An easy training game to help your fearful dog cope with visitors

Does your shy, anxious dog need to be separated from guests in your home? 

Often it's kindest to maintain space between your sensitive dog and visitors, but many dogs aren't comfortable suddenly finding themselves confined an an area they usually don't spend time in.  So in this video I show you how a simple, fun training game can turn potential confinement and separation areas into "happy places" for your dog.


You can think of working on a stuffed toy like a Kong, or a lickimat, or a snufflemat, as a skill your dog can learn. With our very fearful dogs, like all of their training, you'll want to approach the process carefully and slowly.  

Here's what to do:

• Pick where you want your dog to be while you have guests. These should ideally be places your dog will already go willingly, and that would work well as places for your dog to relax while being kept separate from visitors. For Pancake, some of his "happy places" include the laundry room, a pen in our bedroom, a pen in the living room, and several snufflemats throughout the house.
• Every time you pass each "happy place", drop treats there. Do this even if your dog is nowhere nearby. They'll discover the treats as long as you're using locations your dog passes through periodically.   To help yourself remember to place treats EVERY time you pass by, keep treat cups or containers stationed next to each "happy place".
• That's it! All you're doing here is working to reinforce the behaviors of going into the happy place, and looking for treats. If you do this consistently, you'll be well on your way to having a dog who spends time in the locations where you need them to be while you have guests. Check out one example of this training in the video below.

 Have fun with this game! I'd love to hear how it goes- you can shoot me an email at [email protected].