What Scares Dogs, And Why?

Generally, dogs are curious and amused by nature. Every dog is different in behavior. Some dogs are fearful in behavior, and others are more inclined towards fear. Dogs are highly communicative with their surroundings, but often they become anxious and worried about some situations.

Depending upon the breed, previous experience, and personal behavior, they are different from each other, just like us. Some are highly socialites. But, a few are much more worried about their surroundings.

By studying their behavior, we can estimate the time and reason for their fearfulness. Thus, it also makes some way to solve this situation. Major behavioral issues arise due to fear and anxiety.

Problems faced by dogs: 

• Fear of being lonely
• Scared about unwanted and loud sounds.
• Losing precious item
• Aggression toward unknown dogs and animal
• Aggressive to the strange person

There are some other issues that you can notice, such as being overactive, heavily reacting, and ignoring when not in their usual place. A common dilemma often reported by pet parents arises during training sessions, especially if the session occurs outside the home, like the dog training center.

The dogs become anxious in this situation. In their home, they feel assured and tempered. Whereas in training sessions, they are scared due to the presence of other people and dogs. Dogs feel secure in known surroundings. Like all other animals, they are also cautious about any warning.

They feel worried about an unknown situation. When they are afraid, they act in various ways. Dogs sometimes react by surrendering even before a fight. It symbolizes that they want to avoid the situation and thus want to ward off that threat.

Symptoms of fear in dogs

• Heaving
• Striding
• Quivering/shivering
• Inefficacy to arrange
• Trying to stow away
• Absence of hunger
• Hugely distracting to get your attention
• Preservation
• Gaping
• Licking the lips
• Displaying the white part of the eyes
• Raising the paws
• Minimize the body gesture.
• 0verly active
• Crazy conduct
• Toilet mess
• React highly
• Barking
• Highly aggressive

If you observe such symptoms, your dog is afraid and stressed. For a better result of this situation, consult your behaviorist.

Loud noise

The loud noise of firecrackers is a common thing at New Year celebrations. We know that the effect of the firecracker sound is not so problematic for us, but for some dogs, it is too much to scare them off. Some mild scarcity becomes a phobia in dogs. Even associating things with firecrackers can worry dogs, such as dust.

If they are worried about the cracker, follow the tips to make your evening smoother. Better to accustom your dog to the firecracker if they are scared.

You can consult your behaviorist about this. You can accustom them to loud noise CDs when they are pups. It is the general nature of the dog to run away when scared.

Microchip them so you can find them if they are hidden or lost. Your vet may recommend pheromone spray if your dog is scared of loud sounds. Other sounds that can scare your dogs are security alarms, gunshots, thunderstorms, smoke detectors, yelling people, and squawking birds.

Behavior regarding seeking attention

Your dog has many ways to seek your attention towards them. Sometimes we teach them in their training session unknowingly. For example, in the case of a newly painted door. Your dogs want to go outside and raise their front leg to scratch the door to get our attention.

To save the dog from scratches, we allow them inside immediately. That tells them that it works perfectly to get our attention. It becomes a regular trick for them. To avoid such a situation, first of all, ignore this thing. They will immediately stop because they can’t achieve what they want.

So, it’s useless for them. Make them more interactive with you. Treat them well if they do such thing which you want. If they make it annoying, keep them on a leash with a chair until they calm down.

Afraid of other dogs and people

Normal canine behavior is too scared of an unknown and previous bad experience. If your dog is well-socialized, that may not be an issue to encounter unknown or unfamiliar things or animals. But for others, it is a stressful and inhabitant situation. Sometimes they growl to avoid such surroundings.

If they seem to growl at someone or any other animal, move your dog from that place immediately. Doing so will help you avoid some bad things from happening. It will help minimize the stress levels of your dog. Consult your behaviorist to tackle this condition. Try to learn your canine’s body language.

De-sanitization

Being exposed to the de-sanitization process is a significant worry for most dogs. They react vigorously often. To solve this problem, you can consult your behaviorist. Applying some mind-diverting tips in the presence of stimuli can work out well for your pet.

With some behavioral modification tips, you may solve this issue. But this method should always be applied in the presence of behaviorist presence. They can study the different situations and give you the required solution according to the level of the issue.

Solving sound scare issues in pups

Habituate your pups with a large variety of sounds so that in later life, noise is not an issue for them. Always speak to the vet before you consider administering any medication. Never sedate your dog. Anxiety medications, therapies, and sprays can prove beneficial for the dog.

Coping with fear takes time. It is a complicated process. Every dog is different. So, what works for any dog may not exactly work well for another. Work out a plan that suits your dog. It might take some experimentation.