Everybody wants a confident well-adjusted dog. Some dog trainers advise that the way to help a fearful dog it to shove a bunch of treats in its mouth whenever something is making it fearful. The idea behind this is to teach the dog that the thing they are afraid of also comes with something good. While this may work for some dogs, we have always taken a different approach.
Don’t Turn A Little Thing Into A Big Thing
Whenever our dogs have shown fear over something, we have always taken the approach that it is no big deal. While the dog may be concerned, as the human able to reason what is really going on, we have always tried to exhibit a calm and reassuring presence. We do not grab a bag a treats and feed them to the dog in the hope that it will somehow lessen their fear. A dog who is truly fearful or anxious may have no interest in treats. In fact by making a big deal when when a dog is afraid, you may actually be teaching your dog that the scary thing is something to be noted as opposed to just a normal part of life.
Here is an example of something that occurred when Freighter was a small puppy which could have been a big thing, but we turned it into a little thing.
The Scary Trash Truck
Freighter was born in November so he came to live with us in January. One built in obstacle for bringing a puppy home in the dead of winter is adequately socializing them and exposing them to different things.
Which brings us to the scary trash truck.
We have curbside garbage pick up in our neighborhood and usually the time coincides with when I let the dogs out before I leave for work. On one peaceful morning the truck came around and there must have been something wrong with the brakes because every time the truck stopped, we could hear the sound of metal on metal scraping. It was loud, like some kind of special effect in a science fiction movie and it was frequent since the truck had to stop at each house.
Freighter was only 2 or 3 months old at that time and the noise scared him. That experience could have left him scared of garbage trucks and all trucks for the rest of his life.
Confronting Fear
I think many dogs are frightened of fireworks because they are loud and unexpected. The dogs usually hear a loud noise but unless they see what is causing the noise, it is just a loud noise to them with no reason for it to be happening.
It was much the same with the trash truck. Freighter could hear it as it drove around the neighborhood making a loud sound at each stop, but he could not see what was causing the scary noise. I had him on leash so immediately I moved him to an area in our yard where he could see the truck as it drove past. He was not excited to do this but I knew it would ease his fear if he could understand what it was. As the truck passed I calmly said “garbage truck” and then immediately urged him to do what he was outside to do “go potty”. So the truck passed and he did his business and that was that.
The next week we repeated the process except that I made sure that we were outside when the truck was coming around and just my luck, they had not fixed the darn breaks so they were still loud. We repeated this for several weeks.
Eventually the brakes were repaired so the truck was not as loud. If Freighter seemed to notice the truck, I said “garbage truck” and then “go potty” but I let Freighter pick his spot in the yard and did not require him to be where he could see the truck. I acted like it was no big deal and eventually it was.
What Could Have Been A Life Long Fear Has Faded Away
As Freighter grew into a confident adult dog, I sort of forgot about his early fear of the garbage truck. However, last week I was reminded about it. A couple of days a week I bring Freighter to work with me because hubby leaves right from there to go to group training.
On this particular day, I arrived at the same time the garbage truck arrived to empty the dumpster. Those dumpster dumping garbage trucks are the Holy Grail of trash trucks because not only are they large, they pick up the dumpster and swing it over the truck to dump it and just for good measure, they bang the dumpster several times.
I parked the car and thought oh no, I wonder if that truck is going to scare Freighter.
Guess what?
Not only was he not afraid, but he was fascinated by the process. He stood and watched the entire thing, alert with ears up and no signs of fear. In fact, Freighter refused to budge before the truck was finished with the process. I guess he did not want to miss anything.
Training success! The little thing is not a big thing to Freighter.
Do you have a training success story?
I’m so glad Freighter isn’t afraid of dump trucks anymore. Barley is still a little wary of them when we’re out walking–but I think it’s a combination of the noise and people jumping off and grabbing things out of people’s yards and it’s just a lot of activity happening at once. We usually cross the road so she doesn’t have to get too close to it, but then we just keep trotting along as usual and other than keeping a close eye on the truck, she’s fine 🙂 When it comes to construction equipment, though, she’s just like Freighter–she wants to stop and see what’s going on!
So everything I learned about raising my kids, I learned from training dogs. This principle applies to children, too. They need to know things are not a big deal. Good boy, Freighter!
With our new kittens, we feed them while the burr grinder is grinding the coffee beans, so they have quickly learned to associate the loud sound with dinner being served. We don’t say anything, we just let them figure it out. It didn’t take long.
This approach definitely works with puppies, and I’m so glad you were intentional with Freighter for weeks after the initial incident! That’s the way true socialization and creating a confident and curious dog works.
However, I also think it’s totally different when you acquire an adult dog with already established fears. And when those fears have turned into serious generalized anxiety (as in, the dog anticipates scary things and looks for them), Pavlov’s science and things like counterconditioning (which is not just shoving treats into a dog’s mouth; while food is a primary reinforcer, toys, play time, sniffing bushes, etc. can also be used), along with careful and strategic exposure, are invaluable protocols to help the dog overcome their fear.
Does the human’s attitude during the process matter? Absolutely! You must be confident and relaxed as you’re helping the dog through whatever they’re experiencing. But much like people who have phobias, not all dogs can overcome their fear purely by being shown it’s not a big deal.
We have used the approach I described to great success with adult dogs too. I understand counter conditioning is very popular, but unfortunately I know of more failures than success stories with this method.
Aspen has never shown fear with anything. When he hears something strange or different he always looks up at me. I tell him what it is or point to what he heard and then he just goes on with what he’s doing. It’s like, as long knows what it is then it’s ok.
Thank you for sharing about this! I do think it can make a difference with Luke if he can see what’s going on. I don’t think he could see the cement truck that day, so he had no idea where that awful noise was coming from. That may be why the dump truck didn’t bother him – he could see that because it was in a different place in the driveway.
well done!!!! we did the same for the screaming yellow trashcan what appeared on our street… we needed some weeks but at the end Easy signed the can and it is a part of his world now :o) btw: Freighter you were such a fabulous cute puppy… that is 100% eye candy :O)
Delilah loves to bark at the garbage truck. I usually just stand next to hear and tell her it’s okay. She is getting better with it.
You are so correct on not making it a big deal. With so many noise phobias people cuddle them and tell them it’s ok and they just make the situation worse. As hard as it is to do you need to ignore that behavior. Great post!