Training a worried dog can be a lot different than working with a dog who is more confident. In this video, we will chat with Instructor Christine, and we will look at some of the adjustments that she had to make in her training plan with her Sheltie named Atari. Sometimes, training your dog's skills needs to take a back seat to build their confidence. But it can be difficult to know exactly what that should look like. This video will help you make better choices in your dog training if you have a worried dog.
Are you looking for a structured training plan for your dog?
We now have a HomeSchool program, that's fully supported with a McCann Dogs trainer for YOU.
Check out: mccanndogs.link/HomeSchool
We Now Have A Puppy Essentials Training Program Online!
Train With Us To Make Your Puppy Training More Enjoyable And To Give Your Puppy The Best Start Possible: www.McCannDogs.Link/PuppyEsse...
Don't Forget To Subscribe: goo.gl/g6O345
You should check out the video that we JUST Published: goo.gl/UNriTZ
Chapters:
00:00 Start
00:49 Intro
2:15 What Did Fearful Behaviour Look Like?
4:01 The Common Mistakes People Make
8:27 How To Build Confidence
13:14 What Does Life Look Like?
16:12 The Reward Of Working With A Worried Dog
We Currently Have Some Of Our Signature Training Equipment Available Online! (Limited Quantities) To Get Yours, Visit: www.McCannDogs.store
Here Is A Link To Our Video Podcast Channel: / @mccanndogspodcast
We Also Have A Podcast!
Watch Our Podcast: / @mccanndogspodcast
Listen On Apple Podcasts: itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...
From training to nutrition, here's everything you need to know for your 4-legged family member: partner.mccanndogs.com/
Are you a brand looking to showcase your dog-related product or service? Email HERE: studio905@mccanndogs.com
Thanks for watching,
Happy Training! ~Ken
![[Full Episode] Hell's Kitchen Thailand EP.12 | 28 เม.ย. 67](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xCjbu5t25Pw/mqdefault.jpg)
With my very noise phobic dog, I’ve found the best thing to do is praise her excessively the moment she starts to recover from a scare or if she ignores or acknowledged the sound without reaction. She is learning that just hearing the noise is a good thing and responding well. But it’s important that it needs to be cheerful and excitable praise and not like “aww hey it’s ok don’t be scared”. Ignoring it and setting an example for her doesn’t work because she is not focused on me at all when she does have a scare. If she starts pulling I get her to gently stop and make eye contact with me then I praise her and we walk away at a slow pace. I don’t want to flood her by forcing her to stay in range of the scary noise but she has to learn she can’t blindly panic and pull away. Now she’s starting to look to me for praise rather than panic and pull in fight or flight mode, and it’s doing wonders for her confidence
That’s a good strategy, Steve! Happy Training! ~Ken
This is so helpful. Thank you so much for this comment.
This was our Sheltie and we accepted and worked with him. He was a really intelligent, amazing obedient dog and much loved for the 13 years he was with us - until cancer took him from us.
I’ve had 3 Shelties all great dogs. So sad when they leave us.
I just lost my beautiful 9 year old sheltie, Bella, to bladder cancer. She took my heart with her. I've had 6 and they are the best.
I am so sorry. I'm on my third Sheltie, all trained to be off-leash in our yard (which I know I couldn't do with any other breed). There are no other dogs like them, they have unique personalities and behaviors.
Atari is a Sheltie (Shetland Sheepdog). I have had three of them and spoken to a lot of other Sheltie owners.
ALL of these personality traits are VERY typical for a Sheltie. If you want to get a Sheltie, expect these behaviors and this way of thinking in a Sheltie.
They are sheepdogs, so they tend to stay near you, be aware of and nervous about sounds and sights that are "different," will seemingly bark at non-existent or trivial things, and be leery of other dogs. Shelties tend to take much more quickly to other Shelties than to other breeds, so if you have a Sheltie who is afraid of other dogs, start socializing by first being with other Shelties.
Shelties LOVE new learning. If you want to distract them, give them a new game or toy to discover.
Shelties also tend to "herd"-- sometimes children, sometimes other dogs. Not everyone understands or welcomes this. Shelties tend to NIP at buttocks or heels while "herding," but this is NOT an aggressive or fearful behavior!! It is a HERDING behavior. They do NOT intend to draw blood or bite down. They wish to nip IN THE AIR near the person, the same way they would nip at a sheep that is not staying with the herd. Again, it is NOT aggression it fear-based.
Be sure to take your dog's BREED into account when addressing behaviors you wish to change.
Wow, a lot of great information. I realize that with my somewhat anxious dog, I have been doing a few things wrong. Thanks for the tips guys!
Thank you for your wonderful tips! My sheltie is pretty confident, but at times he exhibits these anxiety issues too. At 6 months, confidence and trust in me are so important. Knowing better ways to approach his worries will help us as a team. Thanks again!
Hey! This is SUCH a great video, SO useful and insightful. Thanks for sharing! We all try to do our best when it comes to helping our amazing pets.
Thank you Christine and Steve. This video came at the perfect time. My newly adopted dog Zelda is EXACTLY like Atari, "shy", easily spooked, lacking confidence around other dogs and humans. She doesn't bark, now I know that her sign of being spooked is to run, sniff the ground, and become hyper focused on the object of fear.
Now when she encounters something new (a bike, a runner, another dog) I get her attention before we get too close, get her in the sit position and treat her, and just be very calm and hang out for a bit so she can get used to the new object. The progress is slow but observable. So far she has gotten over her fear of trash cans, fire hydrants, and doing her business in the park! I will watch this video again and try to use these techniques on Zelda. Thank you.
Let me guess... sheepdog?
I have watched many, many McCann videos and this has been one of the best! Recognising signs of distress and seeing how a great trainer works through them - or around them - is just fantastic.
This applies a lot to my more fearful, anxious Sheltie. Thanks for making this video. I’ve learned a lot of this over the 5 years we’ve been together, she was my first dog and it’s been hard but very rewarding and we are quite bonded.
This is the best video I've seen re canine anxiety!! Thank you so much. I have (almost 2 years) an older dog (12?) rescued from a huge hoard (300?) that is extremely anxious. I've always felt that I had to adjust to a new dog before I could expect the dog to adjust to me. Without benefit of your knowledge, I came to a semblance of the requirements you discuss for my dog over the almost 2 years I've had him. My tiny house, my fenced yard, my car, and I are his safe places. My dog-loving neighbors recognize that also and respect his issues. Being older, he needs a little longer to realize who else has become safe: my brother, my daughter, certain neighbors. When I got him, he had a major dental issue that even my first vet didn't recognize soon enough. Correcting that issue at great expense started an ophthalmic issue (transient glaucoma) that we're still resolving. This poor guy has had his world turned upside down. I've also finally found a frozen raw food he loves. So at 83 I can say you can teach 2 old dogs new tricks. And with this video, you're giving me the determination to keep doing what works and give him the time and space he needs - and to work a little more diligently on some things. Again, my most sincere thanks!!!
One thing I didn't mention in my earlier post is that when he's in the yard running (I can't keep with what my daughter and I think is part Italian Greyhound), he wants me to be on the porch where he can see me (yup, separation anxiety to the max since he's learned to trust me).
Thank you so much for this video, we adopted a 3 year old rescue dog from Spain to the UK a few weeks ago, she is VERY fearful of everything. Luckily I've already naturally been doing a lot of what you've said here, but it has reinforced that I've got some of it right and a couple of things I should pivot on. I agree, an anxious dog is a whole different ball game, not quite the experience I was expecting with a rehome, but will hopefully be very rewarding in the long run.
This video has taught me a lot. I was making a lot of these mistakes thinking I'm doing the best for my rescued GSD. I'm going to begin putting these training tips in place so she has the best life. Thanks again!
Thanks so much for this video! Very informaive! I would say that we have a naturally outgoing dog, but at 7 months old she became suddenly anxious and this manifested as redirected aggression. Even outgoing dogs can turn corners! I have been working with her A LOT on games and exercises that build her trust for me and these have also reinforced my leadership for her. She has settled a lot. Still, at 8 months old, there is a lot of ongoing work to be done. Your videos may not address every dog and every permutation of stress, but, with a thoughtful owner, they help a lot with ideas for proper direction. So much about success with your dog is about building a solid trust relationship with them. Thanks, again!
Love all of your videos. So incredibly helpful. Thank you.
I have thoroughly enjoyed and learnt a lot from the great and helpful suggestion to the those who have asked you for advice in the comments column. Thank you for being so generous.
Thank you for all the tips!! This was so helpful, we just brought home a little 6 month old puppy with us and we’re surprised with how nervous and shy he has been. We will focus on trust! :)
Very interesting video, there aren't as many videos on fearful dogs as there are for hyperactive or aggressive dogs. I have a fearful dog, but she doesn't flee from the situation, she shuts down or pancakes, I would love to see a video on how to deal with that.
Love the structure of this video! Great tips too.
This is so great. I wish McCann would post a few more videos around this topic since it's so huge and has so many different aspects. I wouldn't call our pup anxious, except in a few specific scenarios; however, she is definitely hypersensitive and easily overstimulated. It's like trait sensitivity vs state anxiety, if that makes sense and comes with so many different training challenges, especially when she's in any new scenario. Sometimes it's like she's fighting herself. She'll be desperate to play and over-excited but equally fearful of the new dog/person and be ripping around, spook-barking, and play-bowing… and then she'll freak out and hide when the other dog approaches her. Very hard to get through and help her have positive interactions that can build her confidence.
Wow, HD, that sounds very similar to my pup. She is a very sweet dog, loves people, and in the past has always played well with other dogs, being very respectful of their size compared to her. She's a 2 year old, 65 lb GSD/Lab. But just like yours, she is hypersensitive and very easily overstimulated. Because of some bad interactions with crazy dogs she has now developed fear aggression and I'm nervous to have her around other dogs because she will do the exact over-excited thing you talked about. She wants to play, but then will freak out and not know what to do with herself. Sometimes she turns from play to fight in a second. I'm trying so hard to be her advocate, but sometimes situations happen so quickly that I don't have time to avoid. I'm glad I'm not alone in this. If you find methods of success, please share! Thanks so much!
This was very interesting and pertinent to me, thank you. I rescued a one-year-old Lab/Terrier 6 months ago. She had spent her first year in a cage, in a kennel in a warehouse for her entire first year. She is loving/friendly to me and my husband. But she is also very anxious and easily over stimulated. as well as HIGH energy. We started walking her a LOT to burn that energy like we did our other dogs. But that backfired on us as she just got more hyper aware and crazy and exhausted while lacking confidence, trusting or feeling safe in her environment. She had never been in a car, gone up or down stairs, walked on a leash, or been around other dogs except in her crate. She has never been close to loud vehicles, trucks hauling boats, loud dump trucks or plows. She does NOT like men or other dogs! I've learned that she does best in a quiet house with me alone, a solid routine and lots of opportunity to choose to rest and sleep. Our biggest milestone came recently when my rescue Ginger began to go to the back bedroom (my bed) to sleep on her own. Previous to this she needed me there with her and she needed to be in my sight at all times. Ginger is about 16 months old now. Fortunately, she is VERY smart and had learned many necessary commands quickly but her personality is what is challenging. She has come a long way but we have a long way to go with outsiders. I hope you will do a program about an anxious or fearful dog that has super high energy and reacts with barking, growling, lunging out of fear. Thank you!
I have a sheltie puppy who gets spooked easily. So this is very helpful thank you! As you said there are many people that want to pet her because she’s so cute.. it does make avoidance harder sometimes. Much easier when people don’t pay attention to her. Maybe I should make a sign “please ignore the dog, your attention is not wanted”? 🤔
This was a very helpful and supportive video. I needed it right now. My puppy is 6 months and is absolutely amazing when we are training in the backyard but she ‘spook’ barks or ‘greet barks’ at dogs and people that pass on the street when out on a walk. We start our Life Skills program next month so I hope that will help to build trust between us. Thanks for everything!
Yes same with me. I am curious 2 years later how is your dog doing??
Atari is so pretty! I have a sheltie, too, and she’s a baby. What makes her anxious is being introduced to anything new.
This was helpful, and I’m very glad to see that I’ve only been making one mistake (trying to calm and soothe when she stress barks)! :D
I also have a sheltie and she can be reactive at times so I try to be aware of what causes her stress and how I can handle that in the best ways possible.
I think these are great tips on how to create a less stressful environment for an anxious dog, and I also think it's important to do what Christine did with the bags on the trees and actually teach the dog that it's safe and not just avoid everything. What confuses me a bit is the "common mistake #1", that you shouldn't socialize an anxious dog more than you would with a non-anxious dog.
I understand that you want to avoid putting your dog in the "canine moshpit" but besides that I believe socialization is actually key and that you should do it more than you otherwise would, but under controlled circumstances with dogs and people that you know are going to behave well. Otherwise your dog is not going to learn that people and other dogs are generally safe.
Very common trait in these little ones. Great companions and extremely loyal but highly strung, this clip was all about managing the owners anxiety in having an anxious dog
Thank you for this. I have a 4 months old puppy who is fearful of everything and would bark at some people when we're outside on a walk. He does well when we're inside the house with the people he knew well though. I'm slowly training him and walking him through it. Hopefully over times he'll learn to trust me more and know it's nothing to be scared of.
loll the canine moshpit break! thank you for the video!
you guys are God sent _/\_ I learnt a lot from this video! I realized that I've been doing a few things wrong with my 13 week old puppy. We both thank you :)
Oh my goodness, your video has taught me that I am naturally a very good Mom! I'm not being neurotic or overly protective, but just a very good Mom instinctively. I'm not bragging at all!! I'm just pleasantly surprised. Thank you so much 💗
So helpful! I adopted an anxious/fearful dog and I'm starting to pick up on her cues and this video gives me hope! Life is just different with an anxious dog. I'll watch it again for sure!
Thank you so much for this video!!!! You have so many tiny puppy videos (also useful and amazing) and this is a crucial adopted dog video! And it’s such an important concept to love and deal with the dog you have instead of mourning for the dog you wish you had. I’m so grateful for this video.
I ended up doing a course called relaxed rovers with a local trainer here in Nashville (Dogs and Kat) and it fully changed our lives. Treating aggression/barking/reactivity as stress/anxiety was everything!
The more of this video I watch the more I love every word that Christine says. She’s reiterating everything that helped my rescue boy. Wow this is so good. I will share this for years to come!!
So super helpful, thanks for this!
I have a young Labrador who used to enjoy car rides, but eventually started showing signs of anxiety such as heavy breathing and excessive drooling. There was even a time when he vomited in the car and seemed quite embarrassed by it. To address this issue, I began feeding him well in advance of our journeys, which appeared to make a difference. With time, he has grown more relaxed during car rides and often falls asleep within approximately five minutes. I've also found that adjusting the car's temperature using the AC or slightly opening a window has had a positive effect.
In the past, I had a Springer Spaniel who always loved going for car rides, regardless of when he had eaten. He would stay awake throughout the trip, enjoying the scenery.
To ensure a smoother experience, I recommend avoiding feeding your dog less than two hours before the trip. Additionally, it's important to be mindful of the temperature conditions.
Great advice!! This will help me so much with my fearful beagle.. 😊 Thank so much!
Thank you so much.
I was careful about those and since my dog much better I forgot to do, be more careful. Since my dog deteriorate since he was attacked we started cuddling him more and more. This is good reminder to be careful about him a d surroundings and start building confidence again.
Yay another video! Love your work guys 😊
Thank you, Stephanie! Glad you found it helpful. Happy Training ~Ken
Thanks for the useful videos
Thank you for this video!! I rescued a puppy not too long ago and her anxiety was always present but it seems to be getting worse in public situations. I hope to try some of these tips and good to know that some of the things I thought would help are actually not good to do!
I bought a 5-month-old Sheltie from a breeder she's what I call a backyard breeder this poor puppy has never been inside it was never desensitized to anything when I first got him he was even afraid of music I have gained his trust I have shown him his safe spot next to me and our relationship is stronger than any bond I've ever had with a dog thank you for this video
This is a great video. Ty,
I plan to engage my boxer in agility training to help him gain confidence. But these are great tips until I can do that. Thank you.
Aw is she a sable merle as well? My sheltie is! Sometimes she she just gets anxious and paces, but is mostly a happy little dog.
Thanks for a great video! I have rescued shelties and recently purchased one that is very fearful! So sweet and kind but very reactive! Tried to socialize with puppy classes, beginners obedience, CDC training. It was all just too much! The pup is now two years old. Knows all his commands but is still fearful of anything new. Knows all the commands and is a work in progress! I wanted an obedience dog but he is just not cut out for it! Love him anyway. Maybe as time goes on he will be less reactive! Your video gave great tips! Thanks
Yes! I do see it! It's a very cute sheltie.
That was great!!! I will use this great information to be a great leader! Can't wait to see others!!! My 🐶 was attacked tell you more later, he didn't bark until then!!!!!
My g-shep is anxious but in a very different manner. Re biggest similarity is that she definitely sees being beside me as a safe place.
I'd say my dogs anxiety is a steady quiet thing. She doesn't jump and spook. When she's worried she isn't prone to jumping/running or fighting but instead she'll freeze or slowly slink to me.
She's not a Barker, but she does growl. It's not aggressive, definitely a worry growl, but of course not everyone knows that not all growls are aggressive. Luckily she's amazingly treat oriented and trusts me a lot. So a simple request of sit, look at me, and stay is usually enough to let me assess the situation and choose a course of action
Excellent advice! I have a fearful dog and have learned all of these techniques from experience and trial and error. She’s grown SO much in confidence and we can do a lot more together but as you say I’m very careful when we’re out and about to keep that level of confidence and trust high. It takes a lot of patience and commitment to the dog, but in our case we’ve developed such an awesome relationship and It’s rewarding to see her living such a happy life free from constant anxiety! :)
Very good vídeo. Thank you!
The majority of this video is excellent! What a great advocate for Atari and such good ideas on building confidence. As a retired behavioral specialist, with 20 years of experience please consider that you can't reinforce fear. Some calm reassurance can often really help a fearful dog. It may not help but it won't make fear worse. See talks by Suzanne Clothier and Patricia McConnell.
Got a rescued pup it was all good in the beginning but then she started acting fearful ,we got bites ,but we didn’t give up we know she is a lovely pup but scared like hell, the mistakes are so on point we did all the mistakes but now correcting it slow by slow
My girl who I am trying to train for cardiac alert service dog, I noticed is a bit people shy.
She is friendly, and she loves playing with other animals (have cats at home, and she loves going to the dog park and also meeting farm animals), and once she is comfortable with someone she loves being pet and cuddled.
But meeting new people she gets shy.
She doesn't bark or growl or run away or anything.
She just takes a step or two back or steps closer to me.
I did teach her the touch command, and had her do that with people and she then gets a treat, and she has gotten a bit better with that.
Still a bit shy at times, but she is getting a bit more confident.
Just a bit slow in progress, but we r getting there.
She loves the workers at a couple of the stores I visit, and loves my coworkers and boss, as well as my docs.
None of this was about stopping the anxiety. It's about making the anxiety ridden dog less anxiety ridden by confirming their anxiety.
Risa, I have been watching your channel for several months now. I am glad you chose to address this topic because it is definitely a thing. I am 69 and I still have a very young style of dressing and have no intention of changing. I only wish I could get my makeup to look as beautiful as yours! Thank you for standing up for women who don’t need to conform to other’s expectations.
Wrong channel.
I just want to point out too that just in case, everyone should always keep a safe distance between their dog and a horse they don’t know. Horses often get scared by loud unfamiliar noises (like a dog barking) or sights and they could start kicking or galloping away and the rider could get trampled. Originally horses aren’t the predators, they’re the prey, so it’s not unusual for them to be skittish. Also a frightened horse can be even scarier to the dog.
That is true most of the time. And then there are the exeptions, like my friend's horse. He hated dogs and would walk toward any dogs who came to close and try to kick them. I hated those smallminded dog owners who refused to put their dog on a leash, telling us "oh, he just wants to say hello, he's not dangerous". 400 kilos of angry horse are. It's always safe and polite to put your dog on a leash around any strangers, human or animal.
I have my dog walk on my right side. That way, I am between my dog and anything walking down the trail or sidewalk toward us or from behind us. If you compete in obedience, you can train your dog to heel on the left side as well. Just use a different command.
Great video. My dog Dulce is so anxious. Excessive drooling, spook barking, showing teeth, ears back, tail tuck, excessive pulling, etc. In the house she knows all her training commands as we trained in a big box group class. Outside is a different animal. I learned a few things from this video. Please try to show more with your adorable Atari and specific scenarios and training, I think a lot of people deal with this incorrectly. I think of my dog as a person with anxiety and I can just imagine the fear she feels when we are out. I kind of succumbed to her staying indoors but she is 60 lbs and large so needs exercise. Any further tips would be appreciated.
Really helpful. I have a 1 year old pit-bull mix I got from a rescue about 2 months ago. She's afraid of everything. Our walks have to be short because if she sees anyone she'll refuse to walk any further and when she finally decides to move she'll keep looking back behind her to make sure the person is gone. During all of this. I can't get her attention at all. She won't look at me or even take treats. Her body language is screaming "anxious" needless to say, I have quite a bit of work to do.
This is 110% my new puppy. I picked the quiet one of the group... I have crippling anxiety myself so i wish I would have picked another one. But here we are
Sheltie dog? Liked already.
This video is worth gold! Thank you so much Christine for sharing this with us. I have a sheltie (Sophie) and she is fearful of a lot of things. Most of the time I can control her when we are waking and she gets scared, but there are some particular situations, like trucks, that drive her nuts, she barks a lot like she was going to attack the thing and I can't control her. When this situations happen they work like a trigger that makes her barks at anything that moves, it's so frustrating ):
Could you please give my an advice on what is the best action to take when I find myself in a situation like that with her?
Thank you!!
i rescued a doberman. she was on death raw noone wanted her . she was scared an confused and with a breed like a doberman its crushing to see cause they're usually such brave and fearless dogs. 2years later shes a great companion and very protective of the home and not reactive i can trust her around anyone and anything., my 88 year old mother can walk her with 1 finger. sometime taking a chance pays off
I have a little puppy and I proactively introduce sounds. However, you have to go real slow. So the blender was a new sound. The lawn mower. Also they have to be positive or not overwhelming to the dog. The car during the day and the car in the evening. Usually I drive to the local park, then its a short 10-20 minute walk (different textures, different locations), then home in the car. Over time the puppies decentacize from all the new places and sounds. Long term it makes for a better dog. So many dogs just don't get the exposure that they need.
Aww it's so cute hiding under the bench.
10:50 about “the safe position”, how do you keep it a safe position, when a stranger or dog without a leash runs up to Atari and invades her safe space?
THANK YOU!! THIS is exactly what I neeeded right now! 🙌🙌🙌🙌
Glad it was helpful, Lilli! Happy Training ~Ken
Thanks for this video! I fairly recently adopted an anxious rescue dog who is blind in one eye, and I worry that her lack of vision on that side could make things harder for her. Do you know if it would generally feel safer for her if I'm on her "good side" so she can look to me for reassurance/instructions or on her "bad side" so she will feel like she has a safe barrier?
i really needed to find this video my 16 week old labrador is extremely nervous
I just got my new dog two weeks ago and she is super shy of people sometimes dogs. im working with that
Atari is sooo cute! And I love the name!
Sameeee
Done
Thank you so much for this positive video! 💖
What if my dog and I can’t get away from the scary object? For ex, my dog barks/lunges at our noisy light rail (train) and there’s no where else for us to turn.
Nice video. Weird to see though that there are approaches based on leash pressure and obedience. My dog doesn't walk further past the street of home and freezes. So what do I do? Just turn back home or pressure?
Same is the issue with my dog ...anxiety plus aggression
I think I have been doing the wrong thing, my dog gets nervous if people have a louder voice and I always pat and cuddle the dog but this may make them do this behaviour more. I got my dog at 3months and she is a staffi and I think she was abused, when she first went on the leash she almost hung herself in panic I quickly took it off. She got over it and loves her walks now, same with a broom she was so afraid of it for no reason she has never been hit or hurt by me but she has these fears. I love her dearly and we work through the issues together.
I have a sheltie that seems to exhibit some fearful behaviour. We raised him on a farm from puppy to 5 yrs old before we moved to a smallish town. The move has exposed him to many new things and he had reacted with vicious barking and lunging when he’s on leash. I’ve been able to curb some of this fearfulness but a few just seems impossible. The biggest challenge now is bikes. Living in a bike town there’s no avoiding them but he completely loses his mind when he sees one.
How did you eventually get Atari confident enough to approach the bags? What kind of fun game? Thank you :)
Very helpful video. My 9 month old mini Aussie shepherd is an anxious dog. He does startle barking at night. He will go off without warning ....spook barking....and with no reason that i can see or hear. He does not respond to reassurance, commands or treats. It is usually when i have gone to bed, and he will do this over and over and then finally calm down and sleep all night. Help. Don’t know what to do. Have tried closing all windows and curtains. It almost seems habitual now.
Nice video.
Ha! "It's been an experience!" That is what I say about my anxious dog.
It’s extremely frustrating and difficult and stressful. Yep!
We have a 1 year old Havanese male. He barks at any other people or dogs that he sees (in our yard or on walks). We’ve tried distraction (with treats), and correction, but nothing seems to effect this behavior. Suggestions? Oh, he does come when called. Thanks!
I have the same issue.
What I did was drag him away from the dog/person, or scratch his back/butt to relax him, or give him a command like sit or laydown.
Maybe increase distance and use better treats. We have similar problems though so I know it isn't always easy. Our dog moved in 18 months old and it took us maybe four weeks to stop her from barking whenever there was a sound from the stairwell. She still sometimes seek safety by our side when there is a noise (but generally no barking anymore!) and then we can calm her by just placing a hand on her back. Hopefully over time we will be able to continue growing her confidence so that she's practically never bothered.
She still barks at other dogs and we handle that by making a high pitched noise to distract her, change direction, increase the distance and then once she can look at the other dog without barking we praise and give her treats. Sometimes we also tell her to do tricks or play with her, but that only works if there is enough distance. Another way to handle the situation is if the other dog is calm enough to let her meet the other dog up close and maybe play with it, but we generally prefer to only do that once she has stopped barking so that we don't risk reinforcing the wrong behavior. We try to make sure that she sees a few dogs every day and practice agility etc. so that in time she'll learn that it's ok.
Keep at it and best of luck to you!
We just took in a 10 mo. old dog yesterday. He is behaving very sad, overwhelmed, and anxious with new surroundings. All of this I can deal with and work on building trust, but he has nipped at me and I am not sure what the best way to deal with that is for a dog that is not quite a puppy anymore. Any tips?
My dog seems worse after a couple of vet visits, one for her rabies shot and one for kennel cough. I feel bad because I think especially when I held her for her rabies shot that she may have lost confidence in me. Is there anything that I can do to help repair this? She’s a 21 month old Doberman that I show in conformation.
Just found this channel... we have two pups - 7 mths male Mini Dash/Maltese/Shih Tzu and a 12 weeks old Female Maltese/Shih Tzu...
we are looking for help with separation anxiety... thank you...
Working your dogs independently, and giving them lots of time doing fun things apart will be helpful, Dave! Thanks for watching ~Ken
I met an anxious dog named bean and i was riding in the car next to him, i felt him shake and i felt bad that he was so nervous around new people
So i wanted to learn how to make a dog not so scared in case i see another one that's anxious, bean was very sweet he was a red husky mixed with something else and was huge
Good video and principles. BTW: you might think of a pony tail.
The home school link seems to be broken
I have a sheltie just like Atari. Differences are she is very good with other dogs because she was with dogs for the first year. Another difference is I suspect she has low intelligence. My other sheltie was potty trained on day 3 and almost no mistakes by day 7.. my Atari-like sheltie has become somewhat reliable after having her for about a year.. Still not 100%. She is way too quick to register something to fear but trying to teach her tricks feels like writing on beach sand 🙄 and she has a natural tendency to not want to sit and tendency to run away if I try to catch her. She knows "come" but she tries to keep distance.. I got frustrated and gave up on training and just started only giving walks and affection but watching this video makes me want to try again!
Rescued a pit from the shelter 2+ months ago. He loves people, kids, dogs, cats, has been training moderately well with some headaches because he's now 11 mos old... but he's getting there. My only issue with him so far is that he doesn't like me to be out of his sight. I can go to the gym or the grocery store, or even to a friends house for a few hours, but he doesn't like it and he gets very excited when I return.
I plan on naming my future kid Atari. Such a cute name. My 6 month old Maltese is super anxious
Where can I get that herding type tool stick with a rope type thing
Hey I had a question.
Can you use your dogs name instead of ‘look at me’. As you are pretty much just asking them to look at you when you say their name.
Also could you explain the difference between the commands ‘leave it’ and ‘stop’ if there is any?
The terms that you use to train your dog doesn't really matter, as long as you and your dog understand the command. An example: You can train your dog to come to you when you say the word "orange". Typically when a trainer teaches a dog "leave it" the dog is usually sniffing something in the grass or digging for some smell, like a dead lizard in the grass. If your dog is around small children who drop a lot of food on the floor, and you don't want the dog to get use to table food, you would use the command "leave it". You need a "release" command as well to let them know it is ok to now do what you told them not to do. Like using a stay commend and a follow up with the come command.
I don't use a "stop" command. I say, "no!" My dog is trained in agility. When she does outside. I do not say, let's got out!" I say "outside!" The reason is because in agility the "out" command means for the dog to move away from you. You send the dog "out" to the jumps that are far away.
Usually when you say your dog's name, you want them to come to you. When you want your dog to look at you, you can shorten it to either "watch" or "look".
I recently rescued a dog and I think she's very very ansious. But she doesn't just bark, she also bites, so I need to be 100% alert every thime, because she can hurt people (she has a thing with children, she's really afraid of them). She also had a really bad skin condition and I had to give a bath everyday (then every other day, then 3 times a week and now we are at once every 4 days), wich was fine, and she had to use one of those post-cirurgical clothes, because she can not lick her skin. She used to try and bite me. I had to use a muzzle in her to do that. After almoast 3 months of doing this (and doing some really really simple obedience training - sit, eait etc), she does not need the muzzle anymore. Is very difficult to get gain trust from an ansious dog, but I'm really proud of how far we have come.
I'm lucky that our sheltie is great around crowd's and loud noises like fireworks, we live in spain so you need a dog that is ok with fireworks as they are set off every week here.
My dog is very skiddish and reactive to other dogs. I have been working on getting my less reactive to other dogs and we have reached the point where we can walk past other dogs without reaction. I was hoping that I might start to socialize him with other dogs. Today when we were walking in the park an unleashed calm dog walked over and wanted to play. My dog did an assertive freeze. The unleashed dog went to smell my dog's butt and my dog lunged toward the other dog to attack him. I pulled my dog back, said No, then stood in front of my dog and said no, no, no. My dog calmed down. The other dog laid down a few feet from us and watched. The other dog's owner showed up, leashed up his dog, and lead his dog away. Did I lose my dog's trust because I did not protect him? What should I have done in this situation?
If we are not supposed to say it's OK when we notice the dog being fearful how should we react to that?
My 1 year old border collie got attacked 6 months ago by an german shepherd. He didn't get physically hurt but mentally. He is so afraid of dogs that he lunges at them. It has turned into agression and it scared me. I try to do things about it but nothing works. What can I do? I really want to be able to walk him without looking around and going into bushes so that he doesn't get to close to a dog.
I have a GSD(German shepherd dog) who is very anxious around new people and/or dogs and this turns into aggression and barking, when with my other dog he ALWAYS follows her lead, she gets aggressive? He does too, she’s fine and chill? He is too, she’s playing with the other dog? He is too! Though with people it is a little different but if she were to be barking or be aggressive he would follow for sure! But if we’re not walking with her or even by her! He’s freaking out over anything trash cans, trees, leaves, cars, literally anything! I’ve been having a structured walk much more with him, and he use to be happy and fine but he got charged by two dogs and now is lots more scared! Whenever he gets to crazy my other dog knocks him back in his spot, but how can I build his self esteem alone AND with Bourbon(other dog)
Hi there! I just recently got a puppy and while trying to leash train him I’m noticing he is constantly biting at the leash. In return I will clap my hands and say “no bite!” , but when I do this him only being 9 weeks old, will turn around and try to nip at me or will nip me! thank you for all your great videos!
Hi. You might try spraying the leash with Bitter Apple. Dogs don't like the way it tastes.