This is the puppy training podcast, episode 152, helping your puppy overcome fears.

This podcast is designed to help you on your journey of becoming best friends through love and learning as you train your own dog from home.

And I'm here to help you every step of the way.

This is the puppy training

podcast and I'm your host, Amy Jensen. Hey, you guys. How are you this week? I hope you're doing

great. We talk about puppies, dogs, all things training here on the puppy training podcast.

And today I want to talk about how to help your

dog or puppy overcome a fear that they have. We're coming up on Halloween and I thought,

what better topic than fears, right? Okay. So anytime we introduce a new puppy to a family,

our family, your family, who's ever family,

it's an exciting experience. But it also comes with challenges. And one of those would be helping

our puppy overcome something they are afraid of. Now, puppies like humans, can develop fears

of various objects, people, or even situations, sounds, smells, really anything. So today let's talk about the use of

positive reinforcement as an effective method to help your puppy overcome fear and build confidence,

which leads to a happier life for everybody involved. Before we dive into positive reinforcement

techniques, it's important that we understand why

puppies develop fear in the first place. Now, common causes include lack of exposure.

Maybe they haven't seen something before. Negative experiences. So maybe something in the past that

spooked them. They do remember that. Or even possible genetic predispositions. Now, as a responsible pet handler, recognizing the

signs of fear in your puppy is essential. So you need to know what their body language looks like

and what it's telling you. So these signs might include trembling, cowering, excessive barking,

pinned ears, a tight mouth, or attempting to escape. Anytime their body is tucked in, curled up,

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