Fear is an emotion and therefore cannot be „amplified“.
Unfortunately, we usually misunderstand fear. It is an emotion that cannot simply be reinforced. Of course, fear can also get worse by reinforcing negative influences, but it remains an emotion. Of course, this emotion also results in behaviour, but it is not a specific behaviour; each individual has their own strategies that have proven successful in the past.
What do we actually mean by reinforcement? Assuming the dog is to go into the ’foot‘, the good behaviour is positively reinforced by a motivational reward. The dog sits to the left of the master, looks at him happily and receives a reward (reinforcer).
This means that the emotion of fear cannot be intensified, only negative influences can do this. But influences that are good for the dog cannot.
Attention from the master, such as lifting as comfort - good or bad?
If you find yourself in a situation that triggers anxiety, think carefully about what you are doing. You may be reinforcing the fear with your behaviour. In the rarest of cases, people succeed in making the right choice.
A small example: You are walking your dog in the park and have a large dog, for example. Now a person comes towards you with a small dog. What do you think will happen? In most cases, the owners know their dogs and small dogs quickly become frightened and start barking, stimulated by this emotion. Many owners have now unconsciously trained themselves to protect the dog from the big dog and take the little one in their arms. They also often talk to him nicely. This reinforces exactly the wrong thing. The small dog always learns to bark at larger dogs. This is further reinforced by the owner picking the dog up (he is then quickly rescued from the apparent ’danger zone‘ and praised for barking vigorously).
The right thing to do would be to move to the side and walk past each other in silence and ignoring each other.
The cause of the fear is the lack of socialisation
There are also other triggers for anxiety. Here, too, the right approach must be taken - what is good for one person may be bad for another. Many people stroke their dog in these situations or give the dog a good talking to. It can help, but it doesn't have to.
Why? It depends on how the dog feels about it. Some dogs find the touch relaxing, others are more bothered by it. The situation is similar with praising well. This only confuses the dog even more, as the human is actually praising well. Is he being praised because he is afraid? Petting and praising him would increase his excitement and worsen his fear.
Since dogs can't speak and actually learn by observing, there is another point: body language.
Avoid the following actions:
- Do not bend over your dog.
- Do not touch any painful parts of the body.
- Embracing/hugging is a restriction of freedom of movement.
- Lift up.
- React hectically.
- Stare into the eyes.
As always, there is no simple answer to the question: Does well-intentioned consoling make the fear worse?
Think carefully about your approach to comforting and how your dog feels about this endeavour. Comforting should reduce the excitement so that the fear is reduced.
You can help your dog with anxiety
The triggers for anxiety are absolutely diverse. As always, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. The strength of the fear varies and the ability of the carer to notice the triggers in the dog in good time differs from animal to animal.
It is only recognisable when something is good in anxiety-provoking situations. You need to be sensitive enough to recognise what is good for your dog. If you know the signs that signal fear, you can observe when your dog's fear subsides, namely when the physical signs diminish.
Clear signals such as shaking or accepting food can signal relaxation. When you touch him, you can feel your dog's heartbeat. Is it slowing down? That's great. Then you're on the right track!
Not everything that comforts us humans also comforts a dog. Anyone who understands this is on the right track. Critically scrutinising yourself, observing closely instead of interpreting is just as important. Because all too quickly we interpret human feelings into the behaviour instead of noticing the changes through precise description. Do the changes reduce anxiety?
Make use of help yourself
Are you unsure and tend to seek help with anxiety? Have the courage to break through the problem behaviour with us. Let us look at the problem behaviour with different eyes and carry out a behavioural analysis. By thoroughly analysing all the factors, we can then work much more precisely on the anxiety triggers.
In many cases, the fear can be trained away very quickly through the controlled use of fear triggers. If this is not possible, an attempt should be made to experience the triggers at a great distance so that the dog cannot be overwhelmed by its fear. If the fear is too present, learning is not possible in the sense of reducing fear. Well-trained trainers can help you with this.
Stay calm and relaxed yourself
This is probably the most difficult part of the training. As the carer of a dog with a severe anxiety problem, you can't just stand there „completely relaxed“ and watch your dog go crazy with fear. You are automatically emotionally involved and suffer along with the dog.
Background stress also affects us humans! If we already know that our dog will not react „normally“ in certain situations, we feel restricted and stressed even before we experience the situation. But we humans have an advantage over the dog. We can think or reflect on the situation and our feelings and come up with a new course of action. We can even replay it in our minds and practise it.
Knowing what you can do helps
You stay much calmer when you know what you can do. To reduce fear, we usually add good things, such as good treats. To do this, the strength of the stimulus must be as low as possible so that eating becomes possible! Only such situational exercises will make you feel more comfortable. You will realise what he needs and what you can do and your dog will be able to accept this. You will be connected again, you will have communication and everything will change.
Of course, this also works the other way round. The triggering stimulus disappears or you increase the distance to the anxiety trigger. A greater distance has a rewarding effect, logically. With this approach, you allow your dog to experience that the threat no longer comes close. This reduces the fear trigger and relaxes your dog during further exercises. However, this only works if the stimulus is not too strong.
A dog with fear should always be well secured
If you have a dog that has chosen flight as a strategy, you should ensure that the dog is always secured with a safety harness and kept on a lead. In panic or fear, the brain simply switches off and only fear guides the dog. As a result, the most impossible things happen and your dog would not find its way back to you if it escaped. In addition, our environment is not conducive to an escape. In most cases, there are roads or other dangerous places for your dog. This also increases the risk of injury.
Dogs with noise anxiety are the worst affected. This could occur at any time and anywhere. Once you have identified such a problem, you are already one step closer to solving it. Go to a neutral place and introduce your dog to the problem in very small steps until the dog no longer notices it. Now increase the intensity again and help your dog to cope with it together with you (increase the distance or cover your ears...). This is also a good example of the multitude of possibilities that you have to find and develop individually for each dog.
What helps you in the short term in everyday life?
In everyday life, a fear situation can occur quickly, so think of 1 to 3 exercises that your dog can do safely and that he is happy to do. Use these in a fearful situation to distract your dog from the threatening situation and then leave this place of fear immediately. By distracting him with the command \’Sit\‘, for example, you get him into a safe environment and you can easily avert the fear. However, this only works if the stimulus is not too strong.
