Dealing with fears Busting the myths 5
Fears are never easy to deal with. And what makes it even harder is tons of wrong advices out there... One is to take the dog right back to have him see it’s not actually scary… Another one is to ignore the dog's fear and pretend nothing happened. But how would you feel if you feared something and couldn't talk about it to your best friend who would act happily and ignore your fears? Wouldn't it make you feel better if the friend listened to you carefully, offer support and try to help you out of scary situation if at all possible?
When something scary happens, most people are instructed to immediately take the dog back to make him see it’s actually not scary. But it IS scary. Once the dog gets scared, he is not in a perfect emotional state to see things aren’t scary. That’s much easier when you’re not scared already. I hear you saying: but, I did exactly that and my dog was just fine. Of course he was. Most confident dogs without fear issues can easily be handled that way and they will do just fine. When something bad happens in agility ring, like crashing into a tire or falling off the dog-walk, it’s usually the handler who gets scared the dog got scared, but most dogs are in so much drive when they run that they don’t even realize they crashed into a tire or fell off of a dog walk even if it’s really bad as they don’t feel the pain with all the adrenaline rush just yet. So yes, they will be fine even if you take them back immediately. I did that with my Samoyed and he was fine. I could easily do that with La and Le and definitely Bi - who cares. But Lo and Bu… - Yeah right!
Ignore their fears? Or recognize it, respect it and earn their trust.
When something scary happens, it doesn’t matter what I do for La, Bi or Le - they will be perfectly happy to do it again. However, when speaking about fearful dogs, like Lo and Bu, I learned an important lesson: if they get scared, they get in an emotional state that doesn’t allow them to see things are actually not scary and asking them to immediately go back into the situation that scared them was ALWAYS a bad idea, despite I was always shaping it (clicking for approaching the object, rewarding away from it to let them escape from it, not asking for more as they offered on their own etc.). The longer and more patiently I worked on it, the longer they were rehearsing what just happened. So I learned to not even check if the dog is o.k. right away: but immediately start a party, make the dog extra busy with her favorite tricks, do some tunnels with Bu and keep her as busy and as much in movement as possible. I then avoid the scary situation/obstacle for a while and after a couple of weeks, try it again. After a couple of weeks, things don’t look so scary anymore AND as the dog never had the time to rethink what happened, they’re usually perfectly fine with it.
I handle scary situations the same way. I used to think that the best way to make Bu feel confident in trials is to keep her with me, make her see it’s not scary. But it IS scary for her. So what works best for her is to respect her fear, keep her away from a scary situation in a safe place (preferably a car) and then bring her in in the very last moment, keeping her busy with tricks to not give her time to notice all the scary things around her, run the course and then run directly out of the ring back to the car to party. She knows the routine, she knows I won’t be asking her to be comfortable with dogs barking around her or interfere with them, she knows to just do our run, in the safety of the ring, away from other dogs, and go right back - and she is fine with that.
It was the same with Lo. I first tried to get her happy to interact with people, giving them treats and asking them to give her treats. It didn’t help. It only put her in conflict as she wanted that treat, but didn’t want to have anything with that person. When I gave up doing it, she was so happy that she could simply ignore everybody and couldn’t care less about their presence! - But would start to bark anytime somebody would want to give her a treat for the rest of her life!
Finally, I learned to respect their fears, to earn trust that I would never ask something unsafe from them and make sure they know they can feel safe with me. My favorite way to socialize my puppies now is to take them to as many places as possible, but mostly keep them in a sherpa bag so that they can observe the world from a safe place and only let them out if they feel confident about it. The world looks so much nicer when you’re not scared!
You don’t need them be able to face their fears. You just need them to be able to focus on something else. The better toy drive you have, the easier that will be, so your time is definitely better spent working on drive as pushing them into scary situations. Drive is fears’ biggest enemy. With Lo, it worked like a charm. It was very easy to get her to “stress up” rather as “stress down” and I actually got better speed and performance the scarier environment was for her – she would just go in more drive as an escape from it.
With Bu, it was not as easy as she hasn’t got the drive either… - Not an easy combination… But fortunately, she has her little obsessions that make her happy and excited: like going for a walk, getting a dinner, playing a stupid “ready-steady-go” game with Bi (running full out into nothing) – and tunnels of course. I took advantage of things she loves to put that excitement on cue. I noticed that when she is excited, her front feet will bounce off the ground in anticipation – so I made up a trick out of it and took it all the way from small bounces to big happy bounces in the air, named it and then took it on the road to put her in a happy mode when necessary. Bu’s happy tricks allow me to make her happy in any situation and by now, she can run in big noisy trials just as good as she does in my backyard.
Bu's happy trick
Feelings are, to some degree, automatic. Many researches shows that body posture and facial expressions in people, even if forced (ie. people in experiments were asked to nod or smile or stand in particular way), have impact on our feelings. Wells and Petty (1980) research showed that nodding the head (as in agreement) while listening to persuasive messages led to more positive attitudes toward the message content than shaking the head (as in disagreement). Cacioppo, Priester, and Berntson (1993) observed that novel Chinese ideographs presented during arm flexion (an action associated with approach) were evaluated more favorably than ideographs presented during arm extension (an action associated with avoidance). Duclos et al. (1989) asked participants to adopt various body positions associated nonobviously with fear, anger, and sadness and found that these postural states modulated experienced affect. Strack, Martin, and Stepper (1988) study showed that success at an achievement task led to greater feelings of pride if it was received in an upright position rather than in slumped posture. In the same research, they unobtrusively facilitated or inhibited the contraction of the zygomaticus (smiling) muscle by asking participants to hold a pen in their mouth while they evaluated cartoons. It showed that if you hold a pencil between your teeth, forcing your mouth into the shape of a smile, you'll find the same cartoon funnier than if you hold the pencil pointing forward, by pursing your lips round it in a frown-inducing way. In short: with lips forced into a smile, world automatically looked better to participants of those experiments.
I observed the same with dogs. You can try it: observe what your dog does when happy (barks, spins, jumps up?), make a trick out of it, put it on cue and then tell the unhappy dog to do those behaviors that normally express happiness - and you’ll immediately get a happier dog! It did wonders for my worried Bu and allowed me to put her in a happy mode in whatever situation. She will bounce back immediately from a stressful situation now, by help of her happy tricks. Barking, spinning and jumping up are certainly “must have” tricks in every unconfident dog’s tool bag!
Silvia Trkman has started agility in 1992 with a Samoyed. She is a 16-time National Champion of Slovenia (with 5 different dogs of 3 different breeds), 14-time World Team member, mostly with two dogs at the time (last time 3), 3-time EO winner and 2-time World Champion. You can contact her through her website www.lolabuland.com
Also see:
Busting the myths 1: Let your weakness be your strength
Busting the myths 2: Set your goals??? - Or just enjoy the moment?
Busting the myths 3: Too slow for your dog?
Busting the myths 4: You can talk, you can smile, you can have fun!
coming soon: Ending a session on a good note???
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One of my favorites!!!! I definitely learned some of these things with Spur -- the hard way. One of his favorite things is saying HI to people. Such a friendly little dog, so after his teeter crash I tried to help him with food and toys and he tried, but was still obviously in that scared state. We just quit for a while and then I thought what makes him happy??? Greeting friends!!!!! So, I ended up removing myself and having his friends ask him to do the teeter. It brought the fun back into it!!!! I had to drive all over the place, sometimes an hour away to find teeters and friends to help. But, it worked. He blamed me for the scare, so by showing him his friends were proud of him for doing the teeter made him happy! I very slowly brought me back into the picture. It was a hard lesson for me to learn because it made me feel so bad that He wouldn’t let me help him, but he would let friends help. I had to swallow my pride and do what he needed.
That was a good example yes and definitely a very good idea to help him get over it!
Very cool idea Amy, love how you helped Spur overcome his fear!
Thanks Silvia 🙂
I watched your videos on youtube of your runs and was like “that’s who I want to handle like and how I want my dogs to run!” My italian greyhound is doing so much better following your ideas! I hope to purchase all your videos and maybe join your classes. Thank you so much for sharing your training with us!
Thanks! Always happy to hear the good news -- so cool your italian greyhound loves this training approach too!!!
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! Such a great article!
Hi Silvia !
I read this topic with lot of attention.
First because my first agility dog Attila had many many fears with agility obstacles ( see-saw because of noise and balance, dark tunnel, soft tunnel not easy to push, fire because of hind legs chock, big dogs barking near ring, bad sound system including feedback noise … ) and it took 6 month to a year for each to try to solve of them.
Second because my actual problem with Garlic fears in trail ring. Yesterday I had a new trail since last one in September. I was more confident with all new environment training we had done before. Our last thursday training was fine and 3 runs without any fears.
But Sunday trail, fears are back. There were two rings, first one more anxiety place with many tents, people and dogs all around.
The second without tents around. I’ll describe runs on this second ring first. As soons as I enter the sas and remove the leash, Garlic’s attitude changes and she was abnormally hard to motivate or execute any tricks. For the first run, Garlic was not focussed on me and don’t respond to my cues till I am disq and I can use a noisy ball so the fun game can start. For the second run, when I asked her to come with me and I enter the ring, she stay blocked in sitting position in the sas. The djuge authorised me to take her im my arm and place sitting in front of first obstacle. Same attitude, Garlic stay and don’t respond to any cues, then finally starts executing all very slowly without her normal enthousiam till I can be disq and use the noisy ball so fun play can start.
Again I receiced a tons of (wrong) advices. But help from a friend girl and competitor that has 3 PRTs and feels that Garlic has fears in this environment. The two runs on the second more disturbed ring was the worst. As soon as I we exit from ring, Garlic is again ready and focussed for any heeling or tricks …
To be honest, I don’t think Garlic problem is fear -- or she would be fearful also outside a ring and also when you have a squeaky ball. I still think her problem is she doesn’t find agility as such fun enough -- possibly because jumping is so hard for her. I think you know what the problem is as well as you describe it well in this sentence: “Garlic was not focussed on me and don’t respond to my cues till I am disq and I can use a noisy ball so the fun game can start”. The fun game start when the ball comes out and before it’s not so much fun for her -- probably because jumping is too hard. The only other option I see is that you are different if you see it that way as well? For me, the fun game starts with a warm up and ends after a cool off -- NOT after I’m disq! Being disq or not doesn’t change my attitude at all, but it sounds like it does change yours -- so maybe it’s your attitude that makes it less fun before the disq? It’s either that or lack of motivation -- but certainly not fears. You cant bribe fears with a ball.
Hi Silvia !
I am a little reassured that you “don’t think Garlic problem is fear”. Last Thursday trainning in another place ( 4 runs ) plus Sunday trail, people said I’m asking too much and I’m overdoing with that tricks, etc… But today trainning in another place ( 2 runs ) proof me they are wrong. Because Garlic had fun with agility trainning last Thursday and today too.
I don’t believe that your first option is the reason because it has no impact on motivation during trainning ( her pb with extension jump ). I will post an update video with our progress with jump grid, but Garlic has fun with this trainning.
Your second option appear to me perfectly exact. I think my attitude change radically before a run in trail. I feels always that I’m not ready, I feel bad waiting between other teams before the sas and when it’s my turn to enter the sas, I feel that I am not ready in time -- it’s hard for me to keep Garlic active and focus on me. I feel not happy and not ready till the start line. So the game can’t start before … I can re-establish Garlic focus and switch in fun game mode.
Yes, it could certainly be your attitude. I can imagine you get a bit tense and worried since she has a history of leaving the ring… -- but it’s really important you focus on the fun, relax and really enjoy the run right from the start to help her enjoy it just as much.
Hi Sylvia,
While I don’t run my dogs in agility I have followed you for many years for trick training, building drive and now for handling a dog with fears. My dog Joey is an ACD, we play freestyle frisbee together and I’ve been trying everything I can think of to keep him engaged when on the comp field. Our season is over so I have time to work on Keeping him in drive and doing his happy dance as you describe in this post. I think this just might be the answer I’m looking for and, it will probably look like part of the routine!
Oh yes, that’s great you can do your own routine, mixing in lots of happy tricks! Wishing you lots of fun with Joey!
I read your article and it is great! My dog is refusing to do the tire, only in competition. I had no idea, I never saw it coming, but he developed a fear of the tire. He is fine in training and will do it, even offer it, and gets big rewards for it. But in competition he will refuse the tire, especially if I am far from it (we do lots of distance work as I have hip issues) and ask him to do it. He had a couple of bad experiences with it at trials, the last one 2 months ago. And I never made a big deal of it. But he is a “soft” dog and now I am at an impasse as to what to do. Also, after doing the tire in competition, he will lose confidence and stutter step (his eyes have been checked and are ok). I have cancelled our future trials for the next months, and I am thinking of taking a break from agility to see if it helps. Do you have any suggestions on what to do? Thank you!
Yes, I would give him a little break from trials and meantime train tire in situations that are hard for him in training, rewarding them heavily. Also take your tire to new places (like parks etc.) and train it there + try to go train to different clubs that have different tire designs.
Hi Silvia
You always have the best advice 😉 Love following your agility journey & life with your dogs.
I am curious if you had any problems with Bu & Lo when they were youngsters & started to compete in trials – meaning that were there ever times that they were so stressed that they would suddenly run past jumps, stop and stare into crowd/other dogs, missed weave entries, run past weaves or stop on top of contacts because they were scared?
Sorry for this long post …
My young dog (14 months) was recently attacked unexpectedly by a older dog at a agility seminar , it was VERY dramatic for her as she got such a big fright (she was all happy tugging on her lead and this dog came out of nowhere and attacked/ jerked her leg from behind). She was totally freaked out (she literally pooped herself when it happened) & I was also very emotional which obviously didn’t help the situation (I tried not to be but the tears just wouldn’t stop running down my face). We immediately after incident tried all positive things away from the agility arena like playing and walking with dogs she knows but she was scared and just wanted to be in her crate or close to my legs, obviously she wasn’t in a emotional state to enjoy the things that make her happy at that moment.
Since the incident happened three months ago I try to make her experience as good as possible at trials but I can still see she is stressed. She is not old enough to compete yet but I do take her with and do little exercises and tricks away from the rings but as soon as she sees dogs that she doesn’t know she will stop and stare and cant focus on anything I ask of her because she is fearing the other dog, when that dog comes close and she sees it’s a friendly dog she will engage back in a game of play etc. It makes it really difficult as I am at the stage where I need to proof her weaves in different locations with distractions, she would just run past entries or stop and stare in fear. Should I go much further away from the rings where there are no other dogs and slowly progress closer? She is MUCH less stressed and almost her normal crazy self on a field or beach with other unknown dogs around. Its like she has made a bad connection with dogs/agility/fear all together.
She has no motivational issues, I love her drive & craziness. It really breaks my heart to see her in this fear state of mind at a trial with so many dogs around when I know she is a puppy who loves running, playing and being happy. I have started to follow your advice in your article, I really hope I will see a improvement, I don’t mind if it takes a long time.
Have a good Xmas & Happy New Year
Greetings
S x
So sorry to hear about what happened to your dog… I hate irresponsible dog owners who don’t have dogs like this under control… The same thing happened to To, THREE times -- she a kind of attracts dog attacks somehow 🙁 She just ran away, jumped in a first car that was open and just wanted to go to her crate… 🙁 I just gave her something to chew on and let her stay in a crate… But she started to get really worried at trials in general after it happened the third time and wouldn’t come out of a crate at all anymore… I let the doors open and play with another of my dogs next to a car and if she came out, I kept her busy with tricks, but let her jump back into a crate if she wanted. She was soon back to normal around the car, so we started to move away gradually and always in a company of another of my dogs to give her confidence. That really helped and she is back to normal happy herself at trials, but I sure keep an eye on all the dogs around all the time…
I don’t remember Lo ever stopping in a trial, but that was long time ago (1998), so maybe I forgot… I know Bu did stop once, at indoor trial where Malinois was starting after us -- she was attacked by one on agility field when she was a young dog too and feared them for years after… She stopped after 2nd obstacle and started to look around. I immediately gave her tunnel cue and ran to the 1st tunnel as she loves tunnels and that helped her forget and she actually finished the run perfectly o.k. It never happened again in a trial, but she would occasionally stop working at the club where the attack happened for more as a year after attack… She has no such problems anymore, so I’m sure your dog will be fine as well, but it can sure take time and patience… Not much to do other as try to assure many positive experiences and keep working on her confidence away from dogs that might scare her… So make everything much easier again, so she can succeed and you have plenty to reward.
THANK YOU Silvia!
I have a young American Eskimo who I am training in both conformation and obedience. She’s 8 months old. I’ve been slowly introducing her to the world, and she does great in obedience classes, informal settings like the park, anywhere I can think of to get her used to the world. But as soon as we go in a conformation setting (classes, matches, a show) she freezes up and gets scared. Part of it is when another handler and dog follow us in the ring. I’m not sure how to get her to ignore the dogs behind her and just pay attention to me. She is a smart, pretty little girl but that fear is the one thing holding her back from competing (we entered one show and she was terrified).
Yes, conformation setting might be the hardest because you can’t keep her “in drive” like in obedience or even more agility where it’s easier for the dog to just run and forget about the environment. To stay relax and just trot is much harder, so work on it very gradually, definitely doing as many other fun and easy things you can in a group setting (agility, fly-ball etc.) -- and in confirmation classes, maybe ask for extra distance after her -- give her as much room as needed and allow other dogs closer only when she is comfortable with it. If you have a friend with a dog she likes, practice it with that dog first.