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Key points
- Chronic exposure to fear diminishes a dog's quality of life and can manifest in behaviors humans find challenging.
- Unwinding fear and helping a dog feel safe can be a complex and time-intensive process.
- If you have a fearful dog, you might consider consulting with a canine fear abatement expert.
In this popular YouTube clip, a German Shepherd quietly sits on the couch when a giant T-Rex lumbers into the room. Not surprisingly, the dog is terrified and flees the room, then peeks around the corner and barks at the intruder. The skit is clearly an orchestrated encounter to be recorded and posted to social media.
Although the point of the video is to make people chuckle and to gather clicks as the clip is re-posted for friends, fear is not actually funny. Indeed, fear is one of the most under-acknowledged welfare problems for companion dogs living in our homes and neighborhoods. Fear is a natural response to threatening stimuli. But too much fear or fear experienced over extended periods not only diminishes the quality of life but can manifest in behaviors that human companions of dogs find troubling.
Behavioral issues in dogs can be complex, and compassionate response often involves nuanced, long-term interventions with the help of behavior professionals specializing in certain behavioral challenges. For example, we now have trainers specializing in separation anxiety and aggression. We also need trainers who specialize in fear.
Rain Jordan, a certified canine behavior professional, has made it her mission to increase understanding of fear in dogs and help prepare dog trainers and behavior consultants, shelter workers, veterinary staff, private dog parents, and others to best provide help for fearful dogs. I talked to Jordan about her work.
Q: What would you say to help people struggling with behavior issues in which fear plays a role?
Feeling threatened—not feeling safe—tends to stimulate self-protective behavior, and it doesn’t matter whether the threat is real or perceived. After all, no one knows if a perceived threat will become real until it’s too late.
For pet dogs, this sense of “unsafeness” may be extreme because many cannot leave a situation where they feel threatened; they are either locked in a house or yard, or a shelter kennel, or held on a leash or tether, or cornered or restrained, e.g., for grooming or vetting. A natural response of most animals—escape/avoid—is constantly denied our dogs.
When we take away the adaptive behavior of flight/flee, fight may be the only choice a dog feels she has. (To be clear, however, this does not mean fear “causes” aggression nor that a fearful dog is an aggressive dog. These are entirely different, if not opposite, things, as explained here. )
Saying “It’s okay” or “I’m not going to hurt you” doesn’t usually help fearfulness. Many dogs hear these words before a shot or other uncomfortable experience, so if they understand such words at all, often it’s not understood the way we think.
Q: What is a certified fear specialist, and how is their work unique relative to other dog behaviorists?
A Certified Canine Fear Abatement/Avoidance Expert (CCFAE) is a professional who has been meticulously trained and vetted to ensure they are supremely prepared, skilled and committed to provide the best possible humane and effective services to help fearful, anxious, traumatized, and feralized dogs in captivity and those who work or live with them. The FAM/FACT (Fear Abatement Mastery/Fear Abatement Cumulative Training) program is a unique program offering candidates the necessary breadth and depth of expertise.
In the general training world, there are simply not enough fearful dog experts to meet the huge need, so the CCFAE program works to ensure, through its mentorship style process (rather than webinars and simplified quizzes), significant improvement in the field. We want to ensure that there are humane expert practitioners in canine fear abatement.
Q: Could you say more about what fear abatement and avoidance looks like in practice?
First, we must learn how to prove ourselves as non-threats and as protectors from threats. The implications are many, but here’s one example: if we use or allow, either purposely or inadvertently, aversive experiences for the dog, we are not proving ourselves as protectors; instead, we are presenting ourselves as potential threats.
This chips away at a dog’s sense of trust, safety, predictability, etc. Little, if any, lasting success can be accomplished if the fearful dog distrusts you. So we begin with practices that help our dogs view us as reliable deservers of their trust. Once we are deservers of their trust, they are much more likely to participate with us as we proceed through practices that help them feel differently about stimuli they currently find threatening.
Over time, in small, unthreatening increments, we expand their world by expanding their sense of safety in all areas of their lives. This doesn’t mean they will never be afraid. Fear has its place and should not be viewed as problematic in itself. Instead, we install confidence and resilience. The fearful dog in recovery understands that not all scary things need to be escaped from or scared away.
A dog who might, pre-treatment, have run and hidden if you accidentally tripped over him or who might have lunged, snapped, or even bitten you in a self-defense reflex, under the care of a properly prepared, conscientious human, might now lift his head to assess the situation, then lie back down and continue his nap.
Q: Can you explain the anti-aversives model and give readers some examples of training or B-Mod interventions that might not generally be recognized as aversive?
One subtle example of an aversive experience is when a dog is lured with an irresistible treat or food item into proximity with a stimulus she’s afraid of. While getting the food item might be desired, being near the stimulus is not, so the food, in this case, also delivers an aversive experience.
Having a dog who’s afraid of you take a treat from your hand isn’t the best approach. Instead, we can first prove ourselves safe to the dog so that the dog doesn’t need to be lured. I prefer my “Bowling for Comfort” protocol as an alternative to luring, especially early on, when the dog wants distance.
Your readers can find an overview of the anti-aversives model here. The general idea is to avoid unpleasant experiences for the animal whenever possible. This requires us to recognize and rethink inadvertent aversive and avoidable aversives that we might think are unavoidable.
It does not mean the fearful dog will never have an aversive experience but rather that we do everything within our power to protect that dog from them. To someone who worries about lack of resilience in a dog as a result of this approach, I would just say that there is enough aversive experience in the world that we cannot stop, so we prefer to stop it wherever we can, as well as ensure the dog is prepared to navigate the world with a measure of confidence.
Q: What is your goal with the CCFAE program?
Current goal mint several additional diligent behavior professionals around the country and world who are and will remain committed to fearful dog protections and recovery as taught in FAM/FACT and who will become part of a very important referral network.
Next goal: certify some shelters. Shelter directors who become willing to include fear abatement in their culture will appreciate the necessity and benefits. Careful preparation is better than desperate patch-ups. Prevention is key.
Eventually: offer our CCFAEs the option to become approved teacher-mentors of the program. This extra certification opportunity would be for those with a solid track record and commitment to the program.
To learn more, visit The Fearful Dogs Project or Canine Fear Solutions.
