We spend our time worrying if our fearful, reactive, non confident dogs are “having fun” and getting enough cuddles. The question you should be asking yourself is does your dog trust you? Do you let strangers pet your dog out there in the real world knowing perfectly well that your dog is scared of it’s own shadow. How do you know if your dog is scared? Your dog cowers, hunches down, curls up tight, frowns, lips licks, shakes, tail tucks or hides. The signs are there for you to see them. Look at your dog. No, really look at him or her and ask yourself what you can do better.

If you have a dog that has randomly bitten a stranger and you allow strangers pet the dog, you are losing trust points with your dog. If you allow other dogs to go up to your dog without a proper “meet” you’re losing trust points with your dog really quickly (example at the dog park). Especially since your dog “can’t get away” from the chaos at the dog park. Are you able to read the signs that they are overwhelmed and no longer want to play? How about if you have a dog that always wants to play and pushes another dog too much and your dog gets snapped at? Trust me when I say your dog will start defending itself since you can’t. Your dog’s confidence will also pitfall and again so will the trust in you. Leaving your dog in the yard alone isn’t fun if it has to “defend” itself at the gate because it sees pedestrians or other dogs as a threat. A fight can still happen at the fence level. Every time an “event” happens you lose trust points.

A dog that doesn’t trust its owner likely doesn’t trust anyone else either so help your dog out by advocating for him or her. I have seen humans pet their dog after it has gone after another dog. The human saying things like “it’s ok” and “you’re alright”. Guess what you’ve done here? You just reinforced your dog’s feelings and reinforced your dog for “going after another dog or animal.