While most dogs are bundles of energy that can’t wait to go to new places or meet new friends, some dogs become anxious at the thought of change. Like humans, dogs are shaped by their environments and can become cautious based on past events.
There are several ways you can build your dog’s confidence; the key is being as patient and understanding as possible. This can be very triggering for your dog, so try to make them feel as secure as possible. The first step is understanding why your dog feels the way they do.
Understand Why Your Dog Lacks Confidence
Fear is common in animals. Our job as pet parents is to figure out what triggers that fear in our dogs. While past experiences may trigger some dogs, this is not always the case.
If your dog has experienced trauma or fear in the past, there is a good chance that they have not benefited from enough socialization. Socialization is vital for a puppy’s development as they learn to interpret the world around them. The socialization period for a puppy is usually between weeks five through 16. This is the best time to expose your puppy to new things. Having a good experience will help develop their curiosity and build your dog’s confidence as they grow.
Some dog breeds, such as Chihuahuas and Afghan Hounds, may even be predisposed to fear and anxiety at birth. Luckily through training, you can guide your dog through exercises to help them feel more comfortable with their surroundings.
Steps for Building Your Dog’s Confidence
Remember, training your dog is a marathon, not a sprint. Allow your dog to take the lead as you work through their triggers; this will allow them to feel more confident as you expose them to stressful situations. Each exercise on our list relies on positive reinforcement—not the recently debunked alpha theory.
Go at their unique pace and make sure you don’t overdo it. If you remain patient and loving throughout the whole process, you start to see results in no time!
Invest in Training Your Dog
Start with the basics. Easy commands are small wins that will set the foundation for building a confident pup.
Getting your dog to perform basic commands correctly will eventually translate to other aspects of their life. Like humans, several small wins over time help us feel better about our surroundings.
Some good commands we like to teach our dogs are “look at me,” “sit,” and “stay.” These are great commands to train our dogs to begin. They allow you to get your dog’s attention during a stressful event and distract them from what may scare them.
Once you have your dog’s attention, it is a good idea to flood them with praise and treats. Dogs live for our approval. Letting your dog know that they have done a good job will help them with their confidence.
Teach Targeting Techniques
Once you build up to distracting your dog through basic commands, you can move on to another easy command: “touch,” also known as targeting. Targeting is getting your dog to touch something, usually the palm of your hand, with either their nose or paw. “Touch” is a great way to redirect their attention. The more involved you are, the more fun and game-like it becomes for your dog. Don’t forget to love up on your pup every time they do it successfully.
When you first begin to teach “touch,” make sure you do so in the comforts of your home. Avoid dog parks where there are lots of distractions. A nice safe environment will make your dog feel more at ease, and they will likely pick up the behavior more quickly.
Once you master this in a safe environment, you can begin to pair it with your dog’s triggers. The more your dog receives praise for doing this correctly during a triggering event, the more you will see their confidence grow. As your dog learns this new skill, you will find that they don’t cringe as often.
Desensitize Triggers
There are numerous ways to desensitize your dog to its triggers. One way is to continue to expose your dog to scary events. Please be careful not to overdo it! This can be very scary to your dog. But if done correctly, your dog will begin to feel less scared by this trigger as they start to understand it. Like humans, much of a dog’s fear comes from the unknown.
Let your dog take the lead as you work on desensitizing scary situations. Take note of their body language and do not force them to move faster than they feel comfortable; this can significantly reduce any progress you may have made.
As your dog becomes more comfortable, you can slowly increase its exposure to the scary event. Always monitor how your dog reacts and if it becomes too much, ease up until they become more confident. You can continue to use this technique with any scary trigger your dog may have. Ensure you do this with only one trigger at a time. Multiple triggers can and will be too overwhelming for your dog.
Scared and anxious dogs can often display detrimental behaviors that can impact their overall quality of life. Therefore, it is so essential to build your dog’s confidence!
Confidence Empowers Dogs to Comfortably Navigate the World
Building your dog’s confidence will help them live a happy and healthy life. It is a terrifying world out there; if your dog lacks confidence, any trigger can leave them fearful for the rest of the day.
Fear and anxiety can cause very high stress levels in your dog. Over time, these increased levels of stress can cause serious harm to your dog’s health.
We cannot emphasize enough that a dog lacking confidence struggles to move past it. The way a dog responds to stress can vary. One dog may tuck their tail between its legs and hide for the rest of the day, while another may bark excessively, which may appear aggressive to some. Unfortunately, your dog’s fear may often be misinterpreted as aggression, which is why it is so essential that you build your dog’s confidence.
