Dog is Fearful of New People: Free Tips to Help Dog Anxiety

For this Omaha dog training session, we worked with Odin, a 1 year-old American Eskimo. This young dog is fearful of new people who visit his home.

Odin protested with a lot of barking as soon as I entered his home. This was clearly a fer based response. An emotional response. As such, I advised his humans not disagree or try to correct him. If you are having an emotional outburst, its because you are past your limit. Any disagreement or punishment will only make it worse. Same thing for a dog is fearful of new people.

I gave him a few moments to settle himself down, but when that didn’t work, I had his guardian leash him up and I took him out for a short walk. Often changing the enviroment, especially when moving outside, can help dogs feel less anxious due the extra space and distractions that come form being outside.

After his walk, Odin was considerably more comfortable than before. Taking a dog out for a short walk is an old dog behavior trick we use at our low volume dog daycare when introducing excited dogs. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop his barking completely. So, I used a few more dog psychology tricks to calm him down.

Why a Dog is Fearful of New People?

To help Odin get over his fear of new people, his guardians will need to take on more of a leader role, at least in the dog’s eyes. Many people think having no rules and structure is a way of “being nice” to the dog. In my experience as a dog behaviorist, I often see dogs that are confused about their role at home when people dont provide clear communication and direction.

In other situations, we can find a dog fearful of new people due to lack of early exposure to them when the dog is a puppy. This is why we stress introducing puppies to a variety of new people when its young in our puppy classes.

That confusion about his place and lack of early socializaiton was the case with Odin, but I believe it went even farther than that. Because the dog felt like he was in charge and fearful too, he was trying to communicate directions and commands to his humans and guests in a paniced way. When they didn’t listen to him, that frustrated and stressed him out even further.

For Odin to relax, his humans need to take charge at home. Consistently enforcing rules and structure will help with this. This doesnt mean punishing your dog, rather following through, providing structure and teaching him what they do and dont want him to do.

To accomplish this I showed the guardians how to use a marker word, the importance of recognizing and listening to Odin when he communicated he was uncomfortable, fearful or disagreed by reading his cut off signals and signs of consent. These are all super important things to do if your dog is fearful of new people.

I also went over the importance of celebrating desired behaviors (sitting, coming, laying down, going to the dog bed, etc) to help Odin know he will get attention when he does them. This is probably the most important dog training tip there is and it can go a long way to help a fearful dog.

Are American Eskimo Dogs Aggressive?

American Eskimo dogs are not an aggressive breed. They are friendly, alert, and eager to please. While they can be wary of strangers and may bark when someone new arrives, they are generally well-behaved. Its not normal for an American Eskimo to act this way. Something happens that creates a situation where the dog is fearful of new people.

This breed is usually loyal, intelligent, and playful; making them great companions. They are also very social and enjoy being around their owners. So that was why his behavior was odd. Its not normal when a dog is fearful of new people.

American Eskimos are highly trainable and respond well to positive reinforcement. They are energetic and need daily exercise and mental stimulation to stay happy and healthy. One of the tips I recommended was to have them go outside to meet new guests and go for a short walk together before heading inside.

Its going to be really important to help Odin feel comfortable when new people are involved. Making them feel calm and confident is one of the first things you need to do if your dog is fearful of new people

After talking about changes in his daily life, I gave my camera to Odin’s guardians so I could shoot a video filled with tips to help this fearful dog, but he started barking when they were filming me instead of giving him attention. I decided to stop filming and just explained all the tips one on one.

I promised Odin’s humans Id share a video I shot with another client who’s dog is fearful of new people too. If you have a fearful dog, check out the free positive dog training video below.

Dog anxiety is a very real and common factor when a dog is fearful of new people. This can come from many places like not being exposed to new people as a pup, negative experiences or a combination of factors.  You dont end up with a dog fearful of new people in a vacuum. Unfortunately its often hard to see when you are doing things that will cause a puppy to grow into a dog is fearful of new people.

The good thing about dogs is how adaptable and risilient they can be. You dont have to accept that a dog is fearful of new people forever. While Odin may never become a social butterfly, there are many things his people can do to help build his confidence so he stops being a fearful dog.

Tips for Combatting Dog Anxiety

I recommended that the guardians teach Odin some new tricks and commands; one a week for the next 2-4 months. They dont have to be hard. Something simple like a teaching him to spin will work. Learning new tricks will boost Odin’s confidence and also help the humans practice being leaders in the dog’s eyes.

Poor little Odin was pretty stressed out, thinking he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Now that his family knows how to talk to him in a way he understands, they will soon see a more relaxed dog. His behavior should improve quickly. Hopefully we can help this dog fearful of new people learn that new people arent so scarry.

The more the humans celebrate desired behaviors, enforce the rules, increase his exposure in a positive way and respect his cut of signals, the more confident Odin will become. By changing the leader-follower dynamic, Odin will feel less nervous around new people. He won’t think he has to lead, protect, or guard his family anymore.

I promised his guardians I would share a video on how to help Odin feel bettyer about strangers called the engage disengage game. You can watch that video that helps when a dog fearful of new people with some treats and distance below.

The great tg=hing about this trick to help when a dog is fearful of new people is that its easy and you can do it anywhere as long as the dog isnt scared of the place. This is how we take a fearful dog or an anxious dog and create whats known as a positive emotional response.

To help your dog fearful of new people, go at thier pace, create positive situations, watch for cut off signals or dog anxiety signs while you create positive associations. If you do, you will find your dog is fearful of new people with less intensity and eventually (as long as you help them feel safe) not respond at all.

I hope that with these positive dog training tips Odin will no longer be a fearful dog and stop barking in distress to let them know they are dealing with a dog fearful of new people.