Comments on: Maybe Your Dog Doesn’t Have To Be Fearless

By: Leigh

Leigh — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 16:15:14 +0000

I think this is great; too many people expect their dogs to be brave when they get scared of things too. I know my cat gets scared here and there as well, but maybe being a “scaredy cat” isn’t so bad in either cats or dogs.

By: Jen Gabbard

Jen Gabbard — Tue, 24 May 2016 17:14:06 +0000

Bravo! Sometimes we need to take a look at ourselves when it comes to fear, and then take a look at how our dogs are handling it. One of my biggest pet peeves is the notion that we’re just ‘coddling’ our dogs if we help them manage their fears. If you just throw a fearful dog outside in the middle of a thunderstorm I can’t imagine that the results would be anything other than just adding way more stress & anxiety to the dog.

By: 24 Paws of Love

24 Paws of Love — Tue, 24 May 2016 04:05:45 +0000

Excellent post Pamela! This is exactly how I think about our dogs and myself when it comes to fears. There’s nothing wrong with a little anxiety, in fact its natural. I hate when dog owners feel there is a problem and must fix it. We used this philosophy with Brut all the time. I couldn’t control his fears, but I stood right by him as he went through them and vice versa. Best thing I’ve ever done with Brut and the other dogs. And I’m sure Honey appreciates you for letting her be Honey just as well.

Hope you are having safe travels. Give that girl a squeeze from all of us!

You can’t have a perfect dog.

By: Jackie Bouchard

Jackie Bouchard — Wed, 18 May 2016 22:26:27 +0000

I definitely have fears – like you said, some I don’t feel a need to get over (“no, I don’t want to hold your pet tarantula, thank you”), but others I sometimes have to work around (flying – ugh. But sometimes if you wanna go certain places you just gotta deal – and take the human Rescue Remedy stuff!). So we do the same with Rita. She’s afraid of the ocean (although she loves other bodies of water) so when we go to the beach, even if she’s hot I don’t try to make her go in – it’s her choice. I don’t feel any need to help her work on that fear. Unfortunately she’s also started having anxiety about long car rides, but since we like to take her along on road trips with us, we’re working on that one. (Trying to anyway…) One fear we’ve made great progress with is the broom. She used to be terrified of it and would slink away as fast as possible whenever I got it out. She’s still a tiny bit afraid of it, but just this morning she was following me around while I was sleeping and I was praising her like crazy. It is nice to see them get over some of their fears, but like you said – they don’t need to get over all of them! (Besides, I think having a completely fearless dog might be a little worrisome! They might get themselves into some trouble if they didn’t have *any* fears.)

By: Groovy Goldendoodles

Groovy Goldendoodles — Wed, 18 May 2016 20:13:18 +0000

I learned early on that dogs are like people in the sense that they are unique in personality and make-up even if they’re the same breed. Harley, Leo and Jaxson are similar but couldn’t be more different. What bothered Leo, never phased Harley and Jaxson could care less about anything! LOL Harley’s anxiety towards the 4th of July is his alone, and I embrace it with him. Like my fear of squirrels, it’s real and I acknowledge that with him and the fire works. We’re okay with the little quirks… We’ve all got them.

By: Lauren Miller (ZoePhee)

Lauren Miller (ZoePhee) — Wed, 18 May 2016 19:12:01 +0000

I used to be the sort of person who thought that the dog must get over whatever freaked her out. It did help in most of Phee’s initial fears because I treated Phoenix like she was a normal dog (whatever Zoe did, Phoenix did too) and she overcame a lot of the stuff pretty quickly. She learned that it was okay to be touched, that she liked wearing sweaters and that getting her teeth brushed was awesome. She learned that she could trust me.

I think there definitely needs to be some sort of balance because I know people who will not do stuff to their dogs because they feel like it’s forceful and they are “force free trainers”. I knew someone who refused to give her dog a bath after he peed himself and I honestly just think there’s a fine line between helping them to overcome their problems or helping them to continue to be helpless. We all have to do stuff we don’t like sometimes and it’s the same for our pups.

That being said, there are things our dogs don’t have to do and I’m slowly accepting the fact that Phoenix just doesn’t really enjoy being around other dogs. I’m not really sure it’s something I can change because she has a long history of not liking dogs. Zoe is terrified of noises and I’m not sure I can “fix” that either. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m actually tired of trying and some days I’m just like whatever “it is what it is”. We will be making an appointment soon for Zoe so I can get sedatives for the 4th of July and with Phoenix I’ve been avoiding places with lots of dogs.

By: Skye

Skye — Wed, 18 May 2016 01:43:35 +0000

Separation Anxiety (SA) in a dog can be helped with the help of a knowledgeable trainer or behaviorist. An excellent book and fascinating is Animal Madness. (http://dogevals.blogspot.com/2014/12/book-review-animal-madness-dogs-other.html) And Malena de Martini-Price is now accrediting trainers with knowledge of helping dogs with SA and has a lovely book out, Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs with a wealth of information.

This is a wonderful blog that puts it all in perspective and is hopeful. I love Pamela’s writing style and content, always so helpful to dogs and their people, too.

By: Monika & Sam

Monika & Sam — Wed, 18 May 2016 01:11:28 +0000

In reply to Pamela. You got it! :)

By: Pamela

Pamela — Tue, 17 May 2016 23:55:48 +0000

In reply to Monika & Sam. So you can live to be cautious another day, right? :)

By: Pamela

Pamela — Tue, 17 May 2016 23:55:21 +0000

In reply to Patricia Dareneau. Haha! I hope your mini listens. Sometimes dogs are the best teachers of other dogs. The foster dog, Cherie, in the picture taught Honey the bike cart wasn't so scary. And Cherie relied on Honey to help her go for a walk when a storm was starting.