Your dog is fearful, he is afraid of everything and doesn't walk in the street, or he gets easily scared by noise and crowds? It is likely that your faithful friend lacks stimulation! Having a confident and enthusiastic dog in all situations and environments is possible, regardless of the dog's past. With kindness, positive reinforcement, and appropriate stimulation, it is entirely possible to achieve excellent results. How to manage your dog's habituation to external stimuli? That's what we'll explore in 3 steps in this article, starting with an introduction to stimulation, followed by habituation to noises, and finally, the practical aspect and tips to develop the right habits and avoid bad reflexes during walks.
I. Why is My Dog Afraid in the Street?
If you're reading this article, it's likely that your dog or puppy doesn't walk down the street, possibly held back by fear. What does this mean? It simply reflects that your dog has associated the outdoors, the street, or the city with its noises and movements as something unpleasant. Our goal will be to teach the opposite! Going for a walk, being in the street, meeting people and other dogs: it's enjoyable. Regardless of its fear and reactions, the following advice and methods will help you address fear issues in your dog.
II. Your Dog Needs Stimulation
1. Walk the Dog in Stimulating Places
First and foremost, if you only walk your dog in the same places where there's no one around, you'll have a dog that remains fearful for life. On the contrary, walk them in stimulating places, as in addition to the walk, running, playing, doing their business, and sniffing, your dog needs stimulation!
2. Stimulation Happens Outside of Regular Walks
To stimulate your canine, you'll need to take them to different places to break the routine. Indeed, to prevent your dog from suffering from hypostimulation, it's imperative to walk them in varied places, places they're not familiar with, or know little about, in order to stimulate them as often as possible.
3. Stimulate Your Dog as Often as Possible
Dog owners rarely tend to go to rich and stimulating places where their furry friend could discover new scents, new sounds, even though it's important to do so, to continue their socialization and, most importantly, to keep stimulating them.
4. Visit New Places with New Stimuli
Can you identify one or two places in your city where there's maximum noise, stimulation, things, or people to meet? For instance, go to one of the liveliest markets, take a stroll in the city center, where there's always a lot of people and also a lot of noise.
The more the dog is stimulated, the more it will develop better behaviors, become more confident, more at ease, and sounder in mind, and your relationship will only improve! We often tend to walk our dogs in routes and places they already know. However, your dog needs variety, to discover new things, and, above all, to be stimulated regularly.
Hypostimulation, conversely, is the act of making a fearful dog due to a lack of stimulation, and it will be afraid as soon as it hears a noise, comes across a bike, cars, or people because it's only walked in quiet places with very few stimuli. This is why it's recommended to go to lively places with your dog often to work on the habituation phenomenon related to external stimulation.
5. Repeat the Process and Be Patient with Your Dog
If you expose your fearful pet to a highly lively new environment, it's likely they'll be afraid for the first 2, 3, or even 10 times. Depending on the dog, they might be startled by the noise, afraid to cross a construction zone, or when encountering certain people, but as time goes on, with habituation, they'll learn to follow you and manage their emotions, much like children who become less afraid over time.
6. Increase Stimulation Gradually, Step by Step
If you diversify your walking locations, moving to progressively more stimulating places, your dog will gradually adapt to these stimulations. Therefore, we encourage you to consider that your dog needs to be walked in rich, stimulating places with people. The more you do this, the better your dog will generally be.
For an extremely fearful dog, you'll need to proceed even more gradually, step by step (for example, circling the block, then going to a park, a parking lot, downtown, and the market square...), in order to avoid overwhelming them and to provide enough time and intermediate steps for them to adjust to different levels of stimulation.
III. Managing a Dog's Fear of Noise
1. Avoid Unintentional Reinforcement
Unintentional reinforcements are reflexes or habits that we tend to reproduce as humans whenever our dog is afraid (reassuring them, for example). This is an error to be avoided at all costs because instead of resolving the dog's fear issue, it will amplify it and have the opposite effect, reinforcing your faithful companion's fearful behavior, whether it's fear of door slams, tapping on the table, or noises outside.
Example: Your dog gets scared, stops, freezes, or trembles; What should you do? The first instinct for an unseasoned owner is to reassure the dog, speak to them calmly, or pick them up, pet them, and so on—everything that in human language means "reassure." But in canine language, it means "reward." So, despite ourselves, if we reassure them when they're afraid, we're telling them "It's good to be afraid, keep being afraid, well done!" Consequently, it's not advisable to reassure them when they're scared. Say nothing and let them manage themselves. The goal is for them to become more self-reliant and confident.
2. Practice Socialization and Habituation with Your Dog and Puppy
Socialization and habituation to noises for dogs and puppies involve walking the dog through a course filled with various objects while guiding them to move forward despite potential surprises. This method is highly effective in preparing your four-legged friend for interactions with the outside world, including city noises and crowds. Here are the different steps involved:
Step 1: Preparing the Socialization Course
The socialization course should be set up with numerous objects on the ground, preferably in a closed garden or yard. To socialize a puppy, you should diversify the objects to have as much as possible for your dog to explore on the course (cones, plush toys, plastic chairs, toys, bowls, old cloths, blankets, etc.). Then, attach the dog to a leash to guide them, while speaking to them calmly. In this exercise where you walk with the dog in an improvised course filled with objects, you will stop from time to time with the intention of letting them explore their environment. And if they show signs of fear, the owner moves forward. As mentioned earlier, don't stop to reassure the dog gently: the leader (you) moves forward.
<<Don't reassure the dog when they're scared; you need to keep moving forward.>>
Step 2: Discovery through Sight and Smell
When working on puppy socialization, we want to engage all the dog's senses, including smell, sight, touch, and, as the dog becomes more curious, hearing. Dogs are macrosmatic animals, meaning they perceive and experience the world through smells. So, we're going to let them explore all the scents along the course. At first, allow the puppy to discover without saying anything. The goal is for the dog to start sniffing, exploring new things to pique their curiosity, and then we'll start making noise. You can also encourage them with treats (taste), which is a good introduction to positive reinforcement.
<<In puppy socialization, all senses are awakened.>>
Step 3: Introducing Noises (Hearing)
Next, we'll try to startle them by using the surrounding objects to create noise and thus generate movement around the dog. This aims to simulate small artificial stresses that will require them to control themselves and stay focused on following you while listening to your commands. Observe their reaction. The goal is to make them increasingly confident by acclimating them to noisy situations in a controlled manner. If the dog sees this as a game, even better. The idea is to have them discover many things at once on the course. Get your acquaintances to pick up plastic objects (bowls, cones, toys...) or pieces of wood to create noise, each on their side of the area. For now, leave aside the stainless steel bowls as they produce the strongest stimulus.
<<The goal of socialization is to make the dog confident.>>
Step 4: Progress Through the Exercise Gradually
Once all participants are actively making noise by walking around randomly, continue moving between different objects with the dog and monitor its reactions. Occasionally, speak to the dog and reward it to make the exercise enjoyable and to let it know it's behaving well if it continues to follow you, despite the surrounding chaos. You can finish the exercise by using the loudest objects (like pots and musical instruments). Over time, the goal is to introduce a wide variety of new stimuli to your dog (tapping on furniture in the house, making noise, shouting, playing music, using pots, etc.) to make your dog as confident as possible and ensure it's not afraid of anything.
<<We introduce the strongest stimuli at the end.>>
Tip #1: Take Breaks to Allow the Dog to Adapt and Compose Itself
During this dynamic exercise, it's also important to take breaks with the dog to give it time to compose itself, breathe, and process the abundant information of noise and scent, the movement around it, in peace, all while observing its posture.
Tip #2: Use Clicker Training
Our final piece of advice for awakening the dog and acclimating it to noise is to utilize clicker training for positive reinforcement, meaning to associate a sound with something pleasant. Eventually, you'll need to use the noises that frighten him at home, starting with a small sound, such as tapping on the table, for example, and click, then give him his reward. Once the dog becomes accustomed to hearing it, you must, of course, gradually increase the noise's intensity while getting closer to the animal, repeating the same exercise with the clicker. This way, your dog will eventually associate the noise with something pleasant.
<<Gradually increase the noise's intensity and proximity.>>
IV. On the Street: Practical Aspects, Bad Habits, and Good Practices
Taking a walk with a dog that won't move or is afraid on the street is a topic that should not be underestimated because it can lead to tensions or misunderstandings between the owner and the dog, especially since the solutions are simple to implement. So, here are some valuable tips for adopting the right attitude with a fearful dog when it won't move on the leash.
1. Bad Habits to Forget
Avoid Yanking the Leash
Dogs are sensitive animals who often mirror their owner's behavior. When walking your dog in the street, it's important to be attentive but relaxed to avoid transferring stress to the dog. The leash should not be used to yank if the dog pulls on it to prevent sending negative signals to your walking companion. If I yank the leash every time the dog pulls in one direction, the dog may associate negativity throughout the journey (e.g., we encounter another dog, I yank the leash at the same time, so the dog associates the other dog with pain and danger, and when the dog gains confidence, it may become aggressive).
<<Yanking the leash every time there's a strange dog means "Danger" for the dog.>>
Don't Respond to Your Animal's "Stop"
Who is the master, you or the dog? It's important not to be led when you walk in the street because this is not a treasure hunt. In the street, every time a dog is scared, it will stop. And we tend to stop as well. Your dog will notice this and will subsequently stop systematically, reinforcing the behavior of "I'm scared, I'll stop". In contrast, in this type of situation, it's essential to keep moving forward, encourage it to follow you (this can also be done with treats), or even gently tug it along, making sure that its collar or harness is properly adjusted to teach it to follow you despite its fear. Eventually, your dog will stop less and less. You can also practice this with a long leash so that your faithful friend returns to you calmly.
<<If your dog is scared, keep moving forward!>>
Don't Match Your Dog's Pace
When a dog gets scared, it will slow down and walk very slowly. You shouldn't adapt to this; instead, walk faster. If you have to cross an area that might make your dog nervous, simply speed up. This will teach your dog to walk faster in such situations, helping it feel better. Furthermore, when a dog is scared of certain noises, like those from a car or a motorcycle, just like with humans, it's essential to know that a confident individual will walk faster. The same principle applies to dogs.
2. Good Habits to Adopt
Identify What Scares the Dog
With a fearful dog, it's necessary to move forward with a relaxed yet close leash. It's important to observe what his fear response is because every fearful dog will express its fear differently. Some dogs will stop, others will lie down, some may have a panic attack, and others may bark or whimper, or even bite the owner out of sheer panic. Therefore, identifying the dog's reaction when it's scared is crucial.
<<Each dog has its own character, and each dog expresses fear in its way.>>
Keep Moving Forward with Attractiveness
When your dog stops, be attractive! Encourage it to follow you and keep moving forward without jerking the leash, but by tapping on your thigh, clapping your hands, and motivating and encouraging it to walk by your side.
Exercise: When a stimulus approaches you (a bicycle, a jogger, a pedestrian), shorten your leash and speed up to pass the person, and once you've passed the stranger, reward your dog (with a cuddle, a treat, words of encouragement). For now, stopping won't teach him to move toward danger. He'll think, "There's danger, stay away," whereas the message we want to convey is, "There's danger, go ahead, move forward calmly but steadily."
<<When your dog stops, be attractive!>>
Prepare at Home for Wearing a Collar, Leash, or Harness
Recently, the best thing to do is to acquaint your dog at home with wearing a leash, longe, collar, or harness. To do this, it's straightforward. At home, put the equipment around your dog's neck and let the leash drag. Have fun together, move around, play together, give treats, and offer cuddles to gradually get him accustomed to having the leash on. Then, if it's a dog that's afraid of the street, you'll need to gradually acclimate him to the idea that the street can be something enjoyable.
Exercise: In a green space, practice Posture exercises during the walk, where the dog approaches you or another person present, and you associate this with something positive (petting, encouragement, play). The goal is to teach the dog to associate humans with something pleasant and, more importantly, to teach the fearful dog to walk with you rather than fleeing, escaping, and avoiding what scares him.
3. Two Additional Tips to Facilitate Dog Habituation
Tip #1: Feed Part of the Meal on the Street
During your dog walks, work with something genuinely appetizing, like ham, cheese, sausages, salami, anything the dog loves, to redirect the dog's attention to the reward and associate your outings with something pleasant. The more fearful the dog is, the higher the reward's value should be.
<<If the dog refuses the treat, use more enticing food.>>
Tip #2: Use Clicker Training Method
As previously seen in the chapter on habituation to noise, it is recommended to use the Clicker Training method with a fearful dog to help him associate the outside world with something pleasant through positive learning linked to the distinctive sound of the small metallic box! This will help condition him to enjoy going out, become more confident, and stop being afraid.
Overcoming Fear and Building Confidence in Your Fearful Dog
With a fearful dog, you will need to show patience and perseverance. If you follow these recommendations, you will see very good results in the long run. Remember that it is essential to regularly visit stimulating and varied places for your dog, or else he will continue to be fearful. Organize a sensory stimulation course with your family or friends to prepare for noise habituation in your pet; the younger the dog, the better, but even adult dogs can benefit from getting the necessary "click." Work both at home and outside, and progress through the method step by step. Remember that dogs often mirror their owner's behavior ("There are no bad dogs, only bad owners..."), so set a good example, with firmness and kindness, so that your canine friend becomes confident in turn and follows you, even when he is afraid.
