Hi James,
I have a saying that I use a lot when dogs are acting anxiously or fearfully……’make nothing of it!’ Our human reaction when someone is scared is to try to verbally comfort them, but when we do this to dog it can actually make them feel far more anxious, because we are making a big deal about the situation. I liken it to that moment when kids fall over & they immediately look to their parents to see if it’s a big deal……if Mum/Dad act as if everything is ok then often the child will get up and continue on, but if Mum/Dad over-react then the child will often erupt into a ball of tears. This is essentially the idea that if you make nothing of a ‘negative’ situation then the dog/child handles it better.
So if your dog is acting warily around you then just ignore her and pretend she is not there. By that I mean, avoid eye contact or speaking to her. When you see that she is more relaxed and calm, then you can call her over for a pat/fuss……avoid rewarding the undesirable behaviour, and rewards the desirable behaviour!
Hope that makes sense, Doggy Dan

Hi Shannon, if you feel like you are spending a lot of time ignoring your dog then you are probably right! All you need to wait for is your dog to be calm and not trying to gain your attention, and then you can call them over to say ‘hi’ or give them some affection/attention. Also, you can allow your dog on your couch/bed/lap to give them some affection if you like, just make sure you have invited them there in the first place! All the Best, Doggy Dan

Hi Laurie, it can be common for young dogs to go through a bit of a fear phase and rather than try to push them through it, or give too much attention to their fear, there are better approaches that will help. Making sure that your dog really understands that she can really trust you to keep her safe in all situations will be an important factor in helping her become more confident. The information you give her to help her needs to be relevant to her and something she understands…..which is why I put together the Dog Calming Code! It’s essentially how you show your dog, in a way that makes sense to them, that they can trust you to keep them safe. My website TheOnlineDogTrainer.com shows you very clearly how to achieve this…maybe take a quick look…its a $1USD trial for 3 days…All the Best, Doggy Dan