Dogs: Fears and Phobias - Animals and People

My dog seems to be afraid of people and or other animals - why might that be?

There are many reasons why dogs develop a fearful reaction to people and other animals. However, some dogs are born with a genetic predisposition to be more fearful or anxious than others. Dogs that develop fearful response may have had limited or minimal exposure to people and/or other animals when they were young. Socialisation is an important aspect of raising a puppy. Without adequate, positive interactions with people and other animals dogs may develop specific fears or become generally wary. In fact, fears may be very specific, so that a dog that has been adequately socialised to a particular "type" of person, such as adult males, may still show fear toward children, women, teenagers, or people of other races. Similarly, dogs that are well socialised to other dogs may show fear toward other species such as cats. 

Secondly, dogs learn from the experiences that they have and it may take only one intense or traumatic experience for the dog to generalise that experience to many similar situations. This can occur for example with a bad experience with one small child which then makes the dog fearful of all small children, or a fight and subsequent injury from another dog which results in apprehension and fear in the presence of other dogs. Sometimes a number of unpleasant events “paired” or associated with a person or animal can lead to increasing fear. For example, if a dog is punished when she is exposed to a person or other animal, she may begin to pair the stimulus (the person or other animal) with the unpleasant consequence (punishment). This is especially true with the use of a painful device such as a choke chain.

Can I prevent these fears from developing?

As mentioned above, socialisation is the cornerstone to raising a dog that is comfortable with people. Early, frequent and pleasant encounters with people of all ages and types can help prevent fears later. This exposure should ideally begin between three and eight weeks of age and continue throughout the first year. In addition, the dog should be exposed to as many different environments, sights and sounds as possible so that she becomes accustomed to an ever changing environment early, before fears emerge.

What signs might my dog show when she is afraid?

When frightened, a dog may cower, look away, tuck her tail between her legs and perhaps tremble or pant. At other times the signs may be more subtle. A dog that is very frightened may duck her head and look away when a stranger approaches to stroke her, or the dog may simply yawn or shuffle around a bit and then tolerate (but not enjoy) the stroking. However, if contact persists or the dog feels unable to escape there is a danger that the dog will snap, as the more subtle signals aimed at saying “please don’t do this” have been ignored. It is important to watch your dog for signs of uneasiness such as backing up, hiding behind you, licking lips and yawning. Growling, or snarling are usually well recognised as indicators of aggression, and these signs are often a response to fear, rather than a sign of a nasty character. Punishment of fear related anxiety will only make matters worse as it adds a further learned unpleasant association (your behaviour as you tell your dog off) to the problem.

What information do I need to identify and treat my fearful pet?

Professional intervention by a veterinary behaviourist is necessary for dogs that are showing extreme fears, especially when there is aggression. You may also prefer such support in less severe cases and should not be afraid to ask for it. If the fears are mild, then there are things you can do to prevent the problem from progressing. 

1. Firstly, try to identify what the fear inducing stimulus is. This is not always easy and it is important that you get it right. What people or animals is your dog afraid of and where does the fearful behaviour occur? Often there are certain situations, people, and places, which provoke the behaviour more than others. It is not uncommon for fear of certain individuals to be context specific, i.e linked to certain circumstances.
2. Next you need to be able to think of ways you can manipulate the intensity of the fear inducing stimuli along a gradient from low to high. In other words, you want to identify those situations, people, places and animals that are likely to cause minimal fear as well as those situations, people, places and animals that are most likely to cause a more severe response.
3. Thirdly, you need to examine what factors may be reinforcing the behaviour.
   1. In some cases the fearful behaviour may be inadvertently rewarded by reassuring your dog with vocal intonations or body contact.
   2. In other cases the problem may be intensified by punishing your dog or telling your dog not to be silly. 
   3. Aggressive displays by the dog can also be a successful way of getting the fearful stimulus to leave and the removal of the stimulus is a very effective reinforcer of the behaviour. 
   4. Any ongoing interactions that are provoking aversion need to be identified. Examples might include teasing behaviours, painful interactions such as playing when the dog has arthritic problems, the use of punishment (mentioned above), or overwhelming intensity of stimuli (e.g. screaming children). We also need to remember that even if the intensity of the stimulus is no greater than usual the emotional state of the dog may influence her response and if other factors, which may appear unrelated, are causing your dog to feel stressed and under pressure you may find that shet is more likely to react adversely to the person or animal that approaches her.

After I have identified the stimuli, what do I do next?

1. Before a behaviour modification programme can begin, you need to be able to control and communicate with your dog. This will require some training and a head collar may help. Head collars allow control of the dog’s head and neck to help the dog respond to the given verbal cue (sit, quiet, heel).

Teach your dog that when she sits and stays she will receive a delicious food reward. The aim of this training is to allow the dog to assume a relaxed and happy body posture and facial expression on command. Once this is established, then food rewards are very slowly phased out, and replaced with intermittent food rewards and consistent verbal praise and tactile reinforcement.

"Once this is established, then food rewards are very slowly phased out, and replaced with intermittent food rewards and consistent verbal praise and tactile reinforcement."

2. To begin counter-conditioning and desensitization, accustom your dog to low levels of the stimuli that usually cause the fearful response. This needs to be done very gradually at a rate your dog can cope with. This is where the gradient that you established earlier becomes essential. Start by exposing the dog to very low levels of the stimulus, in fact ones that do not evoke any fear can still help. Your dog should be rewarded for sitting quietly and calmly. Gradually, if she continues to exhibit no fear, the stimulus intensity is slowly increased. It is extremely important that this is done very slowly. The aim is to reward appropriate behaviour, and teach your dog how to associate the once fearful stimulus with calm relaxation and rewards. If she begins to show fear during training, you are progressing too fast and could be making the problem worse. Always set up the dog to succeed. The use of the lead and head collar can greatly improve the chances of success and because of the additional control, may help you to succeed in getting the dog’s attention and helping her to settle down faster than with verbal cues and rewards alone. However the preliminary introduction to the head collar is essential as the dog must not see the device as a form of restriction or punishment. Work on the introduction to the head collar and lead combination in non-fear inducing situations before you begin to use the system during treatment sessions. You can ask us for the handout on using head collars which will give you more detail about this.

But my dog may still encounter the fearful stimulus when we are not in a training exercise. What should I do then?

Each time your dog experiences the fearful stimulus and reacts with fear, the behaviour is further reinforced. If possible, you should try to avoid the fear-producing stimulus during the treatment programme. This may mean confining your dog when children visit, or when the house has unfamiliar visitors. Alternatively, walks may need to be curtailed or taken at times when encounters with other people and animals can be minimised.

If you do find yourself in a situation where your dog is responding fearfully, you should refrain from using reassuring vocal intonation and body contact since this may inadvertently suggest to your dog that you are apprehensive and thereby confirm its/his/her perception of potential threat. As long as your dog is wearing a lead and head collar, she may be reoriented to face you, given a sit cue, and rewarded once the inappropriate behaviour has subsided. However, do not be tempted to force your dog into meeting the stranger or the unfamiliar animal in the hope that you can show her that they are really very nice and do not ask them to reward your dog by giving her a treat. Putting your dog in a situation where she feels compelled to meet and interact with them and combining the fearful stimulus with a potentially rewarding stimulus ( as happens when a strangers hand moves toward the dog with a treat inside it) will increase the perception of threat and can increase the probability of an inappropriate response.

If you think regular uncontrolled exposure is unavoidable you should seek professional veterinary assistance as medication may be necessary to help your dog through these difficult times.