Fear of a Dog Collar: Easy Tips for Helping a Fearful Pup

In this Omaha dog training session, we work with a friendly 1-year-old Shiba Inu named Kenji. We help him overcome his fear of a dog collar.

Before I shared some tips to stop a dog from fearing the collar, we talked at length about establishing a healthy leader-follower dynamic, shared tips on exercise and how to add a little structure to help a dog feel more confident in his human.

Helping a Pup with a Fear of a Dog Collar

At the end of the session, I showed the guardian how to use a Conditioned Emotional Response, or CER. This method can help a dog overcome their fear of wearing a collar.

Looking back, I wish we had filmed the video on how to stop a dog from being scared of a collar earlier. A few of the exercises we went over before (establishing an invisible boundary) had a lingering effect.

Combined with how intense Kenji’s fear of the dog collar was turned out to be a bad combination.

Kenji used avoidance or moved away. These actions make it hard to help a dog overcome a fear using a CER.

Stop a Dog from Fearing the Collar with CER

Helping a dog overcome a fear with a CER is one of my favorite dog training methods. It often leads to faster progress, as shown in this video from another session.

If the guardian uses this tip, he can help the dog stop fearing the collar. When Kenji is calm and relaxed, he should use the collar I gave him.

This collar did not cause a strong reaction. By doing this, he can help his dog feel less scared of the collar. The great thing about this method for helping a dog with collar fear is that you don’t need to be a pro.

Because he lives so close, I asked him to call or text me if he is having issues with the technique. If so, I might stop by for a quick tutorial. This is separate from what scared Kenji during the home dog training session.

To help Kenji’s guardian remember what we talked about, I made a roadmap to success video. Check out the free summary video below.