Vintage

"Help for Your Fearful Dog: A Step-by-Step Guide for Helping Your Dog Conquer His Fears" is exactly what the title implies.

In Part I, Nicole Wilde explains the difference between fear and aggression (many "aggressive" dogs are actually reacting out of fear) and how to recognize each. She discusses various causes of fear, and some tips for prevention. There's a chapter on "the face of fear" (how to recognize the specific body language and vocalizations that indicate a fearful dog) and another chapter on human body language and how to use your own body language to help your fearful dog.

Part II sets the "Foundation for a Calm Dog." This section presents Nicole's "Firm Foundation System" which focuses on management, physical well-being, leadership, and training to help your fearful dog. This information is completely compatible with similar foundation-building chapters in "Click to Calm" by Emma Parsons. ("Click to Calm" is a must-have book if your dog is also reactive -- barking and lunging etc. -- in fearful situations.) "Help for Your Fearful Dog" also explains the roles of nutrition, excercise, and mental stimulation in reducing stress and anxiety.

 Part III has step-by-step instructions for teaching "Skills" that will help you and your dog cope with scary situations. These include exercises in relaxation, attention, and targeting (teaching your dog to touch things on cue). There's also helpful advice on skills you can use to help teach your dog the skills he'll need.

Part IV provides a complete behavior modification program that builds on all the previous chapters. Topics covered include equipment, handling skills (how to control and direct your dog's behavior without adding to his fears), techniques (including classical conditioning, counterconditioning, desensitization, operant conditioning, and other scientifically based approaches to modifying behavior), all clearly explained. The vital topics of troubleshooting and measuring progress are also discussed here.

Part V covers specific fears and how best to help dogs learn appropriate behavior in these situations. The list of specific fears she covers is extensive, and includes fear and reactivity towards guests in the home, fear of family members, veterinary visits, fear of the car, crate, or stairs, thunderstorm phobia and sensitivity to sound, touch, and motion, and many more.

In Part VI, Nicole discusses complementary therapies. These include massage, TTouch, acupuncture and acupressure, homeopathy, flower essences, drug therapy, and aides such as body wraps calming caps, and DAP (Dog Appeasement Pheremones).

In sum, this is a comprehensive, well-written, well-founded in science and experience, and vital resource for anyone dealing with a fearful dog.

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Does your dog guard his food bowl or toys, growling at anyone who comes near? Perhaps your dog even guards you!

This behavior can lead to serious aggression issues, and should be addressed immediately. But punishment doesn’t work -- you’re likely to punish the growl out of the dog and thereby lose your “early warning system!” A dog who’s been taught not to growl (but still feels the same about “his stuff”) is likely to bite “without warning.” Mine! by Jeanne Donaldson presents a detailed program for teaching your dog to give things up willingly and to not just tolerate but actually like having people approach him even when he has “stuff.” A must-have for any owner of a resource-guarding dog.

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Click to Calm by Emma Parsons, provides an excellent program of desensitization and counterconditioning to help aggressive and reactive dogs maintain themselves in their “thinking brain” rather than their “reacting brain.” The exercises in this book, when applied consistently and at the dog’s own pace, will gradually alter the dog’s perceptions and emotions, reducing fear and reactivity. “Recipes” for teaching specific skills are easy to follow and make a big difference in the handler’s ability to “read” the dog and keep the dog’s attention even in the face of distraction as well as the dog’s impulse control and ability to concentrate on the handler. Highly recommended for anyone with a “reactive” dog (who barks, snaps, lunges, or otherwise reacts in unwanted ways to other dogs or scary objects or even people).

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