3 Skills To Help Calm A Fearful Dog

Owning or working with a fearful dog can be a big challenge. It requires you to test your patience and problem-solving skills in ways that you might not expect. Things can be going great for a while and then something unexpected will set you back, and it can be hard not to get frustrated or want to fast-forward entirely until a well-balanced dog is in front of you. But the reason we choose to engage with these dogs and work with them is because we see their potential and we’re willing to put in the work to help them reach it.

Every day we can do things that will build them up and help their confidence grow, but some specific skills are definitely worth focusing on as you are cultivating your relationship with your dog.

In this article, we’ll look at three things that can really benefit fearful dogs and improve your relationship.

1) The Touch command

“Touch” is essentially having your dog target a specific area and touch their nose to it. Targeting is a great thing for all dogs to learn, but it can be especially beneficial to our fearful friends. It gives them something very specific to focus on and complete, and the repetition of going and touching something will make approaching things in general less daunting for the dog. In fact, they’ll realize that being brave and voluntarily coming up to whatever you’re targeting gets them a reward!

Fearful dogs will often hang back and choose not to engage with things they’re unsure of, so if we can work on building up that confident approach and interaction of the nose touching the object, then we are able to lay a good foundation for more real-life scenarios.

How to train the Touch command

Teaching “touch” can be done with different methods and physical prompts, I’ve seen a few in action and all have been successful. My favorite option for a fearful dog is to teach “touch” using the palm of your hand. Sometimes approaching a human can be frightening for a dog, and often hands reaching towards them will cause them to spook. So by teaching them to come up and touch the palm of our hand with their nose, we are helping them learn that humans and hands are not something that they need to be afraid of.

Offer the palm of your hand to the dog, and then wait. As soon as they engage with or brush up against your hand with their nose, use your marker word (I like to use “Yes”) and give them a reward. Repeat this process, making sure as soon as they’re touching you’re marking and rewarding.

Soon you’ll be able to up the ante a bit, try offering your hand in different contexts. Bend over and offer your palm from between your legs, you’d be surprised how just a change in position can be a challenge for the dog. Get on the ground and offer your palm through the legs of a chair, just play around and see what you can get your dog to engage with!

Why Touch works for fearful dogs

“Touch” builds confidence and focus and can help teach the dog that physically interacting with humans is a good thing.

2) The walk-around

Fearful dogs are hyper-aware of their surroundings, and often will try to bolt if they feel they’re being closed in on. Even in the most open of environments, simply trying to walk around a fearful dog will put them on edge. A lot of the time they’ll need to keep their eyes on you and will constantly be adjusting to make sure no one is creeping up on them where they can’t see. The goal is to be able to have the dog in a sit or down position and fully walk around them in a circle without them breaking or adjusting to keep you in their line of sight. This is a big ask for a fearful dog, so we have to build up to it in increments.

How to train the walk-around

I like to utilize a “place” command when starting off with this. The dog has a designated spot they need to keep their paws on, but they can do as they please as long as they don’t get off the place. As we start off, this will allow the dog to readjust and turn with us as we walk around and they won’t be breaking the command. They are contained within the bounds of the place, but still have to make the conscious decision to not step off. The first phase is simply getting the dog to be comfortable with us making the circle around them, so the way we do that is by slowly taking steps and treating along the way. It’s okay for them to turn with us, and you might have to start off with very small steps depending on the dog. Again, the goal is just to keep them on the place while we make that circle, to get them used to the concept before we advance.

Alongside working on this, you should be building up your sit and down stay, and beginning to add in motion and stepping in different directions – this will help us down the line. As your dog gets comfortable with you making the circle while they’re on place, we can start asking them for a sit or down while on the place and begin the same process. The difference here is that unlike general “place” where they can move their bodies around, the sit or down will keep them in one spot, so they will need to be released before they get overwhelmed. So you’ll step and reward while they’re still in position, and then release before they get uncomfortable enough to stand up. This will take time to build up, but eventually you will be able to fully walk around the dog without them breaking, and they’ll be comfortable enough to remain in the position you asked.

Why the walk-around works for fearful dogs

The walk-around will help dogs feel comfortable with people moving around them and reduce general anxiety about keeping people in sight.

3) Taking field trips

When you’re working with a fearful dog it’s very tempting to want to keep them in a bubble. No scary triggers, no unexpected challenges, just keep working on things in the house or neighborhood where they’re most comfortable. But without venturing into the “real world”, what we end up teaching them is that home base is safe and fine, but everything else out there is still worth being afraid of. We have to intentionally desensitize them to various stimuli in order to build their confidence. That’s not to say your fearful dog is immediately going to be able to join you at a pet-friendly bar for happy hour, but we can work up to more enjoyable outings by just starting the process in the first place. It may look boring, but a lot of the time that’s where the meat of dog training lies. Everything happens in increments. So if your dog can’t handle walking into a dog-friendly store, that doesn’t mean you don’t go. You can go and do a training session in the parking lot, with lots of fun reinforcement for doing things right and displaying calm behavior. Focus on their engagement and keep it short and sweet. You’ll be able to get closer and closer as your dog becomes more comfortable, and soon you’ll find that your socialization outings become more about exploring new things instead of just getting your dog out of their comfort zone.

Why taking field trips helps calm fearful dogs

Exposing your dog to different environments in a fun and positive way will boost their confidence and teach them that the world is not such a scary place.

In conclusion

The journey of training through fear is not to be underestimated, it takes persistence and a lot of dedication. But the satisfaction of watching a fearful dog overcome something that used to trigger them is one of the most fulfilling feelings there is. These three skills might seem small, but each one helps build confidence in a different way. Nailing down more basic things like this allows for more advanced work to be done in a shorter amount of time. Imagine what you could focus on if some of these building blocks were in place and your dog’s confidence was steadily rising. When you take the time to build up these skills, many more doors will open for you and your fearful dog.