10/10/2024
When dogs are afraid, it’s really worth using reward-based methods to rehabilitate them as quickly as possible. Chronic fear and anxiety cause real suffering so if you can rebuild the dog’s confidence quickly, it’s so very worthwhile because it means they can get back to enjoying life that much sooner.
If you want to build a dog’s confidence and help them feel comfortable, one of the most valuable tools you can use is food. If a stimulus is paired with food frequently enough, the dog will start to associate the stimulus with food and this will cause the dog to feel better about the stimulus. Luring a fearful dog with food can be a very powerful technique that really accelerates rehabilitation BUT YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL that you don’t push the dog too far too fast.
If a dog is very food motivated, you can lure them too close to something that makes them feel very scared, and this can be a dangerous and counterproductive situation. If the dog is too scared they might take the food and then react aggressively as soon as the food is gone, or they may simply be so scared that they are unable to form a positive association from the food.
On that note, you should not use this exercise (or any exercise you read about on the internet!) with a dog that is dangerous. If a dog has bitten a person hard enough to cause a serious injury, it means they are likely to do so again. This dog needs help from a professional dog trainer who understands how to read body language and use positive reinforcement methods to safely rehabilitate the dog.
Fortunately, most fearful and reactive dogs are not dangerous. They bark, they lunge, they snap, and they may even “bite” but their bites don’t make contact with the skin, or they don’t break the skin. These dogs have learned bite inhibition and they are safe to work with and you can use this technique to quickly rebuild their confidence.
Yes, this technique involves using food to lure the dog to approach you (or some other stimulus that makes them uncomfortable) but you don’t lure them so close that they are overwhelmed with fear or in danger of reacting aggressively and that makes all the difference.
As they approach, they get high-value treats, reinforcing them for approaching and helping them form a positive association with you (or the scary stimulus). But then, you use a lower value treat to lure the dog further away again. This low value treat is still providing a Classical Conditioning effect, helping your dog form a positive association with the stimulus, but it’s also providing a contrast to the high-value treats that the dog received during their approach.
Crucially, the dog is now back to a very comfortable distance again so when you toss high value treats to lure them to approach, they are moving towards you, but they’re comfortably far away.
Luring a dog to approach a scary stimulus like this is a very powerful and useful technique that can really accelerate the rehabilitation process, so long as you don’t push the dog too far too fast. And as you repeat these steps, luring the dog to approach and retreat repeatedly, the dog is going to get much more comfortable about approaching and being near you.
You can test this at any time by pausing the exercise and seeing what the dog does and where they go when there are no treats offered. At the beginning, a fearful dog will stay quite far away, but after a few minutes of this exercise, there is a good chance that they will readily come closer to the person, even without any food to lure them.
Be patient, watch your dog’s body language, and keep luring the dog back to a very comfortable distance to reset and this technique can work wonders.
If you do this long enough, you will get to the point where the dog will come right up to you without you offering a food lure. If the dog comes right up to you without you tossing a treat to lure your dog, and the dog looks comfortable, you can now try offering a treat directly from your hand. When you do so, you should keep your hand down by your side and you should always have multiple treats in your hand. When you get to the last treat, either toss it to lure the dog away from you, or withdraw your hand before you feed the last treat because an empty human hand is much scarier than a human hand with treats in it.
If you do this enough, it won’t be long before the dog happily takes treats from your hand. At this point, you can feed the dog an entire meal by hand and they will quickly start to feel comfortable around you, and the dog’s life will be much more relaxed and happier as a result.
Again, you should not do this with a dog that is dangerous, and you should be very patient with this exercise. Don’t rush it. Keep luring the dog back to a comfortable distance and it won’t be long before this dog loves approaching you and being near you.
Wow, did you really read all this? Amazing! Do you have or know a fearful dog? If so, tell us about them in the comments.
If you’d like help rehabilitating a fearful dog, you should join the Top Dog Academy, which you can do now for free with a 1-month free trial. We can help you rehabilitate your fearful dog with methods that are easy, gentle and also quick and effective. We want to rebuild your dog’s confidence as quickly as possible!
https://dunbar.info/oct2024TDA
Sign up now and you’ll get instant access to lots of great resources. We’ll be available to guide you through the process with personalized training advice. In one month, you could resolve their fearfulness and be back to enjoying a fear-free life together!
And if you’d like to download a PDF version of this document, or if you’d like to learn more about it, go here: https://dunbar.info/retreat-with-honor
