Nervous Dog

I can’t stress enough the importance of understanding why your dog exhibits certain behaviors. The most common reasons for nervousness are:

Genetic - some dogs are just born nervous. It can be a breed characteristic or the result of poor breeding practices.

Past Trauma - traumas can occur anywhere from birth to now. A can dropping of the counter at the right age can make a life long impression.

Diet - food ingredients can cause or encourage chemical imbalances.

Allergies - reactions to food ingredients or other allergins can cause nervousness

Environment - loud, chaotic households can compound nervousness.

Learned behavior from animals - if you have a nervous dog it will teach these behaviors to your new puppy or dog. The first in the household is usually alpha and he will determine household behavior patterns.

Learned behavior from people - if you are a nervous person and the dog accepts you as alpha, you are teaching it your behavior patterns. Learn to take deep breaths and lower your blood pressure. This will affect your body language.

Animals take all their cues from us. If you are acknowledged as the alpha in the pack/house, your dog will look to you as an example of how to handle situations. If your dog is afraid of something and you react with concern for his apparent fear, your dog will become more fearful. In other words, your dog sees something new and is worried about it. He looks to you for advise on how to handle the situation. He sees nervousness, he doesn’t realize that it is for him. He assumes it is about the new object or noise. If you, the alpha, is nervous, he should definately be nervous too.

The proper response to his concern over something should be a “come on buddy, buck-up, let’s go, we’ll deal with this together” attitude. Remember to always set an example.

Be careful not to anticipate his fear over something. If you see ‘ the dog coming down the street’ and think to yourself, ‘ oh no, how’s he going to react..’ your body language will set the tone for how he feels about that dog. Dog’s can sense energy levels, they are very sensitive to our emotions, body language and blood pressure. Again, set the example and over time, his behavior pattern will change.

If it’s new people that trigger the nervousness, instruct friends and family to ignore the dog. He must not feel any invasion on space on any level. Make him miss the attention, even though it wasn’t welcomed. People can come into the house, grab a treat by the door and place it on the floor as they enter. Keep ignoring the dog. This way he will start to associate people with good things at his own pace. Eventually, he will look forward to people. The worst thing you can do for a dog’s psyce is to try to make friends with him if he is unwilling.

Another method is to crate him in a wire crate (better for socialization) where you gather. Again, ignore him. Allow him to learn to deal with his issues on his own. When he relaxes with people walking by him, have them drop a treat in his crate quietly as they go by. Keep ignoring him. Remember, you are re-training his behavior patterns. This takes time and consistency. It can take anywhere from two weeks to two years, depending on the reason for the nervousness.