Dealing With Dog Anxiety - What It Looks Like & What To Do

One challenge that can make dog training more difficult is working through dog anxiety. Training a worried dog can be a lot different than working with a dog who is more confident. In this video, we will chat with Instructor Christine, and we will look at some of the adjustments that she had to make in her training plan with her Sheltie named Atari. Sometimes, training your dog's skills needs to take a back seat to build their confidence. But it can be difficult to know exactly what that should look like. This video will help you make better choices in your dog training if you have a worried dog.

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Chapters:
00:00 Start
00:49 Intro
2:15 What Did Fearful Behaviour Look Like?
4:01 The Common Mistakes People Make
8:27 How To Build Confidence
13:14 What Does Life Look Like?
16:12 The Reward Of Working With A Worried Dog

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Thanks for watching,
Happy Training! ~Ken

[NecroMoz]

With my very noise phobic dog, I’ve found the best thing to do is praise her excessively the moment she starts to recover from a scare or if she ignores or acknowledged the sound without reaction. She is learning that just hearing the noise is a good thing and responding well. But it’s important that it needs to be cheerful and excitable praise and not like “aww hey it’s ok don’t be scared”. Ignoring it and setting an example for her doesn’t work because she is not focused on me at all when she does have a scare. If she starts pulling I get her to gently stop and make eye contact with me then I praise her and we walk away at a slow pace. I don’t want to flood her by forcing her to stay in range of the scary noise but she has to learn she can’t blindly panic and pull away. Now she’s starting to look to me for praise rather than panic and pull in fight or flight mode, and it’s doing wonders for her confidence

[maggieholt]

This is the best video I've seen re canine anxiety!! Thank you so much. I have (almost 2 years) an older dog (12?) rescued from a huge hoard (300?) that is extremely anxious. I've always felt that I had to adjust to a new dog before I could expect the dog to adjust to me. Without benefit of your knowledge, I came to a semblance of the requirements you discuss for my dog over the almost 2 years I've had him. My tiny house, my fenced yard, my car, and I are his safe places. My dog-loving neighbors recognize that also and respect his issues. Being older, he needs a little longer to realize who else has become safe: my brother, my daughter, certain neighbors. When I got him, he had a major dental issue that even my first vet didn't recognize soon enough. Correcting that issue at great expense started an ophthalmic issue (transient glaucoma) that we're still resolving. This poor guy has had his world turned upside down. I've also finally found a frozen raw food he loves. So at 83 I can say you can teach 2 old dogs new tricks. And with this video, you're giving me the determination to keep doing what works and give him the time and space he needs - and to work a little more diligently on some things. Again, my most sincere thanks!!!

[carolemuenzer]

Great video, I’ve watched and helped my dog become more confident. It’s such a reward to see our dogs come through for the win.

[jesse]

Wow, a lot of great information. I realize that with my somewhat anxious dog, I have been doing a few things wrong. Thanks for the tips guys!

[LemonMintStudio]

Thank you Christine and Steve. This video came at the perfect time. My newly adopted dog Zelda is EXACTLY like Atari, "shy", easily spooked, lacking confidence around other dogs and humans. She doesn't bark, now I know that her sign of being spooked is to run, sniff the ground, and become hyper focused on the object of fear.

Now when she encounters something new (a bike, a runner, another dog) I get her attention before we get too close, get her in the sit position and treat her, and just be very calm and hang out for a bit so she can get used to the new object. The progress is slow but observable. So far she has gotten over her fear of trash cans, fire hydrants, and doing her business in the park! I will watch this video again and try to use these techniques on Zelda. Thank you.

[anneahlert]

Atari is a Sheltie (Shetland Sheepdog). I have had three of them and spoken to a lot of other Sheltie owners.

ALL of these personality traits are VERY typical for a Sheltie. If you want to get a Sheltie, expect these behaviors and this way of thinking in a Sheltie.

They are sheepdogs, so they tend to stay near you, be aware of and nervous about sounds and sights that are "different, " will seemingly bark at non-existent or trivial things, and be leery of other dogs. Shelties tend to take much more quickly to other Shelties than to other breeds, so if you have a Sheltie who is afraid of other dogs, start socializing by first being with other Shelties.

Shelties LOVE new learning. If you want to distract them, give them a new game or toy to discover.

Shelties also tend to "herd"-- sometimes children, sometimes other dogs. Not everyone understands or welcomes this. Shelties tend to NIP at buttocks or heels while "herding, " but this is NOT an aggressive or fearful behavior!! It is a HERDING behavior. They do NOT intend to draw blood or bite down. They wish to nip IN THE AIR near the person, the same way they would nip at a sheep that is not staying with the herd. Again, it is NOT aggression it fear-based.

Be sure to take your dog's BREED into account when addressing behaviors you wish to change.

[ittaparlene]

This was our Sheltie and we accepted and worked with him. He was a really intelligent, amazing obedient dog and much loved for the 13 years he was with us - until cancer took him from us.

[KateMedland]

Thank you for your wonderful tips! My sheltie is pretty confident, but at times he exhibits these anxiety issues too. At 6 months, confidence and trust in me are so important. Knowing better ways to approach his worries will help us as a team. Thanks again!

[drewb]

I have watched many, many McCann videos and this has been one of the best! Recognising signs of distress and seeing how a great trainer works through them - or around them - is just fantastic.

[TheKrisKing]

This applies a lot to my more fearful, anxious Sheltie. Thanks for making this video. I’ve learned a lot of this over the 5 years we’ve been together, she was my first dog and it’s been hard but very rewarding and we are quite bonded.

[hdee]

This is so great. I wish McCann would post a few more videos around this topic since it's so huge and has so many different aspects. I wouldn't call our pup anxious, except in a few specific scenarios; however, she is definitely hypersensitive and easily overstimulated. It's like trait sensitivity vs state anxiety, if that makes sense and comes with so many different training challenges, especially when she's in any new scenario. Sometimes it's like she's fighting herself. She'll be desperate to play and over-excited but equally fearful of the new dog/person and be ripping around, spook-barking, and play-bowing… and then she'll freak out and hide when the other dog approaches her. Very hard to get through and help her have positive interactions that can build her confidence.

[ceej]

This video has taught me a lot. I was making a lot of these mistakes thinking I'm doing the best for my rescued GSD. I'm going to begin putting these training tips in place so she has the best life. Thanks again!

[jenniferlavers]

I have a sheltie puppy who gets spooked easily. So this is very helpful thank you! As you said there are many people that want to pet her because she’s so cute.. it does make avoidance harder sometimes. Much easier when people don’t pay attention to her. Maybe I should make a sign “please ignore the dog, your attention is not wanted”? 🤔

[kathrynscheu]

Very interesting video, there aren't as many videos on fearful dogs as there are for hyperactive or aggressive dogs. I have a fearful dog, but she doesn't flee from the situation, she shuts down or pancakes, I would love to see a video on how to deal with that.

[marklambert]

This was a very helpful and supportive video. I needed it right now. My puppy is 6 months and is absolutely amazing when we are training in the backyard but she ‘spook’ barks or ‘greet barks’ at dogs and people that pass on the street when out on a walk. We start our Life Skills program next month so I hope that will help to build trust between us. Thanks for everything!

[donnaallgaier-lamberti]

This was very interesting and pertinent to me, thank you. I rescued a one-year-old Lab/Terrier 6 months ago. She had spent her first year in a cage, in a kennel in a warehouse for her entire first year. She is loving/friendly to me and my husband. But she is also very anxious and easily over stimulated. as well as HIGH energy. We started walking her a LOT to burn that energy like we did our other dogs. But that backfired on us as she just got more hyper aware and crazy and exhausted while lacking confidence, trusting or feeling safe in her environment. She had never been in a car, gone up or down stairs, walked on a leash, or been around other dogs except in her crate. She has never been close to loud vehicles, trucks hauling boats, loud dump trucks or plows. She does NOT like men or other dogs! I've learned that she does best in a quiet house with me alone, a solid routine and lots of opportunity to choose to rest and sleep. Our biggest milestone came recently when my rescue Ginger began to go to the back bedroom (my bed) to sleep on her own. Previous to this she needed me there with her and she needed to be in my sight at all times. Ginger is about 16 months old now. Fortunately, she is VERY smart and had learned many necessary commands quickly but her personality is what is challenging. She has come a long way but we have a long way to go with outsiders. I hope you will do a program about an anxious or fearful dog that has super high energy and reacts with barking, growling, lunging out of fear. Thank you!

[rachael]

This was so helpful. Thank you! We picked the more “laid back” calm puppy due to having an autistic child and wanting a calmer dog for his sake. She has been amazing with our family but spooks more easily than other dogs I’ve had. She’s still only 11 weeks and we’ve had her for one week, so I’m so glad I saw this video while we are early in our training journey.

[anitaweakley]

Oh my goodness, your video has taught me that I am naturally a very good Mom! I'm not being neurotic or overly protective, but just a very good Mom instinctively. I'm not bragging at all!! I'm just pleasantly surprised. Thank you so much 💗

[alixlola]

So helpful! I adopted an anxious/fearful dog and I'm starting to pick up on her cues and this video gives me hope! Life is just different with an anxious dog. I'll watch it again for sure!

[CrazyBunnyGuy]

This was really helpful, thank you so much for sharing these experiences you had with Atari. We've just adopted a cute little black Void, one year old, she's a rescue dog and she has very strong anxiety and fear of people, mostly, and also pretty much any sudden noise. Loud noises are okay, but sudden changes, sudden noises spook her, and people, of course.

She's been with us for 5 days only and we're already noticing significant improvements in her body language. She's has warmed up to us almost completely, we're teaching her recall (by using the corridor method), and basic wait/stay for now. At home, she's energetic, cuddly, curious and just lovely.

Outside it's a different story. I've started scanning the environment instinctively for her benefit because if you can avoid potential problems, let's avoid them. But I also do want to desensitise her to certain benign situations so I pick battles for her. :) For example, if I see a calm dog walking off leash with just the dog's owner nearby and I judge the dog will behave, I let Dona approach, of course she immediately goes into submissive, tucked-tail mode, but she relaxes pretty quickly. She does show interest in other dogs, but is very shy. I also ask the person to please not talk or at least use soft voice while the dogs are doing their handshake thing.

Sometimes people are just too loud or their dogs are too energetic and people start pulling on their leashes which riles the dog right up, and Dona simply loses her composure so I try to avoid those things if at all possible...

It's not a smooth ride, but we're learning, this is our first dog ever. However, it's so rewarding coming back home from a walk with a new positive development in Dona's behaviour. She's making progress every single day; and I strongly believe she'll be able to handle most of those seemingly terrifying situations with our help, of course. I would count it as a win if one day I will be able to have her off leash and have her come back to me instead of submitting to fear. For now, she's on 5m training leash when we're alone outside, and on a much shorter leash when it's busy (although she prefers the longer leash regardless of the situation, she's much calmer if she feels she has some agency in the matter; but she does look up to us for guidance and direction. Mind, we only have her for 5 days so she's not totally there yet, but will be).