Fear in dogs
Fear was actually one of the most prominent features in dogs long ago. Before domestic dogs came about, there was only the wolf (see article “What is a Dog”). Wolves had a level of innate fear of humans due to prolonged competition for resources that involved us often hunting and killing wolves, or at the least scaring them off from campsites and kill-sites. So fear is not a foreign to dogs, for many years up until dogs began to fully rely on us for survival, fear was an inborn and important trait.
So, how did we manage to create a fearless canine companion out of a wild and fearful wolf? Food: food was the determining factor in pushing the wolves over the edge to actually eventually approaching humans which led to their domestication. Konrad Lorenz, the famous animal psychologist said “To gain a desired prey, a dog or wolf will do things that, in other contexts, they would shy away from”. This was true for the wolf, when it chose to push the boundaries in scavenging our kills, and is still true today when we consider dealing with fear in dogs.
Domestic dogs were created on the very foundation that they overcame their fear of us through the potential of food, so we can use this very real concept to help dogs overcome fear issues today. Our recent ancestors helped to create the dog in the first step of allowing them to scavenge from our kills. In this interaction the wolf is fearful and very closely observing the human and the human’s possible intentions (you can see where this went to creating a new species that could understand human communication). Furthermore in this interaction the human is not too worried over what the wolf is doing. If the human was worried about the wolf’s presence on the kill he would have scared her off thus making the fear worse, but this would not have happened, else we would not have dogs today. So the concepts that we can transfer are, the presence of food, and the lack of interest towards the animal. This, in today’s world, creates curiosity in a fearful dog, just like it likely did with wolves back a few thousand years ago. The process of overcoming the fear is also gradual, just as it was with the wolf. So we can loosely base helping fearful dogs today based on some of these facts and assumptions. Of course there are different types of fear, specific and generalized fear. Specific fear is fear towards something specific (of course) such as people, dogs, the hose or cars etc. Specific fears are motivated by specific causes, such as being hit by a car, therefore becoming fearful towards the car. Generalized fear is a general fear of most things, mainly movement, people, noise, everything, really.
Notice the Coyote is keeping its body close to the ground, tail tucked between the legs and a small crease upwards on the inner corner of the eye (as if worried). The dog however is making itself as large as possible, the opposite of fear.
Conclusions drawn and how to help a dog overcome fear of people or strangers
So, a lack of interest, no direct eye contact, no direct confrontation, a relaxed, confident posture and mental state, and the presence of (preferably a strong smelling meat-based) food are all key to tapping into the dog’s natural curiosity functions. This first step may take time, the aim is to have the dog approach you, and eventually get close enough to consider eating that food (in your hand or pouch). This is starting to sound like a dating article, but the aim is to drive the dog “crazy” for the food, the principle of classical conditioning means that this positive and enjoyably challenging experience becomes associated with your presence, and guess what? Fear isn’t a part of that experience.
Try to hold back actually giving the treat, allow nibbles to keep the dog interested (so she knows what she’s actually working for) but save the real treat until you are sure the mind is relaxed, shown in part by a tail that is relaxed (down is ok, as long as it isn’t tense/tucked) and relaxed eyes (not wide open) and few creases around the eyes (these creases mean the dog is tensing her face). It’s really a matter of controlling your mental state and quietly observing the dog’s actions and acting appropriately to those actions, there is no specific way of doing this that can be laid out into detailed and specific steps, rather you must take upon the small amount of information and learn as you go. If you are in the slightest bit aggressive, frustrated, tense, feeling sorry, in a rush, nervous, or worried about getting it wrong, the dog will pick up on this and likely show little interest in you. The key to attracting a fearful dog is to be confident with a lack of interest but a MOTIVE for the approach, kind of like the attractive girl at school, she’s confident, shows a lack of interest in the guys but leaves the guys with a motive, her looks.
With fear, generally, the only real way of overcoming it in dogs (and humans for that matter) is to be exposed to what creates the fear. A dog can only overcome its fear of humans if humans are present. If a dog that feared humans was exposed to many humans on a daily basis, eventually she would realise they are not harming her, thus the negative association is removed. This simple concept is the basis of “exposure therapy” used mainly on humans to overcome phobias and fears. Along with exposure to the item or object of fear, positivity can be introduced when the mind begins to relax so an instant positive association between this relaxation (replacing the fear) and the once item of fear is created. Almost all people have a fear of public speaking for example, the only difference between these people and the people that do not have a fear is that the people who do not faced that fear enough to overcome and enjoy it.
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This was the best picture I could find… Notice the dilated pupils, wide open eyes, crease in between the eyes (the ‘cautious’ line down the middle of the head), creases around the eyes, wet nose (increased moisture has something to do with increased receptivity or trying to cool down), body orientation is moving away from the human with only the head facing, right paw is about to be lifted, tail is tucked, increased muscle outline (indicates tension), ears forward, closed mouth, back left leg seems to be attempting to depress, a sign of wanting to be closer to the ground / making itself smaller, there are many other things going on but ALL these are signs of flight/fear (in this case, but not always so with all of them)
Another way of helping a dog to overcome fear is often just the presence of others dogs. We are no match for dogs in knowing what to do when faced with a behavior problem in another dog. Ontop of this, dogs are happiest and feel most natural and free when among their own species. With many fearful dogs, the simple presence of another dog, especially a calm and experienced dog, will immediately eradicate or reduce the fear at that time, allowing for it to gradually disappear.
Even fearful dogs have something that they absolutely love (besides food I mean here). A dog with a strong prey drive will almost always be brought out of the fearful state in order to focus on the prey. A dog that loves to run will brought out of the fearful state whilst running. These examples both play on the fact that dogs can only focus on one thing at once! It is not simply distracting them however, inadvertently everything in the surroundings becomes associated with not feeling fearful at that time, for whatever reason. So tap into what your dog loves, one way of doing this can be through researching the breed.
There are many other hints and tips on helping fearful dogs but as always, contacting a behaviorist is the best option if you are dealing with a fearful dog, they will understand and teach you the dos and don’ts when it comes to helping and rehabilitating that dog.