When my dog, who loved going in the car, was about 3 years old, she bumped her head on the hatchback door while getting into the car. After that she would not even approach door that goes from the house into the garage. Every evening I would back the car in, open the hatch and sit back there and read a book for half an hour. The door to the garage was open, but I never called her or tried to coax her in. After several days, she would stand in the doorway but come no closer. Little by little she ventured out into the garage but still not near the car. It took about two weeks of doing this every evening and then one day she came out and jumped in with me. She is now 12 years old and was never afraid of the car after that.
Well done! I do something similar with foster dogs who are concerned about jumping into the backseat. I'll eat my lunch in the backseat while they are free to come or go. They've all chosen to freely join me after 3-5 times. Much safer and ethical than forcing them to do something they're afraid of.
I so appreciate that you address the needs of reactive and fearful dogs with such compassion! The “dog whisperer” got us into some harmful habits and I’m so grateful to learn better from you!
If I can maintain communication with my dog in situations where he's gettiing spooked, I will try to work on it in the moment. But if he's not looking to me for guidance, we're getting out of there. if he can overcome that moment and move past it, awesome! And most times he can when he gets startled, but part of that is because he trusts me to not lead him into danger and I want to maintain that trust.
Yes! I’ve adopted a borzoi about 5 months ago who turned out to be reactive. After working this 5 months his approach changed and he became very friendly with other dogs. Few days ago, while in a park, we got “ambushed” by few smaller dogs who were very mean to him even though he tried to calm them down. Nothing happened, but he is extremely fragile and couldn’t later settle at home. On the next day, on a walk he showed reactivity again, so I’ve decided to “detox” him from stress and we would only go to the garden and hang out there for two days. Yesterday we went for a walk and he was relaxed and friendly towards dogs ☺️ It totally depends on a dog how much something “gets to her/him”, I have two other dogs who would just shake it off, but I don’t try to argue with what I see and accept that the borzoi guy is more sensitive than other gals. I believe this acceptance lead to his amazing transformation in just 5 months!
Hi Emily, excellent advice. So important to know your dog! Avoid "flooding". As you have said before, work always under threshold. God's best blessing, Emily! JJ & Ruthie puppy
Thank you! I have an anxious dog who stacks triggers and had a severe fear episode to a revving engine at the end of a group training class - all I could do was try to keep her from running with cookies (there was nowhere safe to retreat to, my car was closer to the trigger). Other dog owners wanted to check-in on us, but the trainers were great trying to keep the other dogs away from us as the class ended.
You always give the best advice. Our doggo is a 13 year old border collie/papillon mix and he would always bark at the UPS, garbage men and mailman. With your help we were able to desensitize him to everyone except the postman. Thanks again for great information. 😊
When my dog Mako gets scared she instinctively runs to me (or another family member if I am not around) and then she will just wait by me if she wants comfort and I verbally reassure her. If she climbs up my legs I will pick her up and verbally reassure her. If she doesn’t calm down in my arms/her sling then I will get out of the situation and keep verbally reassuring her in a low, calm voice. She is normally quite happy and friendly, but easily scared because she is very aware she is very small! But she isn’t easily afraid at home, where she feels safe, it’s mostly outside and in unusual places. I’m so glad she feels safe at home! She likes the garden at home, but she is not comfortable with dogs and lawn mowers and such around, so I am going to try making her a nice covered den out there, so she has a place she can feel safe, or she can come right back inside as well, which is always an option too. Hopefully this helps her feel safer and more confident in her garden space (when we don’t go out with her… she is usually happy outside if we go with her! But sometimes I am trying to sort breakfast while she needs to go toilet!). Before we got Mako I had issues reading dog body language or knowing what a dog was feeling beyond the basics. Now I know what she is doing, I can understand exactly what she is wanting or what she is needing. It’s so amazing! I’m so grateful she has taught me so much!
Thanks so much for this. I've definitely had experiences with my dog where my dog got to have training exercises at home after getting spooked in by a weird thing out and about. Metal plates in the sidewalk were very scary for him, but he's tolerant of them now after lots of work at home and around different metal plates.
"trying to get them over the fear in the moment of the fear" ... holy cow, yes! And knowing my dog/puppy. All easier with experience but I had some moments with less experience and in hindsight should have listened to my own intuition vs "inexperienced" trainer/class instruction. It IS challenging when in a class but at this point, I have enough experience to withdraw if I feel it is in my dog/pup's best interest.
Always great videos! Thank you! what about the fear of house guests coming over? I cannot re-create other real humans during training sessions when my dog is relaxed at home. In my training, I have my dog's daddy pretend to be a house guest and come in the door, but the dog knows this is all act. She is perfectly fine with the knocking, the "guest" coming in. BUT, when it's a real guest, she shows fear-based aggression. Any advice?
Hi Emily! Thank you for being such an angel ❤ my do is scared of other dogs but is friendly towards humans. She's adopted and was hurt by other dogs when she was a puppy. How can I help her overcome this fear of other dogs? I also want to teach her not to take treats from strangers. Thank you so much❤
Thank you! My dog is scared and reactive to a lot of things and so we are working on training at home and building up to walks (following your leash walking self-study guide). I was wondering how much exercise (eg fetch) and mental stimulation (eg training) you recommend for an ‘in-training’ relatively high energy dog per day? For example, when you’ve been training your own dogs for reactivity and prey drive, what would their daily schedule look like? Thank you so much for all your content here and at dogmantics - it’s seriously been so useful for my high-prey drive, dog-reactive herding rescue!
These are interesting points. In the case of the sea lions (I am guessing on the beach--?). I would try casually moving my dog away from the stimuli to try to get a feel for the reactivity threshold (your body language would be very important here) until the reactivity settles and she calms a bit and then try engaging her or encouraging her interest in anything else other than the sea lions. After abour 10 minutes, when and if she settles, I would move her about 10 ft closer and then move off from the sea lions. The whole time carefully conveying to my dog that this is not a big deal, the sea lions belong there....they are just part of the environment.....no worries. I know how to deal with this stuff for my particular dog. BUT dogs are very much individuals. Oh, and I am sure you and probably most other people know that this is a process.....to truly desensitize her, it would take repeated exposures to the environment.
I would love to know if there are videos on fire alarms in apartments and such. Where the dog might hear it unpredictably what should be the best way to calm them down and then desensitize them on it.
Hi, I baked something in the oven. It smoked out the house. The smoke alarms DID NOT go off. We opened up the house and turned fans on. My dog has been so scared because of it. Will she eventually get over it? What can I do to stop her fear?
I'm so sorry that happened. Some things you can try are trying to change the picture so the dog forgets the incident temporarily to get a break from it. So taking a trip somewhere, they feel comfortable, if they love car rides go for a car ride somewhere then a walk then return home. Or if your dog is really into toys, play toy games in the house. If your dog is really having a stressful time you could go to your vet and ask for something to help the dog through the stressful time. Did you figure out what the dog is worried about after it was over? For example, the fans, the smell, you touching the windows or going near the windows, or now is the dog scared of things like noises etc?
Not to mention - - sometimes there's something going on that isn't related to the environment with your dog. For instance with females, they could be coming into season. They could have an injury you haven't noticed yet. Etc.
Lol.. my dog is scared of the laundry room. If his toy goes in there he'll stop at the door and bark but will not go in. He's also afraid of other dogs..especially if they bark.. but he did do pretty well yesterday when i took him right behind my house.. there were 4 dogs there he got to sniff them all .. the dogs were not hyper which was perfect. It'll take a little longer to get him okay with other dogs but i think he'll get there if i keep getting him around others.
I describe it as stress/adrenaline levels 0-10. If your dog is at 0, gets triggered and is now at 2, you can work on desensitizing that trigger. But if your dog is at stress level 5, gets triggered and is now at 7, your dog cannot pay attention to anything but how stressed they are.
When my dog, who loved going in the car, was about 3 years old, she bumped her head on the hatchback door while getting into the car. After that she would not even approach door that goes from the house into the garage. Every evening I would back the car in, open the hatch and sit back there and read a book for half an hour. The door to the garage was open, but I never called her or tried to coax her in. After several days, she would stand in the doorway but come no closer. Little by little she ventured out into the garage but still not near the car. It took about two weeks of doing this every evening and then one day she came out and jumped in with me. She is now 12 years old and was never afraid of the car after that.
Awe thats wonderful.
Well done! I do something similar with foster dogs who are concerned about jumping into the backseat. I'll eat my lunch in the backseat while they are free to come or go. They've all chosen to freely join me after 3-5 times. Much safer and ethical than forcing them to do something they're afraid of.
Thank you! Brilliant idea!
I so appreciate that you address the needs of reactive and fearful dogs with such compassion! The “dog whisperer” got us into some harmful habits and I’m so grateful to learn better from you!
If I can maintain communication with my dog in situations where he's gettiing spooked, I will try to work on it in the moment. But if he's not looking to me for guidance, we're getting out of there. if he can overcome that moment and move past it, awesome! And most times he can when he gets startled, but part of that is because he trusts me to not lead him into danger and I want to maintain that trust.
That is a great way of saying it! maintaining communication.
Yes! I’ve adopted a borzoi about 5 months ago who turned out to be reactive. After working this 5 months his approach changed and he became very friendly with other dogs. Few days ago, while in a park, we got “ambushed” by few smaller dogs who were very mean to him even though he tried to calm them down. Nothing happened, but he is extremely fragile and couldn’t later settle at home. On the next day, on a walk he showed reactivity again, so I’ve decided to “detox” him from stress and we would only go to the garden and hang out there for two days. Yesterday we went for a walk and he was relaxed and friendly towards dogs ☺️ It totally depends on a dog how much something “gets to her/him”, I have two other dogs who would just shake it off, but I don’t try to argue with what I see and accept that the borzoi guy is more sensitive than other gals. I believe this acceptance lead to his amazing transformation in just 5 months!
great tips thanks for keeping publishing.
Hi Emily, excellent advice. So important to know your dog! Avoid "flooding". As you have said before, work always under threshold. God's best blessing, Emily! JJ & Ruthie puppy
You offered good points to consider.
Thank you! I have an anxious dog who stacks triggers and had a severe fear episode to a revving engine at the end of a group training class - all I could do was try to keep her from running with cookies (there was nowhere safe to retreat to, my car was closer to the trigger). Other dog owners wanted to check-in on us, but the trainers were great trying to keep the other dogs away from us as the class ended.
You always give the best advice. Our doggo is a 13 year old border collie/papillon mix and he would always bark at the UPS, garbage men and mailman. With your help we were able to desensitize him to everyone except the postman. Thanks again for great information. 😊
Aw poor postman lol 😅
Very interesting 🤔
Thanks Emily !!
So true so true. Please follow this lady. Every video
When my dog Mako gets scared she instinctively runs to me (or another family member if I am not around) and then she will just wait by me if she wants comfort and I verbally reassure her. If she climbs up my legs I will pick her up and verbally reassure her. If she doesn’t calm down in my arms/her sling then I will get out of the situation and keep verbally reassuring her in a low, calm voice.
She is normally quite happy and friendly, but easily scared because she is very aware she is very small! But she isn’t easily afraid at home, where she feels safe, it’s mostly outside and in unusual places. I’m so glad she feels safe at home!
She likes the garden at home, but she is not comfortable with dogs and lawn mowers and such around, so I am going to try making her a nice covered den out there, so she has a place she can feel safe, or she can come right back inside as well, which is always an option too. Hopefully this helps her feel safer and more confident in her garden space (when we don’t go out with her… she is usually happy outside if we go with her! But sometimes I am trying to sort breakfast while she needs to go toilet!).
Before we got Mako I had issues reading dog body language or knowing what a dog was feeling beyond the basics. Now I know what she is doing, I can understand exactly what she is wanting or what she is needing. It’s so amazing! I’m so grateful she has taught me so much!
Nice approach
Thanks so much for this. I've definitely had experiences with my dog where my dog got to have training exercises at home after getting spooked in by a weird thing out and about. Metal plates in the sidewalk were very scary for him, but he's tolerant of them now after lots of work at home and around different metal plates.
Great advice. Thanks. How do I make him accustomed to being handled while putting on a collar or taking out fleas and ticks? Please help.
A lovely 5 minuet session as usual Emily, thankyou
"trying to get them over the fear in the moment of the fear" ... holy cow, yes! And knowing my dog/puppy. All easier with experience but I had some moments with less experience and in hindsight should have listened to my own intuition vs "inexperienced" trainer/class instruction. It IS challenging when in a class but at this point, I have enough experience to withdraw if I feel it is in my dog/pup's best interest.
I love your videos :)
thanks for letting me know!
Always great videos! Thank you!
what about the fear of house guests coming over?
I cannot re-create other real humans during training sessions when my dog is relaxed at home.
In my training, I have my dog's daddy pretend to be a house guest and come in the door, but the dog knows this is all act. She is perfectly fine with the knocking, the "guest" coming in.
BUT, when it's a real guest, she shows fear-based aggression.
Any advice?
Hi Emily! Thank you for being such an angel ❤ my do is scared of other dogs but is friendly towards humans. She's adopted and was hurt by other dogs when she was a puppy. How can I help her overcome this fear of other dogs? I also want to teach her not to take treats from strangers. Thank you so much❤
Thank you! My dog is scared and reactive to a lot of things and so we are working on training at home and building up to walks (following your leash walking self-study guide).
I was wondering how much exercise (eg fetch) and mental stimulation (eg training) you recommend for an ‘in-training’ relatively high energy dog per day? For example, when you’ve been training your own dogs for reactivity and prey drive, what would their daily schedule look like?
Thank you so much for all your content here and at dogmantics - it’s seriously been so useful for my high-prey drive, dog-reactive herding rescue!
These are interesting points. In the case of the sea lions (I am guessing on the beach--?). I would try casually moving my dog away from the stimuli to try to get a feel for the reactivity threshold (your body language would be very important here) until the reactivity settles and she calms a bit and then try engaging her or encouraging her interest in anything else other than the sea lions. After abour 10 minutes, when and if she settles, I would move her about 10 ft closer and then move off from the sea lions. The whole time carefully conveying to my dog that this is not a big deal, the sea lions belong there....they are just part of the environment.....no worries. I know how to deal with this stuff for my particular dog. BUT dogs are very much individuals. Oh, and I am sure you and probably most other people know that this is a process.....to truly desensitize her, it would take repeated exposures to the environment.
I would love to know if there are videos on fire alarms in apartments and such. Where the dog might hear it unpredictably what should be the best way to calm them down and then desensitize them on it.
th-cam.com/video/pkHuLK5UyAI/w-d-xo.html
Excellent.
Hi, I baked something in the oven. It smoked out the house. The smoke alarms DID NOT go off. We opened up the house and turned fans on. My dog has been so scared because of it. Will she eventually get over it? What can I do to stop her fear?
I'm so sorry that happened. Some things you can try are trying to change the picture so the dog forgets the incident temporarily to get a break from it. So taking a trip somewhere, they feel comfortable, if they love car rides go for a car ride somewhere then a walk then return home. Or if your dog is really into toys, play toy games in the house. If your dog is really having a stressful time you could go to your vet and ask for something to help the dog through the stressful time. Did you figure out what the dog is worried about after it was over? For example, the fans, the smell, you touching the windows or going near the windows, or now is the dog scared of things like noises etc?
Not to mention - - sometimes there's something going on that isn't related to the environment with your dog.
For instance with females, they could be coming into season. They could have an injury you haven't noticed yet.
Etc.
Lol.. my dog is scared of the laundry room. If his toy goes in there he'll stop at the door and bark but will not go in. He's also afraid of other dogs..especially if they bark.. but he did do pretty well yesterday when i took him right behind my house.. there were 4 dogs there he got to sniff them all .. the dogs were not hyper which was perfect. It'll take a little longer to get him okay with other dogs but i think he'll get there if i keep getting him around others.
I describe it as stress/adrenaline levels 0-10. If your dog is at 0, gets triggered and is now at 2, you can work on desensitizing that trigger. But if your dog is at stress level 5, gets triggered and is now at 7, your dog cannot pay attention to anything but how stressed they are.
Dark snow 03
Strong snow 74
Lonely designer 97