Tips to help a dog afraid of Strangers

For this Omaha dog training session we worked with 4 year-old Staffordshire Terrier mix Zeus; sharing tips to help a dog afraid of strangers.

Zeus lives with a 10 month-old puppy named Rosie who has helped him with some of his anxiety, but has also picked up some of his nervous ticks.

In our first session, we focused on some fundamentals; establishing a marker word, teaching the humans how to use it with hand targeting as well as the importance of celebrating desired behaviors.  Many people accidentally contribute to their dog’s problems, or in some cases, cause them. I always go through a number of fundamentals to make sure that people are communicating to their dog the way they intend.

For our second session we did a quick recap of what we covered last week. Aftter reviewing thier timing and technique, I went over dog consent, affirmation and cut off signals. Learning these nonverbal cues can help people better understand what their dog does and does not like. This is a very underrated, but important aspect of a healthy human dog dynamic.

Tips to Help A Dog Afraid of Strangers

During the first 2 sessions, I avoided direct eye contact with Zeus. Instead, I watched him with an indirect look and focused on Rosie and the guardians. Periodically, Zeus  would venture closer to me to investigate before moving away. I made sure I held still and did not try to pet or talk to Zeus when this happened.

Humans often think the best way to make friends with the dog is to pet them. While many dogs like this, dogs that are afraid of people they don’t know would prefer to sniff you and not have you move or try to pet them. It takes a lot of courage to walk up to a human for scared dogs and movement can startle or scare them.

As Omaha’s resident dog behavior expert, I always wait for a dog to approach me three or four times on its own before I hold my hand out to see if the dog is interested in having me pet them. This can be hard to do as we want to let the dog know that we are no threat and we want to love them but for a dog that is fearful of strangers.

A great way to help dogs afraid of strangers is to create a positive association. Many people like to use treats for this, they offer the treat to the dog or toss it halfway between the dog and the person to lure the dog over. While this isn’t the worst thing in the world, I prefer a different approach to help dogs scared of strangers.

I pulled out my camera and handed it to the guardian so that I could show her an easy way to increase confidence in dogs afraid of people. If you have a dog that has stranger danger or your dog does not like meeting new people, you should definitely check out the free positive dog training tip below.

This is a great exercise for dogs afraid of strangers because they can moderate the distance between them and the person. This is the primary reason I prefer this exercise to help dogs fearful of new people because when the dog chooses to come closer, it’s intentional. This is another way to read dogs beyond their body language. This helps fearful dogs build confidence at their pace.

Once the dog understands the concept, they usually start gradually creeping closer to the person who is throwing the treats. As I mentioned previously, it’s important for that person to understand that if the dog does make it all the way to them, they should hold still and let the dog sniff them.

Other Ways to Help a Dog Afraid of Strangers

For a fearful dog, not moving when they approach you can be a positive reinforcement. In this case, not moving is a great way to reward your dog. WHile a pet is meant positively, if the dog doesnt want it, forcing your dog to be pet can increase fearful behavior in dogs. Pretty much the opposite of helping them overcome thier fears.

If the dog comes near, but is not sniffing, the person can hold the treat out for the dog (preferably on the right or left side of the human as this is more approachable than a the front). If they turn away or wont take the treat, the human should just drop it on the floor when the dog is watching. Do not point out where the treat is or verbally encourage the dog, you just need to make sure the dog sees it drop. At this stage, we just give the treats for no reason other than the dog approaching us.

After a short time, if the dog shows that they are comfortable by lingering, sniffing, sitting or laying down near the person, the next step might before the person to ask the dog for a sit or down (provided the dog knows how to do that cue). This can help us underatand if a dog is fearful of people or not.

When you get to this stage, be mindful that sometimes when a dog feels uncomfortable, they will not sit or lay down. So the person should not ask for the sit or down multiple times. Instead they should interpret the dogs not sitting as saying I don’t feel comfortable enough to do that now.

That’s ok. We want fearful dogs to feel in control when possibe. This helps them perceive things in a more positive way. We want to expose your dog to things at the pace they can handle.

Dogs afraid of strangers can warm up if the person is passive and gives the dog time and space. Some dogs progress quickly, others need more time. The dog needs as much time as it needs. As humans, we are often on our own timetable. But when you’re dealing with Dog Psychology, you have to go at the patient’s pace. This is another highly underated aspect of dog behavior modification.

I’d like the guardians to arrange for friends that will listen to them to come by and practice this technique to help dogs afraid of people.  Some of our friends listen, and some of them don’t. It is important to find volunteers in the former category.

I recommended the guardians for the page that this write up is on all their new guest so they can read and watch the technique ahead of time.

In some cases, dogs who are scared of strangers need to meet them a few times before they warm up. This is totally fine and in fact normal. But often, if the guardians practice this technique often, the dog starts to learn that new people result in a lot of positives and nothing negative.

I find it very rewarding to help a friend of strangers because I know this is going to make a pretty substantial impact on their quality of life.

I look forward to returning to Zeus and Rosie‘s home next week to see how well they respond to the positive dog training tips I’ve been sharing these in-home Omaha dog training sessions.