Fearful Dogs

Help For You & Your Dog

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Add a link to the Fearful Dogs Website and receive a gift from Sunny!

Helping A Fearful Dog

Is your dog shy? Nervous? Anxious or Protective? Would you like your dog to behave calmly around people and other dogs? Are you looking for ways to help your dog learn to be happier and more confident?

A Guide To Living With & Training A Fearful Dog is an eBook containing training advice and activities compiled by Sunny's owner including games, how to begin when working with a fearful dog, how dogs learn and how to help any dog with fears. It is an informative resource for owners and rescuers.

This book is a finalist in the 2008 Dog Writers of America Writer's Competition!

Here's what readers have had to say:

"Thanks! I feel like you have given me a roadmap with real directions to a destination."

"I read the book last night (before and after agility class). I found it
thorough, informative and well-written. So, thank you again! Almost
everything you wrote resonated in some way with me and my dog."

"I am writing an all around general care guide for canines one of my sections is about shy/fearful canines..when I read your BRILLIANT article I was thinking it would be amazing to have that in the guide along with your website."

"Thanks for your wonderful website as it was recommended on the BC boards page. Have you collected all your pages into a book?"

"I visited your fearful dogs website & have bookmarked it in my
favorites."

"Loved the book!!!! Very good reading, you need to get published in hard copy."

"I find myself feeling a bit more hopeful after reading through your site. I am so grateful to have this information."

Don't be misled by training techniques that scare or hurt your dog. Be your dog's best friend and learn how to effectively change your dog's behavior by changing how he feels. You CAN help your dog!

Order your copy now!

click here for more information.

Look for the latest articles written by Debbie in:

Off Lead & Animal Behavior Magazine

The Yankee Dog

West County News, MA

 

Storm & Sound Phobias

Common fears owners have to deal with are those of storms and fireworks. As a kid I remember that my beloved dog went missing one 4th of July and was not found for two weeks. He had run off during the fireworks, and ended up miles and miles away. I've known other dogs that were inconsolable during storms and wish I had known how to help them. One of the saddest things is that people believe that by comforting a dog that is afraid it will 'reinforce' their fear. What trainers understand now is that while comforting may not necessarily help them, it will not cause them to be more afraid when the next storm rolls through.

This article by Mary Strauss was published in the Whole Dog Journal and gives a comprehensive overview of possible treatments for sound phobias. There are a variety of treatments available. Including; DAP (dog appeasing pheromone), anxiety wraps, the Storm Defender Cape with a metallic lining that discharges the dog's fur and shields them from static charge build-up before and during storms, rubbing the dog down with dryer sheets, melatonin and prescription medications, to name a few. Counter conditioning and desensitizing a dog to whatever is scaring them should be part of the long term solution as well.

Good information from the British Small Animal Veterinary Association.

Storm Phobias by Karen Overall, DVM

I contributed to a downloadable ebook you can find at dogsandfireworks.com

Why you shouldn't use Acepromazine

Through A Dog's Ear-CDs with music created to calm dogs

Clean Run-sound desensitization CDs

SoundTherapy4Pets-UK company with a variety of calming & desensitization products

Archangel Productions-contact them for information about their products for sound desensitization

Living With Dogs-CDs of common household & city sounds

Midwoof-variety of sounds including storms, fireworks, agility & trials

There are also applications available for the iPhone which include a variety of different sounds.

It's important to do what you can to help your dog however you can. There can be negative effects to a dog's health when they suffer through these scary events.

For more information about melatonin visit these sites

http://www.melatonin.com/melatonin-animals.php

http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dthunder.html

http://webcanine.com/2007/melatonin-for-stress/

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/melatonin.htm

The Thundershirt is a body wrap that can help relieve anxiety in some dogs.