Nervous Dog Protocol

by

Welcome to the tenth post in our Dog Training blog series. This ongoing series features guest posts by local professional dog trainers and highlights some of the big questions they address to their clients. Today's post was written by Adam Miller of Big Dog Canine Behavioral Dog Training.

Working with a nervous or shy dog can be difficult and frustrating for many dog owners.  Timidity or shyness can sometimes develop as a juvenile dog matures.  Frequently, the primary cause of this behavior is the lack of proper introductions to various people, places, animals or objects during the socialization period of puppy-hood.  Other origins may include physical abuse, emotional distress or merely not enough social interaction.  Fear or shyness is a problem behavior that can easily progress to biting or aggression.

Nervous or shy dogs can be more challenging to work with than dominant or headstrong dogs.  A dominant dog usually has no fearful tendencies and typically just needs to be toned-down and consistently shown the rules, boundaries or limits.  With a timid or fearful dog, you need to help develop the dog’s self-confidence and self-esteem along with building their trust of strangers or unfamiliar situations.  This can be a lengthy process and takes a lot of patience and understanding on the owner’s part…have faith because there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Owners can definitely help their dogs build confidence and grow into a stable and trusting dog.  This is done by consistently introducing the dog to people in a controlled and structured setting.  Over the year’s, I have developed a “Nervous Dog Protocol” to follow when introducing your dog to people that usually cause the dog to react with shy or fearful behavior.  I have had great success with this protocol but it is imperative that the owner and guests strictly adhere to each step of the process.

I recommended that you first start this process in your home with a friend who understands your situation and the dog’s behavior and is willing to help by carefully following each phase in the following “Nervous Dog Protocol”.  Later, you can start to use the process when meeting strangers out in public settings.

General Rules for Interaction

  • Guests must totally ignore the dog
  • NO touch, talk or eye contact – act as if the dog is not even there
  • Stay calm and relaxed…you must have patience
  • Have your guest sit on the floor if necessary (less dominant position)
  • Allow the owner to address any over the top behavior

Phase 1: Treat Drop

  • Use high value rewards…have special treats used only for this process
  • Drop small treats on the ground as far away as necessary for the dog to take the treat
  • Don’t face the dog – no touch, no talk, and no eye contact
  • Slowly move treat drops closer to you
  • Continue until you see the “happy face”…anticipation and no hesitation taking the treat

Phase 2: Treat Offer

  • Offer a treat to your dog with an open hand and to the side
  • Don’t face the dog – no touch, no talk, and no eye contact
  • If the dog will not approach or take the treat, return to Phase 1
  • Continue until you see the “happy face”…anticipation and no hesitation taking the treat

Phase 3: Treat Offer and Interact

  • Offer a treat to the dog with an open hand
  • Make soft eye contact and speak a few soft words of praise in a calming manner
  • If the dog becomes nervous immediately look away…keep eye contact to a minimum
  • If the dog reacts to this phase or won’t approach, return to Phase 2 or Phase 1
  • Continue until you see the “happy face”…anticipation and no hesitation taking the treat

Phase 4: Treat Offer and Touch Chin

  • Offer a treat to the dog with an open hand
  • As the dog takes the treat, touch the dog on the chin…just a touch
  • Must come from below and pet on the chin…dog can see your hand and it is respectful
  • This may be an OMG moment for the dog
  • If the dog reacts to this phase or won’t approach, return to Phase 3, Phase 2 or Phase 1
  • Continue until you see the “happy face”…anticipation and no hesitation taking the treat

Phase 5: Treat Offer and Pet

  • Offer a treat to the dog with an open hand
  • As the dog takes the treat, touch the dog on the chin…start with a touch
  • Then see if you can scratch or pet the chin and chest area
  • Must come from below and pet on the chin…dog can see your hand and it is respectful
  • Move your petting around to see what the dog likes
  • If the dog reacts to this phase, return to Phase 4, Phase 3, Phase 2 or Phase 1
  • Continue until you see the “happy face”…anticipation and no hesitation taking the treat

Have patience during this process…it is important to go at the dog’s pace and not your own pace.  You may not get through all of the phases in one training session but that is okay…what is important is that you do not go too fast or skip ahead too quickly.  The idea here is to desensitize and counter-condition your dog’s response to meeting strangers.  If everyone your dog meets follows this process, your dog will begin to trust people and will start to have a different reaction when meeting strangers.  Be sure to not feel bad or sorry for your dog being nervous or timid…you must have faith and patience in the process.  Soon, you will see great improvements in your dog’s reaction to unknown people.

This post was written by Adam Miller of Big Dog Canine Behavioral Training. For more information or to learn how Adam can help with your dog needs, contact him at bigdogcbt@gmail.com.