As you watch this, understand that I have no fear of dogs. This is not a how to for your dog, but it should give you some understanding of how to work with your fearful dog.
Minnie and Bear are sisters from the same litter, they are about 18 months old. Bear and Minnie cannot be together at the moment – Bear attacks Minnie cause Minnie is so insecure. I am the first human in over a year to show affection to these dogs and they are very human reactive, dogs don’t bother them.
Minnie is scared of Bear and she’s very fragile – and needs to be handled with kid gloves. She’s also very reactive of everything on walks. Sorry about the sniffing on video, and and a few curse words. The plan was for the owner to walk Bear and we meet up at some point – Minnie wasn’t ready so it was cancelled. We need to build her confidence. The walk starts about 4 minutes in, the first half hour or so of the assessment was gaining some trust in the back yard.
A dog that doesn’t trust you has no reason to follow you – no reason to feel secure around you. I use alot of praise and encouragement, calm voice, making nothing a big deal. You will not see any treats or tools used – they are unnecessary. Ask, don’t tell and give the dog the choice to move forward – you will see a difference.
As you watch the video – understand the dog that charged the gate with a flash of teeth isn’t the real story, that’s all she knows to do – it’s a bluff. She backs down in a hurry and shows her insecurity. Minnie has zero aggression in her at all – for people and dogs. She just doesn’t trust anything and that needs to change.
We spent time in the back yard, brought the owner out and everything is calm. The main goal through this is asking Minne to trust me, I need her to choose to come to me – choose to take affection from me. I brought Monty in to meet, she did fine, no sign of aggression whatsoever.
It’s important to understand if and when the dog will pull the aggression card. When it came to Minnie, I gently gave her ever reason to show aggression – and she didn’t. Once that is understood, I need to give the dog back its brain, and let them choose to follow me out of that dark space they are in.
When she started choosing to come to me – giving me her paw, it’s showing she’s beginning to accept and trust me. It’s off for a nice calm walk to build more trust. I know she’s going to be reactive – and every time she shows any fear or reaction – I squat down and ask her to choose to come to me. I need her to feel safe coming to me – I need her to understand that I am her protector when she needs me to be. I’m not scared, I’m completely calm and reassuring – I want her to feel secure with me. Most importantly, I need her to choose to move forward.
The walk is uncut, she had one major fear episode when I tried to go into the alley and she refused. I’m not going to force her – she flipped out a little which concerned me – her collar was a little loose and she near slipped out. I’m not freaking out, I’m staying calm for her, sake, holding her in place to allow her to calm and realize nothing bad is happening – choose to come to me.
I don’t care that she’s pulling at times, that will cease – this is all about her choices, her free will. Notice toward the end of the walk – she doesn’t pull anymore.
At some point, there was a fellow across the street pulling his kid in a cart – they stayed directly on the other side of the street – she didn’t react to the sound. As you watch further, she’s much less reactive, her tail is up and she feels comfortable using her nose to sniff – just like a dog should.
We approached a fellow on the street – he was talking on his phone. She was unsure, but kept choosing to move forward instead of shutting down. She surprised me when she went up behind him and sniffed him. She’s feeling more secure around me.
When she seen her owner – she reacted a little – dogs eyesight isn’t that great but as you can see, she moved forward and went to him. 2 dogs on the opposite side of the street were no big deal – she stood there and watched, not reacting. It’s not a big deal because we aren’t making it a big deal.
Back in the yard, her demeanor changed some and she became insecure again – but she started coming to me again, offering her paw and taking affection. All was left on a good note.
Next step, dog park. Minnie has zero aggression in her toward people or dogs – she proved that.
I could not fathom wrapping a prong around Minnie’s neck or using an electronic shock collar on her – you will never gain a dogs trust by using tools.