fear, beautiful?

it immobilizes. it distorts. it robs us of our sense of safety.

but also….

it puts us on alert. it heightens our senses. it prepares us to survive and overcome.

terrible and beautiful, then? I have been thinking a lot about fear recently, and how simple it seems at first glance. we do not tend to question it. we know what it feels like, we have all experienced it. 

But there are so many layers and nuances. if we are being honest, we really struggle to recognize and understand our own (human) fear -- and fear in dogs is even harder for us to see and understand.

Would you be surprised if I told you that your obnoxious over-exuberant greeter might be actually afraid? we call it "fawn". it’s class clowning or hyper appeasement. here’s more detail…

What does fear look like?

Fear response is a survival mechanism (not a behavior choice). the fact is that if your dog is confronted with something they are afraid of, they have to choose (super fast, so it's not a conscious deliberative choice - more of an instinct or habit) what the safest course of action is to stay safe. your dog does not always know what you know — so some things that seem obviously safe to you may feel super unsafe to your dog…

Flight. If they can, dogs will often run away. this is "conflict avoidance" behavior, and many dogs will choose this by pulling on the leash, or running as far as they can, or just retreating until they feel safe/reach a place they believe is safe (like a crate or bed). this behavior can be really subtle, with something like head turns away, crouching to the ground, ducking the head, blinking, or even just taking a step or two away. think about the last time you were trying to end a conversation politely and you started to glance around the room, or lean away from your conversation partner…. of course, it can also get really intense, with your dog pulling so hard that they are choking on the collar.

Fight: If they cannot run away or if they have learned in the past that trying to avoid conflict does not work (scary things chase me while I am moving away; I can never get away fast enough because... leash and harness), the dog may begin preparing for conflict instead of avoiding it. Sometimes, the dog is physically free to move away but feels trapped because they are in what feels like a safe place. many dogs are more afraid of leaving safety than of fighting for their safe space (and YOU may be part of what makes that space safe). As part of the "fight" sequence, many dogs will behave in ways that try to push the scary thing away from them by standing their ground and being really loud and big or by running up to the scary thing really fast and barking. 

Staying safe usually means getting more distance from the scary thing. dogs do this by moving away, or by making the scary thing move away. but dogs have more choices than fight or flight.

Freeze: this happens when there is a chance to go “invisible”… when any other behavior seems pointless, or when any other behavior may make things worse. it can be a "micro-freeze" moment of choice right before the dog shifts into fight or flight. it can turn into a longer term behavior: "learned helplessness" is used to describe the shutting down of almost all behavior, and dogs who do this usually sink or crumple to the ground, roll onto their back and stay there, move like robots in slow motion, or just sleep a lot. you may see muscle shivering and drooling and darting eye movement - but the general idea is to disappear into the woodwork by being as still and quiet as possible until the calculus of danger has shifted. this happens often when fight AND flight have not worked or when danger is really overwhelming and close by for a long time. 

Fawn: have you ever seen a dog engaging in intense and repetitive behaviors of jumping up, nipping, tugging on clothing or hair, hands and legs, grabbing things from tables or the floor and running around with them, disregarding personal space and cutoff signals while belly crawling or wiggling upside down, licking the face, bumping the face with the nose? this is an anxious class-clown or exaggerated "I'm a baby puppy, please love me" set of appeasement behaviors. dogs engage in this behavior when they are conflicted: they want to connect but are worried about the potential interaction, or do not know how to interact; or when they do not have access to any of the other options: they can’t flee, because they are fenced in and they can’t fight because they are not strong enough and they can’t freeze because they have already been discovered.

see more fear behavior in your dog now?

It may feel disheartening and you may even feel guilty, but don’t stop there. all dogs have fear response. it is a beautiful survival mechanism. we all have it, because we all need it. some dogs are pre-disposed to be extra sensitive to potential danger (this is partly because of genetics and partly because of early learning and partly because of the environment the dog is in) but all dogs have a set of fear response behaviors. it is meant to keep them alive and safe. we need some fear response and we cannot train it away. 

Fear is not the enemy and you didn’t make your dog fearful!

It is often more helpful to learn how to cope with fear (learn skills) and to manage the environment (lower the odds of stress responses) so the brain and body can use fear in a healthy way when it is needed than it is to try to erase fear itself.

how to help:

Consider the different types of fear behavior that you see, and ask when does the behavior happen (environment, trigger, distance), how intense (volume, force, duration) is it and how often (chronic or intermittent)

Your trainer may ask you to keep a journal or diary of your dog's behavior, which can be an invaluable tool.

Some fear-based behavior is more easily changed than others, but dogs are generally unaware of their fear and are simply surviving as best they know how.

A lot of fearful and reactive behavior , but the fear response can persist. There are times in a dogs life when they are more sensitive and fearful: 

• developmental fear phase in puppies

• adolescence

• old age

• sudden lifestyle changes

• pain and physical imbalance

what next?

contact us if you are looking for help with your fearful dog