Nervous puppy? This should help!

Is your dog SHY, TIMID, or NERVOUS, and you’d like to find ways to practically BUILD their confidence? 💪🏼

Here are 3 things we’d look at & work on!

1. Desensitization

One of the most important things you can proactively do when you bring your puppy home is start desensitizing them.

This looks like gradually exposing them to new situations, so that during their imprint period (the 1st 8 months—when most of their associations and behaviours are being developed & shaped) they become more confident and able to adapt to things in a neutral way without being destabilized or triggered.

What desensitization looks like:

Taking car rides, going to construction sites to watch and observe, visiting dog-friendly stores, walking in a busier part of the city or outside of the normal route & location, people watching, going to a field where kids play sports, keeping up with grooming regularly (baths, blowdrying, brushing) and practicing CALMNESS in each environment.

In my experience with dogs, the smaller their world gets, the quicker their fear grows.

Doing these things with repetition & frequency will help their confidence grow in real time.

2. Less Excitement, more direction

It’s quite common that with shy/nervous dogs, people rely very heavily on fostering excitement and “hands-off parenting” because they want everything to be non-threatening & positive for their sensitive dog.

However, an overexcited mind is, like Bethany @walkingdogtraining says:

“the ultimate breeding ground for anxiety.”

Your pup needs to know it is safe to calm down, vs react in fear.

You can work on this by using less baby talk & excitement, and providing more confident direction (not leaving all the decision making up to them).

Do more of this!

-Short-leash walks (aka, walking beside you, not pulling to sniff/pee/interact with everything on the walk)

-Place time during meals, while you’re cooking, or when they’re frequently too excited during the day

-Kennel time (especially at night or when you’re gone)

-Practicing the “wait” command before exiting rooms, the house, car, etc, till calm.

3. Pride of accomplishment

I find that the less that is required of a dog that’s nervous, the more inward they can tend to go.

Giving them a job where they can be realistically challenged, but in turn feel proud of themselves for accomplishing, can greatly help boost confidence.

Depending on your dog’s interests and natural bend towards different things, that can look like agility training, scent work, recall training, or learning “place” or “wait” as new commands are all a job for them to put their mind & body towards mastering.

Skipping or skimming on training with any dog is going to have repercussions, but for a more timid dog, you will see it expressed in their lack of confidence and fear of anything and everything.

“The best one-size-fits-all training advise: Whether your dog is shy, insecure, fearful, pushy, bratty, reactive...The answer is the same:

Teach your dog to listen to and prioritize the training OVER their insecurities, fears, or negative impulses. It’s that simple.” -@TheGoodDogSean

Give these practices a try and see what happens!

We have found them to be very helpful with many puppies :)

The Rocky Legend Doodles Family