Content
- Fear of lack of socialization
- Fear for a traumatic experience
- Fear reinforced by owners
- Help the dog feel safe
your dog has fear of other dogs? When you see another dog, does your ears fall back, does your tail curl between your paws, do you want to run away or even growl at the other dog to try to intimidate him?
Fear is a necessary and fundamental emotion, it allows animals to react to danger, but if fear becomes a phobia or something that appears at inappropriate times, it can become a big problem and walks can become a moment. of stress for your dog.
In this article by PeritoAnimal we will explain because your dog is afraid of other dogs and how it can help you.
Fear of lack of socialization
Your dog may be afraid of other dogs because of lack of socialization, that is, because he didn't have enough contact with other dogs when I was a puppy.
This can happen in puppies that were separated from their siblings at an early age and do not know other puppies in the adoptive family.
Fear for a traumatic experience
If your dog is fearful enough, the accumulation of bad experiences can foster this fear and even turn it into a phobia. This can happen when a small-sized and somewhat fearful puppy encounters large puppies with a lot of energy that will want to play with him a little too sharply.
If the small dog is traumatized, it may growl, bark or show other forms of aggression towards the large dogs it encounters. Keep in mind that this can also occur in oversized puppies.
Fear reinforced by owners
Often when we see our dog scared we want to help him and, for that, we tend to pet him and talk to him softly to reassure him, but in reality this is just makes the problem worse.
Acting in this way only gives the puppy confirmation that he has food to be scared. Forcing him to be among the other puppies is also not a good idea and can even worsen the quality of your relationship with your puppy.
Help the dog feel safe
The first thing to do to help your puppy who is afraid of other puppies is to accept him as he is. Afterwards, the important thing will be to give it back trust and security.
If your puppy expresses fear when approaching another puppy, the best thing to do for you is keep calm and behave neutrally.. If you try to reassure him by talking to him softly, you might interpret it as an excuse for your fear. It could also cause your puppy to continue this behavior to get your attention.
It also shouldn't force you to be in a stressful situation, it could traumatize you even more and make you lose confidence in you, and besides, it wouldn't be helping you to overcome your fear. Try to figure out if your puppy is stressed because of this situation.
In the beginning, the simplest thing for your four-legged friend is to avoid encounters with other dogs, you can help him with three different techniques:
- THE desensitization it consists of introducing you to stressful situations in a progressive way until it no longer causes you stress. You can keep your puppy a few meters from other puppies and gradually reduce this distance during walks, according to your puppy's evolution and improvement. You can also arrange meetings with calmer puppies and progressively introduce you to puppies with more energy or more impressive.
- THE habituation it consists in teaching the puppy not to react to the stressful situation, multiplying walks in places where he will find other puppies allows your puppy to get used to them and understand that they are not a threat. If applying this method, be very careful not to put your puppy in a situation that is too stressful for him as this would make the situation worse.
- O counter-conditioning allows you to associate the stressful situation with a positive experience: for example, you can play with your puppy when the other puppies are not far away, to associate this moment with playing and to relax in the presence of other puppies.
You can apply these three methods together, the important thing is to respect the learning pace of your dog. It's a process that can take time, it depends on each dog. If you feel that you cannot face the situation alone, do not hesitate to consult a dog behavior professional who will be able to advise you in the specific case of your puppy.
Dogs are social animals that need to interact with other dogs and help them overcome their fear to be able to relate to other puppies is a great proof of love that you can give your puppy.
See also this article PeritoAnimal to help if your dog is afraid to go downstairs.
