Dogs That Are Afraid Of Other Dogs: What To Do?
Walking in the street, in the park, or in the field can become a bad experience when you have a dog that is afraid of or aggressive towards others of its kind. The reasons are diverse: a bad memory or lack of socialization can cause this distrust in your pet. The tension that this situation generates for the tutor does not improve if there is contact between the animals. What to do with dogs that are afraid of other dogs?
Dogs that are afraid
Fear is an emotion to a stimulus, which can be a noise, a situation or, in this case, dealing with another dog. Obviously, for a sociable animal like a dog, this fear is not normal and can be a problem in everyday activities such as daily walking.
A handler cannot punish his pet for being scared at this time or force him to interact with the other dog if he shows clear signs of this feeling. In this case, it is advisable to seek the help of a professional educator rather than trying to force an apparent normality on the animal.
Signs of Fear in Dogs
Bodily signals are very important to identify what state the animal is in. If you pay attention to these signs, it’s easy to prevent a negative situation.
Dogs have very broad body language. The facial expression, body posture and the position of the tail indicate their emotions.
A frightened dog exhibits the following pattern:
- Ears lowered back or close to head.
- Muscle tension. The animal may even start to shake.
- Shrunken body.
- Low tail, sometimes between paws.
- Barks.
- Trying to get away from the source of fear.
When the fear gets worse, the animal may defecate, urinate or even make repetitive movements (stereotypes) due to the stress of the situation. It’s also common to see signs of calm at these times.
causes of fear
Dogs that are afraid of other dogs often have a motivation behind this feeling, and the most frequent causes are:
- Lack of socialization. The socialization stage is critical in the puppy’s life to avoid phobias in adulthood. This period varies from the first three weeks of life to three months. During this time, it is essential to give the dog as many stimuli as possible: in this way, it will learn what a dog is and what species its friends are, it will control the bite, it will learn to communicate, among other things.
- Traumatic experience. A previous negative experience with another dog may be enough to make the animal fear another of its kind.
- Behavior reinforced by tutor. Dogs easily recognize their handlers’ emotions. In this sense, in presentations to other dogs, if the human being is tense by fear or ignorance, he will transmit this feeling to the animal, for example, pulling the lead.
What to do when your dog is afraid of another dog?
Eliminating a dog’s fear of other animals of the same species is not an easy task: you should be aware that it will take time and effort. You can’t force the dog to interact with others, but you can reduce his fear of encountering other stray dogs by following a series of guidelines regarding walking:
- Decrease the tension. It is advisable to use a long lead, of about three meters, to provide calmer walks for the animal, without lead tension or bumps when crossing with another dog. That way, he won’t associate walking with the idea of finding the source of his fears.
- Practice the custom. Keep a comfortable distance from other dogs. The tutor must show a calm attitude and always use positive reinforcement in these situations. Over time, this distance can be reduced.
- Watch your pet. It is very important to be aware of the animal to know its limits and see its progress.
By training in this way, your dog’s fear of other animals will gradually disappear, and gradually you can begin to introduce your pet to calm, sociable, and not very energetic dogs.
