My dog is afraid! How can we help?

 

Lincoln is afraid

Our dog is afraid, but how do we help him? We don’t know why he’s scared or what to do to make things better for him, so what do we do?

Lincoln can be pretty intimidating sometimes. His hackles rise, he bares his teeth and lunges like a really ferocious beast sometimes. So he looks scary, not scared. Why does he act that way? Deep down, we believe he acts that way because the dog is afraid.

When does Lincoln act out?

There are a few sets of circumstances that cause the above reaction. First, there are the cats. He’s very cat-reactive. In that case, it doesn’t seem to be fear but drive that is at the bottom of his reaction.

Lincoln also appears aggressive when someone unfamiliar comes to the door, like the UPS guy or some random salesman (yes, that still happens once in a while). At these times, is he guarding us in the best way he knows how to, or is he afraid? I think he’s guarding us.

When we’re out on a car ride, he sometimes appears aggressive when a big truck or odd-looking vehicle passes. He also does it when someone walks close to the car when we’re parked. I think this is also guarding.

The vet, however, is a different story. When we go to the vet, Lincoln is immediately guarded. He is stiff, has that nervous “smile,” and pants a bit. When the vet starts checking him over, the growls start. Lunging and snapping follow if the vet isn’t paying attention. Then they want to force a muzzle on him, and things get ugly. This is the time when our dog is afraid!

Was it Lincoln’s past?

Lincoln, a malinois mix (we think), is a rescue dog. He was found wandering the streets as a 1-year-old (?). We don’t know his history since he can’t tell us, and there were no humans who could help us with that. We assume he was by himself for a while because he was 20% underweight.

Lincoln’s breed is known for military and police work. They’ve become more common since movies with Malinois have been popular lately. Lincoln is an absolute sweetheart to people he knows, but these guys can be scary.

We speculate that maybe someone got him because they thought it would be “cool” to have an intimidating dog like this. Maybe they tried to train him to be more intimidating. Who knows? Lots of people out there use questionable training methods, which could increase fear responses.

What else could cause a dog to be afraid?

In my limited experience, physical issues like pain or discomfort could cause what appears to be a fear response. It can definitely make a dog grumpy and irritable. And Lincoln has his issues.

Lincoln has a digestive issue, which we discovered when we tried to fatten him up with some high-quality beef. He gets a lot of abdominal pain, as well as explosive diarrhea, and quite a bit of vomiting. If he was out fending for himself, this could be why he was so thin.

He seems to have a back issue since his spine has a curve to it that shouldn’t be there. When he first arrived here, he seemed to be sore on his back right leg too. These types of pain issues could lead to at least some of his behavior, it seems.

What have we tried to get him some help?

When Lincoln first came to us, he was very guarded. He didn’t like to be touched. We could pet his shoulder, but further down his back, his tummy, feet, his tail……these were all off-limits. If we got close, he’d pull away, and if we pressed it even a little, he’d nip the air. He probably would nip us if we crossed that line, but we didn’t do that.

We started out by just giving him some time and getting comfortable with him. Shortly after we got him, we took him in for a skin lesion and to check bloodwork since he was thin.

Our first vet visit went pretty well. They were able to get down on the floor with him and drew blood without restraint or a muzzle. He didn’t have a problem with it.

That’s when we started realizing he had digestive issues as well as pain issues. While we’ve tried to address these issues with four different vets, his behavior has become a problem. Each time it gets worse as they try to force him to submit and then they no longer want to work with him because of his behavior.

Our dog is afraid of the vet!

With each new vet, we’d try different approaches in the hopes of helping things go more smoothly. We’ve tried

• slow introductions.
• sedative medications.
• bribing with high-value treats.
• pheromones.
• muzzle training

None of these has helped. Lincoln’s anxiety just overshadows it all. And since our dog is afraid, he makes everyone else a bit fearful as well.

We’re at the point of not going to the vet unless it is absolutely unavoidable. We currently weigh the necessity of the visit against the damage it might cause. This is not a good place to be for any of us.

Out of desperation, I reached out to Dr. Marty Becker about his Fear Free program. He referred me to a couple of professionals who recommended a behaviorist. I located one that is about 3 hours drive from us so we can possibly visit them in person. Right now, however, everything is virtual. Read more about dog behaviorists here.

Can training help if a dog is afraid?

Honestly, I think this approach might help many people with their dogs, but I’m not sure about us. They want us to diagnose his pain issues, which means a vet visit. I am not sure we will learn enough to make it worth putting Lincoln through that trauma. Here we are between a rock and a hard place again.

Today, I talked to a lady who is a dog trainer as well as an animal communicator. We had a good long talk and actually came up with some strategies to help Lincoln get some confidence and learn how to better support him through his fears.

Her communication skills helped us realize some of what Lincoln is feeling and why our dog is afraid. One of Lincoln’s problems is that he has some residual fears from the past and has a total lack of confidence. He feels like he always has to watch his back.

We hope that he will learn that we’re watching out for him. We believe that as he learns to trust himself, he will also learn to trust us. Then he’ll be able to approach fearful situations more calmly.

Have you had a dog that challenged you to grow? Lincoln has definitely done that! Read more about his story here. Tell me about your experiences in the comments below. For more about Dr. Becker’s Fear Free program, visit this page.