Nervy Dog - Any Solutions?

[ruthless]

Maybe even video

[MonElite]

OMG!!!!!!!!! You are serious and on a mission!!! I

good luck

[ruthless]

I've made this all too public, now I have to follow through

[MonElite]

Ruthless are you all fired up??

[ruthless]

Something like that Nice perms!

[corvus]

I know someone who rehabilitates aggressive dogs and she is of the opinion that sometimes frightened dogs can benefit quite a lot from actually offering them affection when they are afraid (I know, anathema!). Anyway, I have discussed at length with her how with some dogs it seems to help them manage their fear if their owners acknowledge it. I'm not talking cooing and coddling and making baby noises, but just calmly bringing them in close and putting a comforting arm around them or something. My dog is afraid of loud noises, and I have found over the years that if it's really loud, I may need to sit with her to keep her calm. If I ingore her completely, she's likely to become hysterical, but if I very quietly come and sit next to her and just put a hand on her and say nothing very much, she finds it calming.

What I'm getting at is a bit convoluted and a fair bit of guesswork, but if you have a nervy, reactive dog, one thing you can do for them is show them that you see what is so scary and you don't find it scary. I think there's an exercise in the book Control Unleashed that involves getting the dog to look at what scares them, then look back to you. I have heard some really great things about it helping reactive dogs. Someone else I know went to a seminar by the author in the states. The demonstration dog was such a pro, the trainer would say "look at that" and he'd look at the scary thing, and then she'd say "look at me" and he'd look back at her and no reactivity.