I currently have several ongoing clients that have very nervous, frightened dogs. These dogs have been rescues in several different countries; Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia and the U.S. The dogs are very frightened of strangers and a few of the dogs have the fear of strangers along with a misguided sense of protecting the family (usually the woman of the house). These dogs are time bombs waiting to go off, especially as the world continues on the path of litigious behavior. Everyone has a lawyer these days.

I love working with these scared, nervous dogs. It’s such a great feeling of satisfaction to watch them as they start to become normal, happy dogs. I have been getting great results keeping the dogs under their threshold and working to improve their trust in humans by using calming signals to start the process of reducing their fear and increasing trust. One of my favorite reads is a slim volume by Turid Rugaas called On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals.   This very useful book is full of pictures of body language of dogs as well as signs of stress and how dogs give each other calming signals as they greet unknown dogs and show their intent is friendly or they do not wish to fight. Humans can use these signals too. Yawning, turning your back to the dog, no eye contact, soft eye contact, a head turn away from the nervous dog and sitting down work pretty well for humans to signal friendly intent to a nervous dog.   

In a first home visit with a new client with a new fearful dog, the owner will have told me enough on the phone (usually) to know what I am going to be working with. I like to have the dog on leash when I arrive if the dog has the tendency to nip or bite when fearful. Most people have a veranda on their house with glass doors or windows. In Kenya the veranda is used on a regular basis, so a veranda is just as much a part of the house as the lounge or living room. I will start off with my back to the dog and make no eye contact. I watch the dog’s reaction in the glass of the window or the sliding door. I only make progress towards the dog while facing away or sideways at most and only if the dog is starting to relax. If the dog is very, very relaxed I may at the end of the session offer a high value treat (cheese or hot dog bit) while looking away and leaving my hand loose by my side. The dog gets to choose to be brave enough to take a choice goodie from a stranger. I never force a dog to come close to me. Sessions should always end on a positive note, not when the dog is agitated. Many times it takes more than one session to get that close, as all dogs progress on a different time scale. Some that are slow to start suddenly make great progress and others that start quickly, suddenly stall for a few sessions. They always make some progress and oftentimes with careful training and management by the families, the dog will end up being a ‘normal’ dog and most people won’t ever know what a rough start they had.

Happy Training!

By Amy L. Rapp