Fear in Dogs

By Robert Forto, PhD

As a canine behaviorist and the training director of Denver Dog Works in Colorado, I am often treating cases of fear in the family pet. In some cases it is relatively mild, say thunder or a car backfire, but far more common is fear related aggression and generalized anxiety with a fear component. The anxiety coupled with fear is usually a result of lack of improper socialization in the dog’s early environment. I will see this very common in rescued dogs. At least once a week a pet owner will come in for an evaluation and say that they just rescued Max, from the local shelter and their primary complaint is that he is scared to death of everything. I counsel the new owners about fear and how it develops in dogs and my opinion of why so many dogs end up in shelters in the first place. Fear is a central catalyst for this occurrence and dogs in shelters.
Every dog or animal with a reasonably developed central nervous system has fear. Fear is one of the basic drives, along with hunger, thirst, sleep, sex and sociality. Out-of-control fear is as much of a problem as any other drive that is out of control. But fear in normal amounts is essential, as is hunger and thirst in normal amounts. Fear is what keeps us from having a pick-up game of football on the freeway in the middle of rush-hour, and keeps us from walking on thin ice literally and figuratively. Fear helps us avoid certain disaster and keeps us alive longer. It does the same in dogs. However, we and dogs are not born with fear. Humans and dogs have an apparent fear of, snakes, it takes time to develop, about two years in humans, and several months in dogs.
Uncontrollable fear is a delicate training protocol. It is not teaching a simple sit or walking on a loose leash. You cannot treat fear by attending a group class or a puppy kindergarten, while these programs are good for the basic commands, they should not be used after a dog exhibits extreme examples of fear. Treating fear involves a program of desensitization and counter-conditioning. While these are the building blocks for canine training and behavior modification, they are principles that are unfortunately not learned by most dog trainers these days. If you suspect fear, or any other severe behavioral issue, my advice is to speak to a canine behaviorist. The difference between a behaviorist, and a trainer per say, is that the behaviorist is educated in the sciences and nuances of canine behavior and its origins. They do not practice lure based training or intimidation in behavior modification like so many of the dog trainers do today.

In the dog, fear begins between six and eight weeks of age. As an average figure, fear becomes noticeable in a pup and rapidly escalates in the seventh week, plus or minus one week. By three weeks after the onset of fear responses, fear plateaus out at a level for pups and for the specific genetic complement that have. In humans, fear begins at about two years and is not fully developed until about 20 years later. Ever see a teenage boy who did not think he was indestructible?
So, fear develops sometimes early in the life of a dog, but does not develop at the same rate in all dogs, and obviously occurs at different levels in each individual. There are three factors which alone or in combination act to determine the level of fear any given dog shows.
The first is genetic. The dog inherits a predisposition of fear. If the genetic potential is for a high level of fear, or put another away, if the dog has a low threshold for fear-inducing stimuli, it will overreact to a fearful stimulus, or what is more often the case, to a whole gamut of stimuli. What would cause a mild startle effect response in a dog with a normal fear level will drive the over-reactor ballistic.
A second factor that causes uncontrollable fear is early environment, usually from improper or even total lack of primary and secondary socialization during the critical sensitive period from 3 to 12 weeks of age. Under the influence of this fear-inducing factor, the dog might be genetically solid as the famous rock, but it missed exposure to people, various sounds, short periods of separation from Mom and the siblings when the socialization window is wide open. Therefore, the dog has never formed the association between people, sounds and objects, and low anxiety prior to the development of the fear, the only time the association can be formed. The dog will forever fear these things that will normally occur every day of its life.
The third factor is learned fear. It comes about by the chance association formed between some arbitrary neutral stimulus—say the ringing of the phone—and a negative reinforcement, something painful—like stepping on a thumbtack. If the ring happens coincidentally with or milliseconds before the pain of the tack in the foot, the dog associates the ring with the pain and will show a fear reaction to the phone ringing. Learned fear is always specific to the stimulus in the same class. So any ring similar to the phone will cause the fear response in the dog. If the fear is only to the ring of the phone and very similar ring sounds, we can live with it, but if it is something that seriously interferes with the dog’s hunting performance like fear of a loud noise (translation, a gunshot), it must be fixed and can be.
In an upcoming article I will discuss the treatment options available for the different factors of fear. Please note that these articles are for informational purposes and should not be used as a substitute for treatment of fear, or any other severe behavior problems, in your dog. This treatment should only be done under the guidance of a canine behaviorist or on a recommendation of your local veterinarian.
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Dr. Robert Forto, PhD is the training director for Denver Dog Works in Colorado and routinely treats fear in dogs. If you would like to schedule a consultation with Dr. Forto, he can be reached through his website at www.denverdogworks.com or by phone at 303-522-1727 anytime.