6 commons fears that dogs have and how to overcome them
Even though they’re amongst the best protectors of people and property, dogs do have their own weaknesses and phobias.
Most of them are pretty common throughout all breeds and types of dogs.
In this article, we’ll list 6 of them. In addition to that, we are also going to tell solutions, what you can do in order to help them overcome these fears or reduce the impact it has on them.
So, let’s look at what fears most commonly trouble our four-legged pets.
Being left alone suddenly (separation anxiety)
We begin with probably the most noticeable and sweet but simultaneously annoying phobia or character trait. The dog will never be okay with the human leaving the home.
More so, if it happens suddenly. Their reaction isn’t great and causes disruption for the neighbors. Dogs with separation anxiety begin barking, acting destructively (out of revenge) or become very glum.
The solution to this is to gradually desensitise the pup to being alone.
Nail clipping
Now, for a more particular fear – nail clipping. In general, a lot of first-time dog owners could be strangely surprised when they see that their pet won’t cooperate when they seek to trim their nails.
Googling ‘My dog refuses to let me cut his nails’ can lead you to the answer why.
In all honesty, there are a few solutions that depend on the circumstance. If you’re using clippers, change it to a grinder.
If you or another person has hurt them before while trimming their nails, that’s something you can expect.
Once you buy the grinder, turn it on and leave it be, so the pup hears it. They need to get accustomed to the sound.
Furthermore, you have to be gentle, slow and let the dog adapt to your pace. You might also try buying a dog grooming table to help with the whole process.
Fireworks & thunder
These two are probably noticed by many.
The fear of thunder is called Astraphobia and Phonophobia is the term used to describe fear of fireworks.
As you know, dogs have about 3-4 times more sensitive hearing than us, humans.
This means that the bang of a firework is super loud and very scary. In terms of thunder, the lightning flashes just add to the fear factor.
In both cases, the best remedy and helping method is to just be supportive to your dog.
If you see that they’re trembling, flattened their ears, opened their eyes very wide and started whining, pick them up, hug them and say nice words.
The worst time for dogs with Phonophobia is New Year’s. Some people lock them out in a separate room where there’s little noise but once again, the best solution is just being supportive and available throughout the event.
Vets
Quite a large chunk of dogs doesn’t respond too well when being closely examined by strangers. After a few visits the fear might be overcome. The most you can and should do is just be close by. BTW: My dogs is afraid of pet paintings.
Stairs
This is a fear which is most prominent on little puppies. If your dog doesn’t break this fear early on in their life, it only gets more difficult from there on out. However, the fear of stairs isn’t something that needs to be viewed at like it’s a bad thing. The first time that a dog goes up and down the stairs can be quite fun. You need to encourage and be visible to them during their journey. Use positive reinforcement and be patient.
Vacuum cleaners and other household appliances
If it whirs, vibrates, makes any kind of other noise and just disturbs the silence, the dog is keen to know about it. However, if the thing moves and vibrates (e.g. robot vacuum cleaner), they need time to adjust to it.
Make sure you’re close by, to prevent them from doing something bad and keep them safe while you’re at it.