Many dogs are naturally fearful of their surroundings. There are several ways that you can help your dog overcome fear, from extra training to the products found at royalcbd.com. But in order to know which treatment method to use, it is important to find out where this fear originated. There are three different fear types a dog can possess:
1. Genetic Fear:
This fear was inherited by the dog from his or her parents. It is quite strong, but there are a couple of methods we can use to help:
- physical development – physical stamina makes the dog feel more courageous.
- Advancing in defensive reaction makes the dog feel more secure because it understands that it can protect itself.
- The presence of an alpha (dominant figure) makes the dog feel more confident and courageous because an alpha takes responsibility for the dog.
- Certain commands and discipline organizes the dog and improves its psychological condition.
We offer a course where the dog goes through four stages: agility training; special developing games with toys; hunting –imitation games which allow the improvement of dog’s defensive reaction, prehensile reflex; obedience training with the dog’s owner that leads to the dog’s realization that the owner is dominant. This course helps the dog to overcome the genetic fears or at least make them a lot less prominent. If you continue to work with your dog even after the results obtained at our center, you’ll see a completely new dog! Your dog is going to feel a lot better and confident.
2. Acquired Fear:
this fear is acquired by dogs from the past. The dog could have been scared off by a car, beaten by the previous owner, punished for something in a wrong way, scared by fireworks or other loud sounds during holidays. In that case, we need to test the dog before we are able to start helping him or her. The process is started by increasing the psychological stress resistance by using such exercises as swimming in the pool, developmental games, using special equipment: hunting tools, bouncing balls; to develop a sense of competitiveness – the tug of war game between two or three dogs. This way we artificially increase the dog’s nervous system arousal, and while the dog is in an excited state we start adding the element of the fear that the dog has had. For example, if the fear was caused by a particularly loud sound, we start playing that sound in the background very quietly at first. As the dog gets used to the sound we keep on making it louder as the dog is playing so the dog adapts to it. The louder the sound gets the more physically active the dog should be at that moment. By doing this, it increases the dog’s stress resistance. We also add feeding to that process, because during feeding the dog’s body relaxes, so the sounds that we play for the dog in the future can be associated with relaxation, not fear. If it’s not a fear of sound, we are going to find another way to adapt the dog to the source of the fear. Through the physical and psychological development of the dog, we are going to increase its stress resistance.
3. Developed Fear:
This fear appears in dogs that do not develop according to the natural way of dogs’ development. Let’s say the dog has been trapped in a small space for a long time, or never went outside, it does not do what dogs are naturally supposed to do – hunt, run after moving objects, be physically active. If the dog does not do that, at some point, when it reaches adulthood, it starts to feel unconfident, thus fearful of many things. Our task is to return that confidence back by physical exercises; fitness; speed, strength, and prey-catching exercises. Also, create a competitive situation where the dog can hunt with other dogs in a pack. You can never forget to practice obedience where the owner rewards the dog with treats. Our experience has shown that our natural methods of helping dogs to overcome their fears work very well, though some owners choose to supplement this with relaxing treats from Serenity Store and the like. We can’t speak on the effectiveness of that, but we have helped thousands of dogs and their owners and our methods have been improved and proven to work for the past 15-20 years. If your dog has fears issues that create problems for you and your dog – you should come for professional help to Master Dog Training.