Helping a Fearful Dog Get Over Her Fear of Unknown Sounds

For this Louisville dog training session we used counterconditioning to help 1 year-old female Jack Russell Gus (Pictured here on the right with roomie 3 year-old Rylee) get over her fear of unknown noises.

The dogs were very anxious when I first arrived, but Gus was far less confident and clearly fearful; darting away any time I moved or tried to interact with her.

I sat down with the guardian to discuss the dog behavior problems and how I could help.

I learned the dogs were exercised, but not enough so I shared some creative ways to exercise them inside and shared tips on how to add structure to help them relax and instead feel confident in their human’s leadership abilities.

I also suggested some rules and ways to motivate the dogs to want to listen to the humans. As it was before the session, the dogs had little motivation to listen to the humans. By playing a little hard to get, rewarding desired behaviors and petting with a purpose, im confident the humans can help this fearful dog stop feeling so scared.

One of the issues was that the dog was afraid of different sounds like crinkling a water bottle or the sound of the vacuum cleaner. You can find out how to help a dog stop fearing unknown sounds by watching the free dog behavior video below.

Using counterconditioning to help a dog get over the fear of sounds is pretty easy if you go at the dog’s approach and don’t push too far too fast. You don’t have to be a professional Jack Russell Terrier trainer to do it either.

To help the guardians remember all the dog psychology tips I shared in this in home dog training session, we shot a roadmap to success video that you can check out below.