Phobias and Anxiety in Dogs

This adorable beagle is Boomer.  I was blessed to have him live
with me for about 15 years. He had a severe phobia of children.

Dogs sometimes experience psychological  issues.

The term "Dog Psychology" should not infer that we analyze a dog based upon his reaction to pictures of ink blots. It does not work like that, However, dogs do occasionally suffer from psychological issues.

In this blog post, I attempt to address the psychological issues associated with anxiety and phobias in dogs. Anxiety in dogs factors into a lot of behavioral issues. In order to help the dog experiencing these issues, it is important that we understand a little about dog psychology.

I work with a lot of dogs that have aggression and anxiety issues. Most of the time, these issues can be traced to some sort of trauma in earlier life. However, this is not always the case. 

Genetics

So called, "inherited" fear is sometimes seen in entire litters of puppies. This type of fear is very difficult to address with training. The fear is persistent and tends to be generalized. In other words, the pups are generally fearful and reactive. This particular abnormality is generally observable in puppy-hood . It tends to begin around two to ten months of age and never completely goes away.

Some breeds are generally highly reactive and tend to have this inherited fear. Some examples of affected breeds are German Shepherds and Pointers. However, even in the affected breeds, this does not affect every individual dog in the breed.

Early life experiences

Sometimes experiences in puppy-hood imprint on the dog and have a long lasting effect. Nervous mothers or litter mates can influence lasting anxiety on a pup. Poor nutrition in puppy-hood  can have a negative effect on early mental development. Dogs that are isolated as pups tend to be reactive and very anxious as adults. Pups need stimuli at an early age. Their emotional development is negatively impacted when they are isolated from other dogs and/or  people.

Previous Trauma

Phobias, or irrational fears, in dogs can, in many cases, be traced to some early trauma. This happens because the dog associates a seemingly benign stimulus with a traumatic event. 

For example, a dog that is abused by a child may associate the pain of the abuse with all children. This dog may become extremely fearful of children. I suspect this is what happened in the earlier life of a beagle named Boomer that I adopted many years ago. Boomer was highly fearful of and aggressive toward young children. I did not live with any children so, it was safe for me to adopt him and work with him to address the issue. He was my loyal companion from the time he was nine months old until he died as a very happy senior dog at fifteen years of age. He was really a great beagle and I was somewhat successful in my attempts to help him with the phobia in regard to children. He got much better. It took many years, but he was eventually capable of being around children without growling, snapping, whimpering or getting physically ill. However, he never really became comfortable around children. He always showed subtle signs of stress when children were present. The point is that there was hope for Boomer. In the proper environment, he thrived. He would never have been suited for a home with young children but he was a great companion for me! It is important that we not set the dog up for failure. It would have been unrealistic to have expected Boomer to ever be a good dog for a child. That is something for which he was simply not emotionally nor psychologically capable.

Yes, Boomer's fear was irrational. Not all children would hurt him. In fact many of them distributed tasty treats to him over the years, which he loved. But, he was always, at least slightly, stressed around children. Whether or not the fear is rational makes it no more or less real. Boomer's fear was very real for him. It was important that I understand that and not force him to do more than he could do.

This is Cody relaxing with me.

Dogs also frequently develop a phobia of the veterinarian. This is understandable. The dog is quite likely linking a trauma that the vet was treating with the veterinarian. For instance, shots hurt. I hate needles. Our little Cody also hates needles. He once cried loudly when the vet simply removed the cap from the end of the needle. He associated the sound with the pain. Cody now loves the vet because the nice people at the vets office are always giving him tasty treats. He knows where the treat jar is kept in the exam room and he keeps sharp focus on it the whole time he is in the room. He now associates the vets office with really good, fun, and tasty stuff! 

Effect of the owner's fear/anxiety/phobia

As I frequently mention, dogs take their cues from us. They can sense when we are stressed and this can impact them greatly. This is why it is important that we control our emotions when working with our dogs. If we get overly excited, they in turn, become stressed.

For instance, when working with a dog that is scared of thunder, it is important that during a thunderstorm that you not react to the thunder. If you make a big deal out of the thunder, the dog's fear will be reinforced. You need to remain calm to help your dog remain calm. It really makes sense if you think about it. If the dog sees you reacting he thinks something like, "the person is upset too thunder must be really bad". The best thing to do is to act like you did not hear the thunder. Don't say, "poor baby" or something like that to the dog.  Just let the dog see that the thunder has no effect on you. I do not mean to suggest that this is the magic bullet to correct fear of thunder. However, it will help. There are other techniques that you can use as well. I will be happy to discuss this with you in a training session.

I hope this has been of some help for you.

If you have issues with an anxious dog or a dog that has some sort of phobia, please contact me. I am happy to help you!

-Till Next Time

This is our former foster, Dr. Phil McBeagle after his welcome to the
pack bath. When Dr. Phil first joined our pack he had a phobia of
doorways. We were able to help him get over that fear. He is now
happy in his forever home with an entire pack of beagles.

William

William Moore

Professional Dog Trainer

Co-Owner

Moore Services for Your Money

William Moore Canine Training

fayettedogtrainer@gmail.com

mooreservicesforyourmoney@gmail.com

678-702-4791

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"Humanization" of dogs: The pros and cons

This is Brain from one of my favorite television shows.
He is a very good example of a humanized dog. He
is actually very over-humanized.

Humanization:

In recent years, dogs have increasingly become part of our families. People love their dogs and tend to treat them as people. I think this is, in large part, due to the way that dogs bond with people. This tendency to bond with people and become faithful companions is why dogs have become known as, "man's best friend".

We share our living space with dogs. Dogs make good companions. 

People dress their dogs in facsimiles of human clothing. Unfortunately, we tend to think of them as little people with four legs and a tail. 

Pros of the humanization movement:

There are some very good things that have come out of this movement to make our dogs part of our families.

This is me and a blue tick hound named
Joe. The picture was taken in 1982

When I was growing up (in the 1970s  in Georgia) most dogs lived outside for their entire lives. We had fenced in backyards or dog runs. Many dogs roamed freely outside in the more rural areas. We loved our dogs back then, but, they were not generally thought of as family members. Many folks used their dogs for hunting or for herding. This is not a bad thing but the dogs were rarely thought of as family members.

Veterinary care was generally just for rabies vaccines and for injuries or severe sickness. Generally flea and tick control was not nearly as good as it is today. 

Dogs were generally not as healthy and in my experience, the lifespans were noticeably shorter. I knew of very few healthy senior dogs.

The way we fed dogs was much different as well. We used some dog food but it was always supplemented by scraps that we had left over from our meals. There was very little real effort to ensure that dogs ate a balanced and healthy diet.

With this humanization of dogs, dogs are generally much better cared for and have a longer life span. That is a really great thing!

Please understand, I don't think that this trend of having our dogs play a larger role in our lives is a bad thing. The Lovely Shane and I have a tenancy to project certain human aspects incorrectly onto our dogs. It is sometimes a bit of a struggle to realize that our dogs are really, in many ways quite different from us as adult human beings.

Some of the "toddlers". Two of these are former fosters
and two are permanent members of our pack.

The Lovely Shane has, quite correctly, pointed out that adult and senior dog behavior is more closely analogous to human toddler behavior. As always, there is much wisdom and validity to her point. However, as with most analogies, this one is not exact. While human toddlers grow up and their behavior changes in many significant ways, the dog's behavior does not change in the same ways. This is an important thing to remember in order to set your dog up for success in training. You must set your expectations correctly and to do this it is important to understand that dogs do not mature in the same ways that we do and they do not think exactly like people think. Dogs can be very intelligent but their minds work differently than do ours. For this reason, I think the over-humanization of dogs can prove to be a great hindrance to your training efforts and ultimately to your relationship to your dog.

Cons of the humanization movement:

While I love my dogs and they are absolutely part of our family, I understand that dogs are very different from people. It is important that you as a dog parent(or owner, or handler) understand this as well.

I am convinced that many, if not most, of the behavioral problems that we have with our dogs is the result of our misunderstanding of the fact that dogs are not people. I know this seems simple. I also know that I see the results of this fundamental misunderstanding quite frequently.

Our dogs, while great and loyal companions, are not our peers. They look to us for leadership.

The results of one of Copper's most notable
trash can incidents.

You have perhaps heard it stated that dog's live in the moment. This is a popular saying of dog trainers with television shows. I think it is over-stated at times but it is, indeed, true. For instance, dogs do not always immediately link cause to effect. Sometimes this link seems to never be complete. For example, my demo dog, Copper loves to sniff through the trash and eat any items that he finds interesting regardless of whether they are dangerous to him. This happens, in large part, due to his instinct as a Beagle. He is lead by his nose. He is a very well behaved dog but, the allure of fresh smelly trash is overwhelming to him at times. For that reason we go to great lengths to keep him, and the rest of our scent hounds, out of trash. We do this mostly by making the trash physically inaccessible.  However, there are times in which our best efforts fail. Copper has, in the past, eaten treasures from the trash that have made him sick. He does not, however, seem to link the eating of the trash to his tummy ache. 

Dogs are very much dependent upon us humans. This seems to be an emotional as well as physical dependence. We must remember that dogs communicate differently than we humans communicate. Dogs do not use much verbal communication. So called "body language" is very much a part of their communications. It plays a much bigger role than verbal communication. The dog consistently looks to your body language for his cues. The dog notice subtle differences. I believe this is how my dogs often realize that I am not feeling well and try to comfort me. They notice subtle differences in the way that I interact with them and others. 

This aspect of their communication is important to remember when dealing with anxiety in dogs. For instance, if a dog is afraid of thunder, you should not be overly affectionate with him when he is scared. In other words, do not act like you are reacting to the thunder as well. If you react, it tends to reinforce his anxiety. To us, this may seem counter-intuitive, but it is true. It serves as an illustration of one of the many ways that dogs are different from humans. Over-humanization may lead us to react to the dog in a way that actually does not help him.

Eating is another of the many areas in which your dog is quite different from you. We love the

These are peanut butter and jelly
duplex dog cookies. We used to sell
these on the treat bar at Petco. Dogs love the
peanut butter and I like the taste as well.

taste of food. Our taste buds are very refined and sensitive in comparison to our dog. The dog does not get all that much enjoyment from the taste of the food. It is actually the odor that the dog enjoys. Dogs do not have a need to chew their food nearly as much as we do. Their saliva actually works quite differently from ours. The main purpose of a dog's saliva, in regard to eating, is to lubricate the food. In people, the saliva begins the digestive process (at least that is my understanding). So, we have much more time to taste the food and we have better taste buds to taste. Therefore, much of the marketing of dog food for taste is really directed at the human consumer rather than the dog. This is also the reason that high value foods for a dog are generally very smelly and not really appealing to the human sense of smell or taste for that matter. Although, some of the high end dog biscuits are quite tasty! When I worked at Petco, we had a treat bar with bulk dog cookies. These were human grade food. Some of them tasted pretty good. It was also fun to see the look on customer's faces when I would eat them. However, the dogs like them more for the smell than the taste. My experience has been that the heavier the odor, the more the dog likes the treat. Also, the smellier ones that the dogs really enjoy are not all that tasty to my pallet.

I have not done exhaustive research on this particular subject. I am sure there are many other areas that I have neglected to cover here on both the pro and con sides. However, my point is that it behooves us as adopted dog parents to understand that while we share a significant bond with our dogs, they are, indeed very different from us.

This is a grain free food that Petco actually sells for
$80.99 in a 25.3 pound bag. When I worked there we
carried a similar food and actually sold about 3 bags a week.

In my humble and perhaps biased opinion, I think that this over-humanization of dogs is exacerbated by those who market their products to us. This is a fact of which we need to be aware in all of our purchasing decisions. A dog's dietary needs are quite different than our own. Please keep this in mind when choosing dog food. Dog food manufacturers many times attempt to capatilze on our tendencies to humanize our dogs. This is evident in the prevalence of  dog food alternatives that mirror closely the current dietary trends in humans. For instance there are vegetarian , grain free, and gluten free foods that are pricey and very heavily marketed. While I am certain there are some dogs that benefit from this type of diet due to relatively rare health issues, it is not necessarily good for the dog just because it is beneficial in people. For that reason, before you switch foods to address some perceived problem with your dog's health, it is my strong recommendation that you seek veterinary advice. Please avoid the temptation to seek this advice from those who have a vested interest in selling you the food. When I worked at Petco, we were trained in dog nutrition. However, that training was very heavily geared toward selling food and not so highly motivated by the true needs of the dog. Sales people are simply not experts in dog health. Neither are dog trainers in general. The true experts are those who went to medical school and have examined your dog. I am referring, of course, to your veterinarian.

I hope that this post has been helpful to you in your endeavor to better understand your dog.

If you have any training needs or questions please contact me.

Till next time 

-William-