Show 73:How to Help a Fearful Dog: You Control The Fearful Energy

If you’re eager to know how to help fearful dogs, I know where you’re coming from. Fearful dogs are exhausted. You can read their exhaustion through their habits and body language: they can’t easily sleep, they’re reactive, and they’re triggered by the littlest things. If you own a dog that is highly fearful, you already know telling them “Please, calm down” doesn’t work. So what do you do as a dog owner to truly pacify your dog’s fears? I’m sharing an IMPORTANT dog trainer tip I’ve learned through the years. Read on to learn more. Key Takeaways: If you want to know what causes dog fears, it’s important to check your fears as well. You can directly influence your dog’s reaction to things! Helping fearful dogs overcome their fears starts with letting them see our calm, confident, unfazed energy. When we don’t give attention to things that worry them, it sends a message that they can ignore it, too. Becoming the pack leader is an important ingredients to stopping fearful dogs from becoming more stressed! RAISE CALMER DOGS, BRAVER DOGS WITH THE DOG CALMING CODE! Table of Contents: Dog Owners and Dog Fears: The Story of the Woman with a Reactive Dog How to Help Fearful Dogs: The #1 Reason For Your Dog’s Fearful Energy Helping Fearful Dogs: Other Reasons Why Dogs Are Afraid 10 Signs of a Fearful Dog How to Help Fearful Dogs at Home How to Help Fearful Dogs Outdoors Dog Calming Code: Helping Fearful Dogs Become Calmer and More Confident     Dog Owners and Dog Fears: The Story of the Woman with a Reactive Dog My heart is close to dogs struggling with fears and anxiety. So when a lady told me that she had a problem with her reactive dog, I recommended a consultation. When I met them, I couldn’t sense any agitated energy in her dog. So we started rolling the camera to record the dog’s interactions as part of the consultation. (And boy, I’m sure glad we did!) When I asked them to walk, the dog was chill… until they had to walk past my dog. The woman’s dog snarled, barked, and poised to attack the other dog. That immediately made me wonder “What caused the change?” I knew the dog was reactive, but the way they shifted from calm to aggressive caught my attention. We decided to review the tapes to see what caused the change. And the moment I saw it, I immediately knew the exact reason. During the walk, both owner and dog carried a happy, calm energy. When the dog had to walk past my dog, the owner did a slight, almost unnoticeable tug on the leash. A gesture that meant “Hey, there’s a dog and I’m quite worried with what you’re going to do. Don’t come near him.” And the dog immediately thought “Oh, so that dog is danger!” The reasonable next step is for the dog to react to the threat — it was their way of protecting their owner from something they think is scary. WHAT MAKES BETTER, CALMER DOGS? THE DOG CALMING CODE IS THE ANSWER! CHECK IT OUT HERE. How to Help Fearful Dogs: The #1 Reason For Your Dog’s Fearful Energy I'm about to share a game-changing secret from my experience as a top dog trainer. When it comes to helping fearful dogs: your energy matters more than you might think. Now, let's dig deeper with a few questions: Have you ever noticed that your fears influence your dog’s fears? Do you observe your dog getting more fearful when you’re also feeling anxious or worried? Has your dog shown fear toward things THAT SECRETLY SCARE you? If you find yourself answering “yes” to all these questions, it’s time to understand a fundamental principle: “Energy Flows Where Your Attention Goes.” What does this mean, exactly? It means that if you're focused on things that trigger either YOUR fears or YOUR DOG'S fears, there's a good chance your dog will start to fear those things too. Let me illustrate this with an example: Think back to the woman I mentioned earlier. When she paid no mind to my dog, her dog remained calm and unbothered. But the moment she started to react with worry, her dog sensed that worry and began d