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Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly  A lot of trainers' books I have read saying "it's alright" or "you're okay", plus other soothing things to a shaking, fearful dog only reinforces to them that that reaction and their present state is approved of by you and they associate it with your praise as the right thing to do. I know - it goes against human nature not to do that but the dog trainers all seem to agree it's not good to soothe a scared dog that way. The trainers I read say it is better not to soothe a dog in the same way you would a fearful person but rather try to boost their confidence during that time by getting them up and active, playing tugowar, chasing their ball or giving them a treat-stuffed kong toy, asking them to do a little agility jumping - anything to redirect their energy off the fear and onto something they like to do. My Tibbe loves his obedience and agility training and when he acts fearfully, I get him busy jumping his little jump about 4" off the floor, or playing or chasing him which he loves. And I am saying very positive things to him, words that bring confidence and kind of positive associations with me, which kind of build me up and make me confident and he picks up on that. So we play and race around and jump, etc., while I am saying things like "Touchdown!", "Go get 'em, Tough Guy", "You're the Best!", calling him "hero", "champ", those kinds of positive words that I kind of say with gusto. It gets him pumped up and full of himself and he goes into a different state. I don't know if that will work for your baby but it sure does with my Tibbe. He was kept in a cage outdoors for the first 9 mos. of his life so he was a very fearful, especially of sounds, anxious, biting, screaming dog when I got him, totally unsocialized and everybody was his enemy. Now he loves people to death, is so well-behaved and 99% less fearful than he was. Sounds like an odd way to train a fearful, shaking dog but it has worked for Tibbe and all other fearful dogs I've ever worked with. |
Just today, I had to take little Maxie to the Vet to refill a prescription and for initial weight monitoring (he has severe collapsing trachea) and he began to shake and cough and honk til I was frightened that he might not catch his breath... I had read, too, that using their name, and trying to be soothing could actually make the situation worse. Out of desperation, I started rubbing his back and singing an old Girl Scout Camp Song pretty loud (my God, they would have put me away if anyone could have seen/heard inside my car) and he quit shaking and coughing. I sang loud, and cheerfully until we got home, and then he settled down on his own.
It's so hard to know what the right thing to do is. Max has a Thundershirt, too. But with his condition, I'm reluctant to put anything around his neck or chest.