I would suggest that you don't reward/reinforce her scared behavior by petting and reassuring when she is acting afraid. If you act calm and self assured and don't react to her timid/scared behavior you will send a message to Zoey that there is no reason to be afraid. Start with small low level stress situations and let Zoey learn from you that there is nothing to be afraid of and as she learns to be more self-confident progress to more scary situations.
I learned this from my favorite horse trainer, and it works with horses, dogs, and humans as well. |