neighbors house, he may not be willing to venture out in the rain again; he may even choose
to eliminate in the home rather than go out in rain.
Should we reassure or ignore a pet that is fearful? While much concern is given to the
unintentional rewarding of attention seeking behaviors, it appears this question is actually
quite complicated. Many animals become comfortable and relax in response to fear-evoking
stimuli naturally; that is, they habituate. So, when most dogs face a relatively mild stimuli
that startles them momentarily, the dog will observe, investigate and recover spontaneously.
For these emotionally stable dogs, the human response may not be important or relevant in
the dog's response. Many pets may be calmed by comforting. Other dogs, especially more
sensitive, reactive or attached dogs, will take cues from their owners and if they are calm, it
calms them. If the humans display hysteria or confusion the animal assumes there is
justification for this dramatic response. So, the fear or anxiety response displayed by their
favored human may either contribute to the development of a fearful memory or aid this
adjustment process or. When the dog is exposed to a severe fear evoking stimuli, it is not
simply enough to ignore the dog's attention-seeking response and hope the dog will adjust
naturally and learn that attention-seeking behaviors are not helpful.
For the dog with a severe fear or phobia, a learned response has already become a pattern.
Learning may even occur following a single event if the stimulus was terribly frightening at
the first exposure. These dogs do not readily habituate naturally once the severe fear or
phobia is established. These severely affected pets do not just get better on their own. So,
should we reassure or ignore a pet that is fearful? The simplest answer may be to ignore
mild responses to mild anxiety-evoking events if you can observe the pet closely to see if
they can recover spontaneously - this is natural and appropriate. But for the pet that is
severely fearful - help gently guide this dog into a calmer response and coping strategy.
Avoid adding to the emotional drama. Strategies for calming a phobic pet may include
helping them to find a safe place to hide, or using a leash and maybe a head halter to reduce
pacing or even settling on a dog bed and massaging gently and calmly. The severely phobic
dogs need a complete program and these strategies merely get them through the fearful
experience; contact your veterinarian to discuss use of medications and behavior
modification strategies.
Some dogs seek refuge with a human companion when they are afraid; some dogs will
whine, vocalize or paw at their favorite human. In theory, we should ignore these dogs until
they display more appropriate behavior. These dogs are difficult to ignore and ignoring
them does not necessarily alleviate their anxiety. Dogs that are very attached to people and
have minimal coping skills of their own will be confused when ignored. Consider: Is it
reasonable to expect the phobic dog to have an epiphany, a Eureka-type break through,
during their moment of greatest anxiety and panic and conclude they should stop
demanding attention in order to attain the human comfort they seek? The more severe the
anxiety or the attachment, the less likely the animals is going to reach this brilliant
conclusion all by themselves. So again, the suggestion to ignore the mildly anxious dog that
paws at your leg may successfully reduce the occurrence of the attention seeking behavior
but the same strategy will not be beneficial for the severely anxious dog.
Learning During a Fearful Event
During a fight or flight-based response animals respond instinctively and quickly. These are
not carefully thought out mental calculations. People may respond similarly and do not
learn well in panic situations or fear causing situations. Imagine yourself on a job interview
and being asked to memorize a few phrases of a foreign language with which you are
unfamiliar. In a stressful situation we can use skills we have practiced and rehearsed to
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