My dog is too anxious to listen!

Are you struggling to make progress with your anxious dog because you can't get them to focus?  Maybe they seem less interested in your treats than the environment? 

If your dog looks away from you, wanders away to sniff, or hesitates to engage in training, they might be worried or scared. Anxiety can look a lot like "distracted" when it comes to sensitive pups. 

In the videos below, I show examples of how you can change your training sessions to keep your anxious dog more engaged. These are general suggestions that I have found helpful with my own dogs and client dogs. Your dog is an individual though, and might need something other than the changes listed here. I recommend taking video of your next training session and reviewing it for clues as to what might be bothering your dog, so you can tailor your approach.

If you'd like to help your sensitive dog be more engaged in training but you're not sure where to start, here are some options: 

• Change location. If your dog can do the behaviors you want (including eating!) in a location where they're normally relaxed, but can't do them where you've been trying to train, then it's time to back up and train where your dog can do the behaviors you're looking for. Then you can gradually move training back toward the more difficult context, in tiny steps. 
• Change objects/items included in training. If you're training with an item like a harness, collar, leash, crate, etc., but your dog hesitates to approach it, try using a different item.   This could be a small change, like switching to a different harness, or a bigger change like using a different type of object altogether. If changing the items used in training results in your dog participating more consistently, then it's likely that something about the item you were using originally was scary or unpleasant for your dog. 

• Give more space. Try backing away from your dog a little, or away from a piece of equipment, like a harness, that you'd like your dog to approach. Many of our sensitive pups are happier with a little more personal space. 
• Give LESS direct attention.  Staring at, facing, and/or talking to an anxious dog can sometimes stress them out. Try averting your gaze, turning your body away, and staying quiet during a training session. Your dog might be happier to participate when you've removed the pressure of your attention.
• Be smaller. If you're standing up during training, try sitting on the floor or on a chair. You can even see if your dog is more comfortable if they're higher up than you are- for example, when they're sitting on the sofa while you're seated on the floor. 

The way we try to deliver food rewards can also affect a shy dog's willingness to engage in training.  Things that can help:

• Drop or toss treats and move your hand away, rather than trying to feed by hand. Many sensitive dogs are worried about reaching hands and are more likely to eat a treat if your hand isn't near it.
• Deliver treats to the side or behind of your dog, instead of trying to get the treat right to them. This applies whether you're dropping, placing, or throwing the treat, and can even be helpful if you're trying to hand your dog a treat. Treats delivered right toward your dog's face might be less likely to be eaten in some circumstances. 
• Toss or place treats in a predictable location like a "treat target".  In the video below you'll see an example where I used a coaster on the floor as a predictable place to deliver treats to Pancake. It made it easier for him to find the treat, so we could start the next training repetition more quickly.

Finally, asking your dog for less can be a great way to get them more engaged in training and to make progress when you're stuck. Some ways to do this include:

• Reinforce eating as the target behavior. If your dog won't eat in the training context, you can't train with food. Eating is a foundation behavior if you're using food as a reinforcer. Starting out by just reinforcing eating (by delivering another treat when they finish the current treat) is a great way to build a strong foundation before asking for more behavior in whatever context your dog is struggling to train in.
• Reinforce what your dog "offers", even if it's not what you had in mind when you started the training session.  For example, say you're trying to get your dog to come to you, but they won't approach you consistently. If they'll look at you, that's a behavior you can reinforce and then build on.
• Reinforce a smaller piece of target behavior.  If your dog won't approach you all the way, but will take one step toward you, you have a piece of the bigger behavior to reinforce!  Don't get greedy- reinforce what your dog can do readily. 

Did any of these ideas help you? Shoot me an email at [email protected] and share your thoughts. 

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