If your dog is afraid of you, it is because you may have been scolding or hitting him, something you should never do (it is animal abuse, a crime).
Although it is also possible that you have simply been scared by a cluster of factors or coincidences that have confused you. Let’s see what can be done to solve this problem.
Index of contents
- 1 How do I know if my dog is afraid of me?
- 2 What to do when a dog is afraid of us?
- 3 Is it necessary to go to an ethologist?
- 4 Is it wrong for the dog to be afraid?
How do I know if my dog is afraid of me?
If when you smell, hear or see your dog, he hides, keeps his tail between his hind legs, trembles or urinates on himself because he is afraid of you, sometimes terror / panic.
This happens in the majority of the times that a dog has been mistreated, although there are other factors (less probable) that can also cause it.
If when you approach your dog it runs away, hides or keeps its tail, do not hesitate, it is because it is afraid of you. Would you like to live in fear? Neither does he, so you should fix it.
- It hides in any corner or under the bed.
- Tremble or urinate on top.
- Keeps its tail between its hind legs, tilts its ears back.
What to do when a dog is afraid of us?
Clarify that these tips are applicable when the dog is our companion, it is part of our family. If the dog is unknown, it is best not to approach it or it could bite us.
The best thing so that our dog is not afraid of us is to change its memory towards us from negative to positive, that implies in the case of having scolded excessively or stuck on occasion, never do it again.
Taking him out for a walk, pampering him, feeding him delicious things, letting him play with other dogs and preventing him from seeing us angry, are essential things that we must do.
Over the weeks, your negative memory will decrease while the positive memory will grow. We must greet him when we get home with great joy and show him that we love him.
In a few weeks, he will have forgiven us (because forget, they don’t forget) and he will receive us with great joy. Remember that at first you will be scared to see us, never force him to come before you … he will be more scared. Instead… fool him with food or games to establish positive contact.
Is it necessary to go to an ethologist?
In many cases it is not only recommended but necessary to go to a canine ethologist to locate the origin of fear and to start treating it. Because although we think that you fear us, perhaps you are afraid of other things such as a certain noise or gesture.
An ethologist is a kind of psychologist for dogs, it will not only help you detect the origin of the problem but will also indicate the steps to follow to solve it. If the first tips have not worked for you or you appreciate that their condition worsens, go to an ethologist without hesitation.
Is it wrong for the dog to be afraid?
It is not bad, it is terrible. Fear creates stress and this in turn causes health and possibly behavioral problems. It can affect your entire body and even speed up the date of your natural death.
Stress is the causative factor of many physical and mental illnesses, both in humans, dogs and other pets. So always try to prevent your dog from living in fear, because a life with fear is not life.