When working on fears that a dog has, can you damage trust by exposing a dog to them? My specific problem occurs during walks. Mainly at night, but sometimes during the day. Will keeping foward progress make him think you are making him go into scary situations? Should you stop til he gets comfortable and then move foward? Our bond is coming a long way here lately and I want to be careful and not damage it. When he gets weird on our walks, which is not every time, he starts pulling ahead on the leash. I'm hesitant to correct this because he is already kinda scared and I would like to be a place of comfort. Since I have been taking him to work, he is out seeing alot of new things and his behavior is getting better every day.(he used to go super crazy with excitment) I'm just not sure how to get him to trust me when he gets fearful and could use some help. Also, I don't coddle when he shows fearful behavior, but wonder if there is something I should be doing other than ignoring it.

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..... Should you stop til he gets comfortable and then move foward? ......he starts pulling ahead on the leash. .....

He pulls to change direction away from scary thing?

You don't mean serious fear, right? Just a little nervousness?

I wouldn't let him pull, I don't think, at all. Generally speaking, I'd act exactly as I would act if there were no scary thing (which there really isn't, right?), so as not to lend weight or attention or change in your behavior to what he is thinking might be scary.

What better reassurance than for his handler to act exactly as usual?

I'm talking about little temporary fears from something new or strange. A calm and low-voiced "It's fine --- heel" or other short and calm utterance from you might be good, and I'd want be sure it was my calm voice, just to say "I see it and it's fine."

I guess I'm saying that I'd rather not lend any weight to the thing he might be starting to worry about. Just -- on about our business in the usual way. That's the thing that will show him both that you are not making him go into anything you can't handle, and also that you are in charge (security).

But I think most here have handled such temporary nervous reactions, and it will be interesting to read various takes.

He is pulling towards it. I guess its not as bad as I thought cause at least he is investigating, but his tail is tucked tight. Its not real SERIOUS fear, but after one initial scare he doesn't look like he is enjoying himself anymore. Once we get back home its like nothing happened. I've even taken him back on the same walk 10 minutes later and everything will be cool. It's like it just comes out of left field, one day its there and the next its not.

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He is pulling towards it. I guess its not as bad as I thought cause at least he is investigating, but his tail is tucked tight. Its not real SERIOUS fear, but after one initial scare he doesn't look like he is enjoying himself anymore. Once we get back home its like nothing happened. I've even taken him back on the same walk 10 minutes later and everything will be cool. It's like it just comes out of left field, one day its there and the next its not.

Then acting just like normal and not soothing, etc. (as you already know) will be fine. I wouldn't let him pull. JMO!

Hi Michael!

I know Ed has a bunch of stuff on shy/fearful dogs. Also, Michael Tucker in his book "Dog Training Made Easy" has a section on dogs that show suspicion towards strange objects. (I used his technique when my dog's eyesight started to go & she would act up towards things that didn't bother her previously.) Basically, you make that you're really curious about this strange thing, "ooh, what's this? isn't it exciting? ooh, look at this..." in a really happy, exciting voice and just walk over to investigate & check it out. Then you go back to where the dog first showed signs of it bothering him & repeat the process. Keep repeating it until the dog doesn't act suspicious around this particular object. (Yeah, you'll feel a bit goofy walking back & forth ) Then continue on your walk...

Hope that helps! Let us know how yoou go with your training!

"Will keeping foward progress make him think you are making him go into scary situations? Should you stop til he gets comfortable and then move foward? "

He probably won't get comfortable until he investigates the unfamiliar "scary" thing so waiting for that moment probably won't work well, BUT any pulling on your part toward the thing would not be a good idea. Since your dog is the one pulling toward it, to me that's a good sign even if his tail is tucked, better than taking flight in the other direction (which can still be handled to eventually bring the dog back to the item).

"Its not real SERIOUS fear, but after one initial scare he doesn't look like he is enjoying himself anymore."

In this case, after letting the dog investigate and see there's no problem, I would do a small series of sits and downs near the item, to get his mind back on you, so to speak. That is reassuring to him, to do some obedience and get his mind off the item so he can enjoy the rest of the walk. It may not soothe him the first walk, but continue it on all walks and he'll get the picture.

I've done a combo of what Connie and Eva posted. My pup is only 4 mo old so we sometimes encounter unfamiliar things. Two days ago at a park there was an incredibly huge mound of black and orange trash bags and very large pieces of cardboard (didn't know one party could generate so much trash!). My pup started barking his head off and straining on the leash to get to it. I worked at keeping him by my side with a "walk" command while happily saying "let's go see", which he knows means "let's go see" <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />. I didn't change my pace to go slower, just stayed at same casual walking pace as before. We walked up to it, he sniffed all around it. I had him get on the huge cardboard which bent it, he thought that was fun, so I had him do it again. We went around the mound so he could see it from all sides. In my mind, I want him to conquer (if need be) and be neutral to those unfamiliar things, so I do what I can to encourage that. If conquering that thing means interaction with it (like stepping on the cardboard), then that's what we do.

Thank ya'll for the help. All we've really worked on as far as walking is to just leave a loose leash. I let him sniff and move around on what ever length I give him.(heel position while walking and the full 6' for sniffing around) Do you think it might help him a little if we started working on a heel command?

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Thank ya'll for the help. All we've really worked on as far as walking is to just leave a loose leash. I let him sniff and move around on what ever length I give him.(heel position while walking and the full 6' for sniffing around) Do you think it might help him a little if we started working on a heel command?

Well, for me, the pack leader leads.

I let my dogs off their casual heel ("casual heel" means no going ahead of me) a lot, with a signal of the leash and my voice ("OK!" for us), when they can have the length of the lead to sniff, etc. They don't lead. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Ever.

When they are released for doggy stuff, I am not walking.

Just what works for me.

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When they are released for doggy stuff, I am not walking.

That's what I meant. I should have clarified.

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...... I should have clarified.

No. Looking back, I see I was the unclear one! <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />