Owners of fearful and fear aggressive dogs often make the mistake of thinking that mere exposure to people will improve the problem. Although this does occasionally happen, in many cases the dog actually becomes more sensitized and reactive to the presence of people. Just taking a dog to day care or walking it around the neighborhood and letting people try to force “friendship” on the dog is dangerous for the dog and the people. Sending the dog to a boot camp also often makes the dog worse. The dog is surrounded by strangers and stressed dogs, and these facilities may use harsh training methods, which are contraindicated for fearful animals. Fear aggression is not a hierarchy problem, and the fearfulness is not related to the dog’s status with the owner.
At this point, a structured behavior-modification program focusing on counterconditioning is needed for this puppy. The behavior-modification program gives the dog a set of alternative skills by which she can cope with fear-evoking situations.
The clinician first should identify 3 specific pieces of information:
- Proximal antecedents (eg, people within 6 feet of the dog and/or reaching toward her)
- Problem behavior (eg, growling and lunging at people)
- Consequence that reinforces the behavior (eg, person withdraws, owner pets dog)
Once these pieces are clarified, a methodical behavior-modification program can be devised and implemented, starting with teaching some basic foundation skills. Basic foundation skills often include simple obedience behaviors (eg, sit, down, come, walk on a loose leash), nose targeting, and eye contact with owner (a “look” or “watch me” cue). Relaxation techniques are also of paramount importance for helping to modulate the dog’s emotional responses.1