Suzanne was reminded of this when she got up in the middle of the night recently to let our Irish setter Coral outside.  While Coral was taking a potty break, Suzanne did too.  Unbeknownst to her, Dan had also gotten up and silently gone down the hallway to let Coral back inside.

When Suzanne, still half asleep and eyes partly shut, exited the bathroom on her way to let Coral in, she ran smack into Dan, returning from letting Coral inside.  Suzanne’s automatic, involuntary fear response (“There’s an intruder in my house!”) kicked in as she backed up against the wall screaming. Coral was frightened by Suzanne’s behavior and ran over panting and whining.  Dan, trying to keep things from escalating, remained calm, quietly repeating “It’s just me, it’s just me”, while gently touching Suzanne on the shoulder and petting Coral.

What was really interesting about this encounter for Suzanne, was that not only did her response feel like it happened in slow motion, it also felt as if she had two separate responses.  The “rational” part of her brain knew within a few seconds that it WAS Dan she’d encountered, and there was nothing to be afraid of.  But the automatic fear response had a head start and as Dan later put it “was running the show”. 

Once she started backing up and screaming, Suzanne could not stop these behaviors until they had run their course.  It felt as if she was waiting for the “thinking part” of her brain to catch up and tell the “emotional part” everything was OK and to stop screaming.  And even more interesting, was the delayed response of being angry at Dan for frightening her!

How could these three responses –

1. immediate involuntary fear,
2. slower rational thinking
3. and delayed anger –

apply to fear related problems in pets?

First, fears and phobias are not always rational.  So trying to “show” an animal there is nothing to be afraid of isn’t a useful strategy. 

Second, fear runs the show.  If a dog is afraid of having a young child pet him, demanding the dog sit still and allow it is putting the dog in an untenable position and the child in danger.  If the dog can’t avoid the child for fear (fear upon fear) of being reprimanded and he still afraid of the child, then he’s likely to bite in an attempt to have everyone (owner and child) leave him alone. 

The result is that the dog is more afraid and even angry. Remember Suzanne’s delayed reaction at being angry at Dan for frightening her?  So the next time a child approaches, the dog will be even more aroused and more adamant about not wanting any part of the child coming near. 

Consequently, he may bark and growl at the child when the youngster is several feet away.  Many owners don’t understand why their dogs respond that way when children are at distance and haven’t (to their way of thinking) “done anything” to the dog.  But it should be now easy to see the “why” of an animal’s behavior due to this progression of events.

In a future article, we’ll discuss what likely would have happened had Dan attempted to restrain Suzanne OR yelled at her for being afraid.  Can you see the writing on the wall?

We have a number of resources to help you help fearful dogs (and cats):

“Helping Fearful Animals” webinar course

“Using Counter Conditioning and Desensitization Effectively”

“Helping the Home Alone Fido”  (primarily for dog owners)

"Managing the Home Alone Dog" (primarily for pet professionals)

 Not surprisingly, this was quite effective in stopping the submissive urination.  The technique was effective because it changed the way visitors behaved toward the puppy.  Rather than reaching out to pet her, and showing all those behaviors people think are friendly, but are often quite threatening to dogs, (making eye contact, facing them while leaning over them and reaching over their heads to pet them) visitors instead stimulated an alternative behavior – play – that was incompatible with submissive urination. 

The dog owner, quite astutely, then commented that the technique worked, but NOT for the reasons he had been told it would work.  He was exactly right.  The simplest explanation for the effectiveness of the technique is that it removed the events that triggered the behavior (trying to pet the pup) and also engaged the dog in an incompatible behavior (it’s hard to urinate when you’re happily engaged in a game of tug). 

Attributing the effectiveness of the procedure to building the dog’s “confidence” is a much more complicated explanation.  What does “confidence” mean in terms of dog behavior? Why invoke a more complicated description of personality when a simpler explanation will do?

Using the simplest explanation to explain observations is called parsimony, and is an important, basic principle in the study of animal behavior.  Also known as Occum’s Razor, parsimony dictates that it is not only unnecessary, but also inappropriate to choose a complicated explanation to explain observations of behavior, when a simpler one will do.

A number of years ago, Suzanne was a guest on the popular television series “Unsolved Mysteries”. This particular episode was all about animals and why they sometimes displayed “heroic” behavior and saved the lives of their owners or others.  One example was a Newfoundland that saved a person from drowning whose boat had overturned in a river.  The question put to Suzanne was how did the dog know that the person was drowning and needed saving?  Her answer was – he didn’t.

The Newfie’s owner routinely took the dog to the river to swim and play, and the dog was in the habit of retrieving large logs that often floated down the river.  In Suzanne’s view, at a distance, the drowning person resembled the large logs the dog had retrieved many, many times.  So, the most parsimonious explanation for the dog’s behavior was that he was doing what he had always done – retrieve floating logs.

When we choose the simplest explanation for an animal’s behavior, not only are we more likely to be correct, it’s also more likely that we can take the appropriate steps to modify the animal’s behavior, should that be necessary.

By the way, if you’d like to discover more about what science has to say about the "whys" of dog behavior, check out our webinar course "Shining the Light of Science on Canine Behavior" at Pet ProWebinars.com

My 1.5 year old Rat Terrier has some disturbing issues with fear and anxiety. We have been taking him on weekly car trips to visit family every week. He has never enjoyed our weekly car trips to visit family and recently his anxiety is getting worse.  I do not want him to live in a constant state of fear nor do I want him sedated on medications.  What should I do?

Answer: 

When your dog is afraid of riding in the car it may result in you leaving your dog at home more often.  This decreases his quality of life and your enjoyment of having him along.  And if you continue to take him, his fear can worsen making it more unpleasant for everyone.  Here are three ways to help your dog be less fearful.

The first is prevention.  Car sickness can cause dogs to become afraid of riding in the car.  Rather than hoping your dog will get over this, talk to your veterinarian at the first sign of car sickness for either over-the-counter or prescription medication.  If you treat the car sickness early, the conditioned fear may not have time to develop. 

Second, some dogs are fearful because all the sights they see rushing by them through the window are overwhelming.  A great product that was actually developed for just this problem is the Calming Cap®.  This is a soft, comfortable, spandex hood that fits over the dog’s eyes and filters her vision.  It is well tolerated by most dogs and allows them to rest quietly during car rides.  It is available HERE at HelpingFido.com.   

The third possible solution is a bit more involved and requires the help of a second family member or friend.  Drive your car several houses away and have your friend walk your dog to meet you.  Put them both in the car (or your friend can walk back home!) and drive home.  The car ride has lasted less than a minute and began in a totally unexpected way for your dog, which eliminates many of the cues that trigger his fearful behavior.  Depending on your dog’s response, you can repeat this exercise a few times in succession during one training session.  Don’t lengthen the trip until your dog is showing no signs of fear.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities for behavior management and modification.  If the fear persists, you may need to seek professional behavior help.  But in the meantime, if you want to find out the nitty gritty details about how professionals modify fearful behaviors, check out our Helping Fearful Animals Course at PetProWebinars.com.