by Diane Garrod

Created on: September 23, 2009   Last Updated: January 29, 2010

Rehabilitating a fearful dog is very rewarding. Transforming a dog from fear to fearless starts with discovering exactly what they fear and why. Pairing the dog's fear with something pleasant starts the rehabilitation process. The dog learns how to cope with their fear in real life.

If a broom falls to the floor and makes a loud sound causing the dog to jump and run for cover, it is reasonable to assume it will happen again. Soon all brooms, whether they have fallen or not will become an object to fear. Then sounds similar to the one made by the broom now become something else to fear.

Recovery from an incident like this means pairing a pleasant experience with the broom and then the sound. Being calm yourself when something like this occurs is also a key to rehabilitation. Drop a handful of yummy treats around the object, something your dog can't resist starts the process. When the dog comes over to investigate and eat, you put this response on cue, saying "check it out!" in a happy, encouraging voice. The treats and the tone of your voice help minimize the fear response associated with the broom and the cue to "check it out" brings them back in to investigate. When they return, they see nothing happens to them and recovery from brooms and loud sounds starts to build confidence.

Some are much more powerful, to for instance other dogs or people. Deep fears can even cause a dog to have a lack of trust for months and even years. Dogs can be fearful due to genetics, nurture or both. Rehabilitating a fearful dog can be done in the following steps.

Discover Where The Fear Derives

Again, dogs fear many things - people, objects, other dogs, breeds of dogs, sounds, pressures, closed spaces, fast movements or a combination of all of these. For instance, a dog might fear people with dogs, people staring and moving quickly toward them, sound of dog tags or car keys dropping on the floor.

Take time to list exactly what your dog fears. Proof your assumptions. For instance, a man with a bulky parka, hat and cell phone walks by and the dog reacts by lunging and barking or runs behind you and cowers. An owner might assume the dog is afraid of men or it could be assumed they are afraid of caps or bulky parkas. Present a variety of men in neutral clothing. If the dog reacts to all of them, their fear manifests itself to men. Now take apart the pieces, bulky parka, cellphone, hat. Does the dog react to any of these, if so this is another object of fear. Pair each separately with

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