Treating Fear of Other Dogs

[Redbelly]

My recent adoptee is just great, but has one phobia - he absolutely screams when he sees another strange dog up close.  I've read conflicting information on how to approach this. One book says to give generous treats as an anxiety relief and another book says don't reward the behavior with treats or affection, just exude confidence and turn the dog away. Anyone here actually confronted and solved this behavior?

Thanks in advance.

[stevevt]

I'd only use treats when I'm seeing the behavior I want to see, as opposed to change the anxiety level in and of itself.

I agree that confidence with your dog will be helpful, and you should also try to physically position yourself between your dog and the other dog. When your dog starts to learn that you are in charge of these interactions and you won't let anything bad happen, you should start to see some improvement. Of course, all dogs are different and the degree of improvement and how far you'll get will vary.

There are lots of Youtube videos on this topic that should be useful.

If things don't improve (no matter how slowly and incrementally), consider using a dog behaviorist.

[mansbestfriend]

Hi. Yes, but fear of 'things' can be a life-long issue for a dog. With proper training, management, and understanding, and patience, for both dog and human, you can help make your dog's life less stressful. The most immediate help is avoid things that trigger your dog's fear, or at the very least create more space between your dog and the trigger. That's sometimes an impractical option, which is where a good behaviourist who uses Positive Reinforcement, counter-conditioning, etc., can help you and your dog for the long term. Best wishes.

[HeyRunDog]

The first thing is to get your adoptee to walk past the other dog totally ignoring them. Dogs pick up on their owners attitude so if you start to react expecting a problem your hound will think something's wrong and react accordingly.

When you see another dog be careful not to signal that you are expecting a problem but keep walking. If your hound starts to even glance at the other dog give a quick tug on the lead making sure to relax the lead immediately afterwards to get your hounds attention. You could give the command "leave" but keep walking without braking your stride. Give a quick well done when you have passed them. I found this technique also worked with training Grace to ignore cats.

[Redbelly]

8 hours ago, stevevt said:

...........There are lots of Youtube videos on this topic that should be useful.............

Thanks, good suggestion. I watched a half dozen or so videos and picked up on the salient points. Took the pooch to the park today and kept him at a distance such that he was aware of other dogs but not close enough to trigger him, then rewarded him for  "leaving it" as the dogs passed. Oddly, he seems mostly worried about little hairy dogs like the one that bit him, not larger dogs. So, I'm hopeful he can be conditioned out of this fear.