The experience of fear is an innate behaviour built into dogs to enhance their ability to survive in situations where there may be danger. Fearful behaviour can be managed through desensitisation, habituation and socialisation. It is ok for your dog to experience fear, the most important thing is to manage it correctly to avoid problems going forward. Your dog will look to you for guidance and cues that will dictate how they will manage their behaviour in response to their fear reaction upon future exposure to the trigger. Throughout your dogs life it is of vital importance that you demonstrate strong leadership. In times past there were those that interpreted this as performing the role of the alpha, or dominating your dogs behaviour with a mix of negative and positive reinforcement. This is DEFINITELY not the case. Your dog’s perception of a strong leader is that which solicits calm, sets boundaries and manages stressful situations in a controlled manner. Punishing fearful behaviours only serves to enhance the negative experience for your dog and perpetuate the fear response. In addition, if a dog feels that it is unable to enact a passive response to the fear as a result of this it will be forced to confront the fear itself and display aggression. This would be the dog’s last resort.
Fight or flight…….not just a catchy phrase
Upon experiencing fear/stress your dog’s physiological and behavioural response will enable the fight or flight decision to be made. This involves preparing the body for physical activity. There is increased activity in the autonomic nervous system and corticosteroids are released. Both of these responses increase blood flow and oxygen supply to the musculoskeletal system, increase the availability of energy within the cells and decrease blood supply to secondary systems such as digestion. This physiological state is not intended to remain for extended periods of time as it has been shown that extended periods within this state cause both illness and in extreme cases death.
In most situations in the wild, animals have the option to run and escape, and therefore alleviate the situation, so it is really really important that you facilitate this behaviour for your dog, or remove the stressor if possible in the first instance.
So, how do we prevent fearful behaviour escalating? The first thing required is an understanding of how to identify the behaviours in the first instance. Below is a brief summary of some of the things that you need to be looking out for.
Look Away/ Avoidance
- Your dog may avoid eye contact with that which is making them feel uncomfortable. Increasing to physically moving their head, body position away.
- - ears back, flat to head
- Tail between legs.
- Lip licking and yawning
- Furrowed brow, eye whites
- Low body posture, slow movement
- Panting, creeping, retreat
Freeze
- Your dog becomes still and rigid with stiffened muscles.
- They will lock their focus on the trigger
- - erect ears
- Can escalate to “learned hopelessness”
Excitement
- Corticosteroids and the fight or flight response as mentioned above can stimulate and overexcited response in your dog as they are the same hormones that regulate the body during exercise and other activities where a heightened physiological response is required.
- Pricked ears, dilated pupils, trembling, whining, barking
- Your dog may urinate or empty its bowels
- Restlessness, pacing, heightened startle response.
- Running back and forth.
Displacement Behaviour
- This is behaviour that does not seem to have any relevance to the situation in which your dog finds itself. For instance they may grab and destroy a toy, chew a piece of furniture, shake an item (as though it were prey)
- Self harm, such as chewing their leg.
Aggression
- Your dog perceives that it is unable to escape, the stressor is either not removed or escalates (trigger stacking is when a series of activities builds the dogs reaction to an inevitable presentation of a stressor)
- Your dog growls, barks/snarls, bites.
Stereotypical Behaviour
- This is present after prolonged exposure to stress and a fear trigger. It is often repetitive such as pacing, head shaking, licking, chewing. These behaviours are usually expressed when the dog’s welfare is seriously compromised and most common in situations where they are unable to express normal behaviour and/or escape from the stressor.
It is important as dog parents that we identify the cause of the stress and fearful behaviour before it leads to an escalation. Dogs must be provided with a “safe haven” and escape route that allows them to adjust their own behaviour in response to the fear without climbing the fear ladder. It is only then, when their physiological state calms that any form of training, socialising and habituation should take place.
For everyday learning and reassurance this is something that you should already have built into your socialisation plan, however if you require help, guidance or support I am here to help!
I can help you build a socialisation and training plan to alleviate any of the responses above.
Call me for help on 07359 156 241 or email victoria.elsmore@icloud.com
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