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This is the Puppy Training Podcast , episode

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152 , helping your puppy

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overcome fears . This

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podcast is designed to help you on your

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journey of becoming best friends through love and

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learning , as you train your own dog from

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home , and I'm here to help you every

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step of the way . This is the Puppy Training

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Podcast , and I'm your host , amy Jensen

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. Hey

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you guys , how are you this week ? I

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hope you're doing great . We talk

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about puppies , dogs

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, all things training here on the Puppy

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Training Podcast , and today

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I want to talk about how to help your dog

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or puppy overcome a fear

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that they have . We're coming up

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on Halloween and I thought what better

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topic than fears , right , okay

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? So anytime we

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introduce a new puppy to a family our

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family , your family , whoever family it's

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an exciting experience , but it also comes with

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challenges , and one of those

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would be helping our puppy overcome something they

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are afraid of . Now , puppies , like humans

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, can develop fears of various objects

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, people or even situations , sounds

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, smells , really anything . So

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today let's talk about the use of positive reinforcement

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as an effective method to help your

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puppy overcome fear and build confidence

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, which leads to a happier

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life for everybody involved . Now

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to dive into positive reinforcement techniques

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. It's important that we understand why

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puppies develop fear in the first place

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Now . Common causes include lack

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of exposure Maybe they haven't seen something

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before Negative experiences

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, so maybe something in the past that spooked them

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. They do remember that or even possible

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genetic predispositions . Now , as

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a responsible pet handler , recognizing the

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signs of fear in your puppy is essential . So

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you need to know what their body language looks like

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and what it's telling you . So these signs

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might include trembling , cowering

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, excessive barking , pinned

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ears , a tight mouth or attempting

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to escape . Anytime their body is

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tucked in , curled up

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, looking away , trying to

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get away . Those are all signs

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that our puppy's probably afraid of

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something . Now the key to

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overcoming fear is positive reinforcement

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. This is a training method that encourages

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desired behaviors through rewards and praise

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rather than punishment . When applied

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to helping a fearful puppy , this approach can work

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wonders by creating a safe and encouraging

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environment for them to face their fears . So

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I'm going to give you a couple steps today to

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go through , but the first one

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is identifying the fear

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. The first step is to identify what

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specifically triggers fear in my dog

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. This could be a particular person

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, object or situation , as we mentioned

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. Now , once you've pinpointed the source

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of fear , you can work on desensitizing

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your puppy to it . Maggie is a

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sweet six-month-old Australian Labradoral who

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happens to be afraid of leaves Not

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leaves that are on the tree per se , but

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the leaves that have now fallen in my yard

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, and they're crunchy . So it makes sense

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. Her yard doesn't have large

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mature trees like my yard does , and

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she's not yet even old enough to have experienced

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dry , decaying leaves yet . So this is her

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first go at fall time in Utah

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. Anyway , she came over to my house

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this week for a play date with Baxter and right away

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I noticed she would not play

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in the leaves . So Baxter would be running

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around and she'd be chasing him , and then , as soon as he

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went in the leaves , she'd step or she'd kind

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of skirt around them . She'd run

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around the outskirts of the leaves until Baxter

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came out of the leaves to then continue chasing

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him . So aha , step number

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one I've identified the fear For

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sweet Maggie . It is dry , crunchy leaves

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that make a loud sound . So

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step number two what do we do about it ? Now that we've identified

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her fear is gradual exposure

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. So the next step is to expose

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your dog to the fear inducing stimulus

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gradually . It's really important

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that we remember the word gradually

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. Okay , they should be done in a controlled

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and safe manner . So , for example , if

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you're puppy scared of strangers , I

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might invite a trusted friend or family

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member to visit and interact with my

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dog in a calm and reassuring way . I'm

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going to set them up for success by giving

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my trusted friend and family member explicit

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instructions . Right , they're going to know exactly

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what to do and then

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my dog is also going to be set

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up for success because I know what I'm going to do with my

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dog . That's important . Let's

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say your dog is afraid of sounds . I might start

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by playing recorded sounds in a different

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room on a low level . That's a really great

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way to introduce them to

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the noises . But I can control the volume

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of the noises , which is helpful Because

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if I see my puppy showing signs that they're not

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comfortable with the sounds , I get to make those

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adjustments to help my puppy win

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in that scenario . Now , with

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Maggie and the leaves , I let her see

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and hear Baxter playing in them from a safe

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distance . Even all go join

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in and play in the leaves . We have fun

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in the leaves and we let Maggie decide when

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she is ready to join in . So she's getting this

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nice gradual exposure to

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the crunchy sound of leaves and at the same time

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she's seen Baxter and I have a ball

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inside those leaves . But she gets to decide

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when she wants to participate , all

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right . Step number three is positive associations

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. So while exposing our dogs

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to the fear trigger , use positive

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reinforcement techniques . Whenever

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our dog displays calm , non fearful

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behavior , I reward them with treats , praise

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and or affection , whatever your dog likes . This

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helps your puppy associate the fearful thing

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with positive experiences . It

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is okay to comfort your dog too , if they appear

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nervous . We also want to build

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confidence , so any interaction they give

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you with the fear stimulus , reward them

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. When I see Maggie looking at the leaves , I

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toss a food reward her way . When she steps

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into the outskirts of the leaves again more food

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rewards . I try to get her to play . Play

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is powerful . I ask her to catch your treat

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or go find her treat , as playing games

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helps them forget their fear and they start

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to feel better at the same time . Step

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number four patience and consistency

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. Overcoming fear can be a slow

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process . I like to just jot down in a

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little notebook the little wins we have each

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day to keep me going and to be motivated

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to keep working on it . It's essential

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to be patient and consistent . Consistently

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rewarding positive behavior while gradually

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increasing exposure to whatever

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our dog's fear trigger is will help

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our dog build confidence over time

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. Never , ever , force your dog

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to face their fear . They will overcome it more

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quickly by letting them decide when they are ready

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, and in the meantime , my attitude

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is hey , no big deal , let's move past

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it and we will revisit it from a safe distance

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again . Step number

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five , similar to step number

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four , would be to avoid punishment . So

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it's crucial to

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avoid any form of punishment when dealing

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with a fearful puppy . Punishment can

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exasperate the fear and

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cause trust issues , and we don't want that

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. We want to keep our strong bond with our dog

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and we want them to be able to trust us

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. That will keep them safe . So positive

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reinforcement , on the other hand , builds trust and

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that strong bond that we're talking about between you

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and your dog . If you think

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you can help me like spiders by locking

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me in a room full of spiders , you

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are mistaken . Okay , it's not going

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to work . Putting Maggie in the middle

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of the leaf pile and hoping she enjoys it is

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not the best approach . Rather , baxter

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and I can play and have fun in the leaves

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and then watch for Maggie to become interested . Like we

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talked about in step four , there is a

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thing called opposition reflex , and if a dog

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feels forced to do something , they will often

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resist or push back . We

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do that too right as humans . So

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watch for the good and reward that . Never

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punish , be patient . Number

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six is seek for professional help . In

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some cases , a puppy's fear may be deeply

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ingrained or extreme . In such cases

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, consulting a professional dog trainer or behaviorist

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can be beneficial . Enter Baxter and

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Bella . We can provide expert

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guidance and develop a tailored plan to help you and

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your dog overcome whatever fear they

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are facing . So

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, you guys , do you remember that helping a fearful puppy

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overcome their fears is a rewarding journey

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, but a long one . It can take time and

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again . It takes that patience and consistency

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, which can be hard , I know , but

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it's possible and doable and

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worth it in the end . Remember that working

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with your dog in a positive way strengthens the bond

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between you and them , which is what we want

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. Positive reinforcement based on

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the principles of rewards , patience , consistency

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is a powerful method to help build your

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dog's confidence and alleviate or

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change their fears . Also

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, remember , you guys , that every dog is unique , right

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. That's what we love about them , and the key is to

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tailor your approach to their specific needs and

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fears . So talk to us if you need

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help getting a training plan going . But

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by using positive reinforcement techniques you

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can ensure that your puppy grows into a confident

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and happy adult dog , ready to face

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the world with enthusiasm and

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trust . I'll also plug

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in a little note for those older dogs who have a fear

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. They can definitely overcome them . It

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depends on how long they've been afraid of it and how

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strong that feeling is , on

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how long it will take us to change it . But it's absolutely

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possible . All right , you

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guys have a wonderful week . Happy training . I'll

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talk to you soon . If

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you have a question about anything you heard on this

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podcast or any other puppy training question

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, visit my site , baxterandbellacom

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, to contact me .