Rachel's Guide to Puppies

Everything is new to puppies; that also means that everything new could be scary to puppies. You will have to pay close attention to your dog to be able to tell when they fear something.

What signs tell you your dog fears something? Well I recently realized Koopa was afraid of some new additions to our house, so they are fresh in my mind:

• Slowly approaching something
• Tail tucked
• Stretching to reach something- puppies especially will do this
• Their neck will be stretched out while their back legs are as far away as possible so they can get away quick!
• Standing near something to watch it but not really going close 
• Ears flying back against their head
• Also pay attention to when they run away
• If you notice them running away repeatedly after you do a certain task or use a certain object, it's very possible that task or object is what they fear

The good news is most fears can be trained out of dogs very quickly! One thing you have to be careful with is not reinforcing the fear. For example, Koopa is afraid of his aluminum bowl. If I made him jump every time he went near it, I would be reinforcing his fear instead of helping him get over it.

So, how do you get your dog over their fears? It's really quite simple. For this, you'll need a bag of treats.

• First, sit down on the floor next to the feared object. For Koopa, this was his bowl
• If your dog is afraid of the noise it makes, tap on the object. If he's afraid of its movement, move the object
• Immediately after you tap on/move the object, give a treat. 
• If the dog won't come near, you can throw the treat to them
• The point here is that they need to associate the noise/movement of the object with something good- the treat
• It's most likely that the dog will start very far away from the object- that's not a bad thing. 
• Start by throwing treats to them
• As the dog starts to loosen up a bit and isn't as jumpy when the object is moved/tapped on, toss the treat closer to you and the object, drawing the dog in
• Continue drawing the dog closer, but ONLY as they get more comfortable. If they seem more anxious when you draw them closer, allow them to back off
• Once the dog is next to the object, tap/move it constantly while giving treats in a row
• You only need to do this for about 3 treats

By now, your dog should be more comfortable with the object. After one session of this, Koopa drank an entire bowl of water. Before, he'd just run up quickly, steal two quick drinks and retreat as quickly as he could.  Most dogs will probably need more than one of these training sessions to get over their fear.

Remember to be positive, but stay calm. Added excitement will only cause your dog to enter a more energized state which will add to their fear.

Here's a video of Koopa working on the fear of his bowl. Notice how I throw the treats a little further away when I start to notice him getting nervous. I could tell he was nervous because he started to act more energized as he got closer. Dogs should remain just as calm as they were when they started the exercise. If you notice their energy level increasing, allow them to back off. Make sure you distinguish between excitement for getting a treat thrown at them and nervousness about being close to their feared object. Feel free to give them praise at the end of the exercise, but make sure not to startle them!