How dogs become fearful … let me count the ways
most dogs with aggressive behavior are afraid. They don't feel safe, and their behavior reflects an attempt to create safety for themselves.
However, Not all fear manifests as barking and lunging. A dog who hides is also attempting to create safety.
Why is my dog fearful?
It was surprising for me to learn as an Academy for Dog Trainers first-year student that being fearful is a default behavior in all animals, designed to keep them safe. In this, we’re no different from our canine companions.
Imagine you’re walking down a dark street to your car and see someone you can’t quite make out walking toward you. You’d likely slow down, and if they continued to approach, you might cross the street to avoid them. If they followed you across and increased their speed to reach you, you might turn and run, cross again, or charge them in an attempt to make them go away, with the goal of all these maneuvers to keep yourself safe by creating space from the unknown person (who might turn out to be a long-lost friend trying to catch up to you … the point is in that moment, they’re unknown and therefore a cause for fear).
Dogs engage in their own avoidance behaviors to help them survive
This dog is resource-guarding her toy and is afraid that the person approaching will remove it.
The snarling is a normal canine-specific communication to tell the approaching person to go away (to increase their distance from the dog and her item).
This dog’s reaction can be modified by a credentialed trainer who specializes in fearful behaviors.
Canine fear is an emotional state that can result in behaviors such as hiding, retreating, lunging, growling, snapping, and biting. Fearful behavior can be hardwired, acquired due to a frightening experience (as in the human example above), or both.
These "reactive" behaviors we see are most often because your dog is trying to create distance between itself and what it finds scary, either by chasing it away or hiding/running away from it.
Dogs acquire fear in one (or more) of 5 ways
1. Through genetics.
Breeding fearful adult dogs can result in fearful puppies. An adult dog might be fearful because of her own genetics or because of a horrendous living situation, such as being in a puppy mill (or both).
2. From a mother who is in a constant state of stress.
Studies show that stressed mother dogs (such as those in a puppy mill) can instill fear in utero through elevated stress hormones.
3. From a mother who is fearful.
Once puppies are born, their mother’s stressed, fearful behavior can cause the pups to become fearful as well.
4. Lack of early socialization.
Socialization is more than having new people pet your pup. It's exposure to new environments, a variety of surfaces, people in hoodies, hats, uniforms, and beards, people with umbrellas and walkers, and so much more, all paired with wonderful food treats to create lasting positive impressions. Puppies who don’t have these positive experiences before 16 weeks of age can develop a lifelong fear of these new and strange things. This fear can be harder to undo once the dog is past puppyhood.
Trainers like me saw this type of missing socialization a lot during and after COVID.
5. By having frightening experiences.
Sometimes it only takes one bad experience for a pup or dog to acquire a lifelong fear. For example, a dog who is grabbed harshly by the collar can develop a lifelong fear of hands approaching her face or body.
A booby-trap on a kitchen counter that startles your counter-surfing dog can have the unintended effect of ensuring your dog doesn't go in the kitchen ever again, for anything. This can backfire on you if, for instance, you have to take your dog through the kitchen to get to your car in the garage.
This is yet another reason it's so important to train only with rewards-based methods and to never use harsh corrections or painful tools with a dog.
How to help your dog
There are so many ways our dogs can become afraid of things in this world, and fortunately, we can help.
1. Work with a credentialed, rewards-based trainer who specializes in dogs with fearful, reactive behaviors.
Can't find one near you? Many of my Academy for Dog Trainers colleagues and I successfully work 100% remotely with clients who have dogs with Very Big Feelings.
Never, ever work with a trainer who uses a tool such as a shock, prong, or choke collar that hurts or frightens your dog. It doesn’t work and can create even more fear-based behavior problems for your dog. Canine “boot camps” that promise to turn around reactive or aggressive behavior are notorious for using painful tools to punish dogs when they express their fear.
2. Follow your trainer’s plan to a T.
You cannot "shortcut" your way through an expert training plan designed to help your dog get over her fears. For instance, if your trainer has recommended you avoid having new people meet your dog for now, there's a reason for that and forcing introductions before your dog is ready will not help her learn that new people are safe — which is your goal!
3. Discuss anti-anxiety medication with your veterinarian.
Your trainer may recommend you consult with a vet because prescribed anti-anxiety medication can support the training you're doing to change your dog's emotional response to things she finds fearful.
4. Don’t purposely expose your dog to her fears.
In dog training this is called "flooding" and it's often recommended by hack "trainers" who have no educational background in applied animal behavior or learning theory. It doesn't work, can make things much worse, and is inhumane.
5. Tune into your dog’s body language, especially subtle fear signals.
I often coach my clients on their dogs' unique body language. Long before your dog lunges towards a stranger to try to chase them away, he's likely exhibiting physical signs that indicates he's uncomfortable.
Such signals can include licking his lips when there's no food present, turning his head away but keeping his eyes on the scary thing (you may see the whites of his eyes and we call this "whale eye"), pushing back stiffly from the front legs, and a high, stiff tail wag.
Knowing what is normal for your dog is the first step to seeing those subtle signs. The body language gallery at I Speak Dog is a great resource.
“Janice was a great help to us over 4 sessions working to understand & improve the “very big feelings” in our 2.5 year old rescue with recently onset anxiety and random aggression issues. She is organized, observant and realistic. Janice has equipped us with great skills to help make her a less reactionary, more responsible 4-legged neighbor as well as resources when there’s no single, straight-forward ‘cure’.”