Why is your dog all the time scared and how can you help him overcome his fear?
Above all, know that if your dog is afraid, he is not the only one and a large number of dogs go through this period for a simple reason that any situation, which a dog does not face when he was small ( a puppy), this dog will feel threatened by this new situation and will naturally be afraid because he does not know what it is about
A simple noise your dog hears for the first time, a large vehicle, a crowd of people together, the thunder,…etc., any new experience could cause a dog to be afraid
Nevertheless, there are some dogs that tend to be more afraid than others and it is these dogs that I will try to show you how to help them in this post
The different causes that lead a dog to develop fearful behavior :
I’m not going to mention all the reasons why your dog might develop this chronic feeling of fear, but here are the most common reasons that make a dog feel threatened and become constantly fearful:
1- A dog could inherit his fear of his parents, especially his mother:
Your dog may be holding on to his fear of his mother, when he was a puppy, his mother was afraid and by mimicry he had to adopt this behaviour
Your dog may have been used to seeing his mother startle at every noise or show signs of fear and stress at the sight of another dog. etc. and he had to develop this feeling of fear and drag him as a burden until his adult age
Genetics could also play a role in the behaviour of a dog once it becomes an adult, a fearful and fearful dog could have inherited its chronic fear of its parents
2- A dog is afraid because he sees the fear in his master’s eyes
If you notice that your dog becomes fearful when you walk him, know that it may be your fault
The dog feels all the feelings of his master, and if you are afraid to meet other dogs for example, or a place full of people, a lot of traffic, etc., know that your dog will read the fear in your eyes and will automatically be afraid in turn
Don’t confuse this with the fear of your dog’s environment when he was little, a puppy raised in the countryside, may develop a visceral fear of cars, the subway, noise, crowds,…etc
3-Your dog was not well socialized when he was a puppy
As soon as a puppy reaches one month of age, it must be taken out and confronted with the environment in which it will evolve when it becomes an adult
You need to walk and stimulate your puppy until he is three months old and show him and show him the maximum of his environment, while comforting him and helping him overcome his fear
If your dog has not gone through this stage, he may develop fear in situations he has not faced between the ages of one month and 3 months.
4- A dog could have a trauma as the cause of its fear
The dog also becomes fearful when he has suffered a trauma, especially during his ninth week, when it is not advisable to adopt a puppy.
Poor transport conditions, everything he could experience far from his mother between the eighth and tenth week could create in him a psychological trauma that will handicap him all his life and become fear of everything
That’s why it’s advisable to adopt a puppy in the eighth week or wait until the tenth week and never during the ninth week
The bad consequences of fear for a dog
- Decreased learning ability in a shy dog
- Lack of concentration and tolerance and refusal to obey certain orders
- The dog loses control in new situations, either he runs away or he becomes aggressive to defend himself even if the situation does not oblige him and not so serious that it is, despite this, the fearful dog will consider this situation as dangerous
- If your dog is afraid, he could very well attack other dogs or even people just because he had felt an unexplained and senseless fear, but he the poor he misunderstood the situation, so be careful if this is your case when you walk your dog !
How do you know if your dog is scared?
When a dog is afraid, there are some signals that will make his master understand this, here they are:
- The dog’s back hair rises and rises
- The pupils of his eyes dilate
- The dog puts his tail between his legs and trembles
- He panted and looked out of breath
- The dog can growl, show his teeth, yawn, bite the air and snap his jaws
- A dog puts his ears back when he is afraid and wags his tail much more to the left side
How can I help a frightened dog?
A bad handler will tend to punish his dog when he shows his teeth, grumbles or tries to defend himself when this dog is only a victim of his own fear
Here’s how to help a fearful dog overcome his difficult moments, and overcome his fears:
- When you know your dog is afraid and he makes a mistake, the first thing to do is never punish him, otherwise you will make the situation worse
- You should try to understand and identify the cause of his fear, the exact thing or situation that led your dog to react in this way
- You must then try to confront him with the same situation and support him and reduce his emotional state until the situation and the cause of his fear become completely banal in the eyes of your dog.
- You must reduce your dog’s sensitivity to the cause of his fear by confronting him regularly with this cause by gradually extending the length of time your dog is exposed to this stress situation and by letting him manage this situation more and more on his own without your support, i.e. support him in the early stages and then let him confront his fears more and more alone.
- Take your time and don’t rush things when you want to help a shy dog, know that it’s not easy for the dog and you have to help him progress a little more every day until he overcomes his fear
Use a Bye Bark method to train your dog :
I have chosen to tell you about this method to train your dog and accustom him to confront his fear because I find it really adapted to this case
The best way to calm a frightened dog and get him to lower his emotional state and calm his stress, and the best way to calm your frightened dog is to attract his attention to something other than the cause and thing that frightens him and this Bye Bark and the guide that goes with it is ideal for this situation ( it is therefore far from being just an affiliation link, believe me, I know what it’s like to have a dog that jumps at the slightest noise, it really ruins our walk in the Park)
I advise you this Bye Bart method, you will receive for less than $40 the Ultrasonic device on the next picture , the user guide and the method and tips to train your dog yourself to do whatever you want him to do or stop doing like barking at night, being afraid, growling…etc everything is in the guide
Conclusion
If you are confronted with this situation with your dog and he is afraid, know that you can get good results with him, if you cannot do this work of accompanying your dog in his confrontation with the causes of his fear, you will have to hire a professional, to help your dog get rid of the reasons for his fear and live normally like all other dogs
Know that this kind of therapy takes time and you have to take one more step towards your dog’s recovery and you should never rush and try to confront your dog with his fear by bullying him, you don’t tie a dog who is afraid of cars in the back of his car and go around the city ! you know what I mean !!
I wish you good luck, I love pets, be kind and patient with them, they surprise us all the time
