Understanding Dog Fear (Part 1): Genetics, Trauma, And Your Dog’s Well-being #236
Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett
DogsThat
4.8 • 679 Ratings
🗓️ 4 October 2023
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Visit us at shapedbydog.com
How to help frightened and anxious dogs is a question I receive frequently, so I’m diving into identifying and overcoming canine fears and phobias that often lead to withdrawal or reactivity. Today’s focus is on overlooked reasons dogs become fearful and what you need to know about anxiety. It’s important to recognize a dog’s fear triggers and the role we might play in unconsciously creating stress.
In this episode you’ll hear:
• Overlooked triggers to many dogs’ fears.
• Natural dog fears during certain life stages.
• The difference between alert, excited or anxious dog behavior.
• How genetics predispose some breeds to fear or confidence.
• That animals inherit generational trauma, too.
• How events, medical conditions and lack of education can create fear in dogs.
• How spaying may impact a female dog’s hormones.
• How gut health impacts animal behavior and emotions.
• The effect of EMF’s on dogs and animals.
• How dogs absorb and internalize human emotions.
• How to decode your dog’s body language.
• Why we should observe how our reactions impact our dogs.
Resources:
1. Podcast Episode 235: AMA With Susan Garrett: Leash Lunging, Dog Anxiety, Agility Angst, Bad Breeders, And More - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/235/
2. Podcast Episode 199: Puppy Fear Periods: Help For Socializing Puppies Or Rescue Dogs Scared Of People - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/199/
3. Podcast Episode 4: T.E.M.P. (Tail, Eyes/Ears, Mouth, Posture) - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/4/
4. Podcast Episode 29: Understanding and Preventing Reactivity and Aggression in Your Dog - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/29/
5. Podcast Episode 136: Help Your Excited Dog Calm Down And Stop Barking, Lunging, Spinning, Nipping - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/136/
6. YouTube Playlist: Puppy Essentials with Susan Garrett Dog Training - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLphRRSxcMHy2hywpv3Md3HbWWPPbVF8W5&si=xyNUFR7eV7G1W2d4
7. Podcast Episode 127: Puppy Socialization: Playtime For Puppies And Permissions - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/127/
8. Podcast Episode 180: Taking Your Puppy To A Café Or Restaurant: Socialization Success - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/180/
9. Podcast Episode 79: Reduce Anxiety and Grow Your Dog’s Confidence with These Pro Dog Training Tips - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/79/
10. Podcast Episode 45: My Dog Just Got Jumped, Now What? - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/45/
11. Podcast Episode 78: How to Train a Rescue Dog with Behavior Problems - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/78/
12. Podcast Episode 81: Sudden Aggression and Your Dog’s Thyroid - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/81/
13. Podcast Episode 203: Reactive, Unmotivated and Fearful: Finding Resiliency For This! Beyond Dog Training Part 1 - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/203/
14. Podcast Episode 204: Dog Behavior And Diet: Recovery For This! Beyond Dog Training Part 2 - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/204/
15. Podcast Episode 189: All The Things That Influence Your Dog’s Behavior And What Behavior Tells You - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/189/
16. Podcast Episode 217: Understanding Emotional Regulation In Dogs To Create Calm - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/217/
17. Podcast Episode 157: Dog Body Language: Understanding Canine Communication Signals And Emotions - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/157/
18. Podcast Episode 62: 12 Keys to Helping My Dogs Live a Long and Happy Life - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/62/
19. Podcast Episode 67: Are You Stressing About Your Dog’s Stress? - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/67/
20. Podcast Episode 103: Excited Or Suspicious Dog? Dealing With Your Dog’s Emotions - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/103/
21. Podcast Episode 168: Creating Confidence For Anxious, Stressed Or Reactive Dogs Part 1 - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/168/
22. Podcast Episode 169: Dog Training A Stressed, Anxious Or Reactive Dog Part 2 - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/169/
23. Podcast Episode 112: Stressed Dog? How Trigger Stacking Might Be Putting Your Dog Over Threshold - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/112/
24. Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube - https://youtu.be/1baRrsgipII
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Recently, I sat down and as I was reading through the list of questions for an Ask Me Anything podcast, |
| 0:05.6 | I realized how many questions that were on the topic of fear in dogs. |
| 0:09.9 | And I thought, hey, this needs to be a podcast topic all on its own. |
| 0:15.0 | And here we have it. Hi, I'm Susan Garrett. Welcome to Shape by Dog. |
| 0:29.1 | And as a matter of fact, when I started preparing this podcast episode, I realized this is not |
| 0:34.8 | going to all fit into one episode. So, welcome to part one of a two-part |
| 0:40.1 | episode on identifying and overcoming fear in your dog. Today, I want to detail the main |
| 0:47.1 | reasons why there may be fear in a dog and three reasons that I think are huge that often |
| 0:53.5 | people don't even consider and how you can |
| 0:56.8 | help mitigate some of those things that are happening to your dog that are causing potentially |
| 1:02.0 | unnecessary fears. So, some fears are just going to happen. For example, most puppies are going to |
| 1:07.9 | go through what they call a fear period and often two fear periods. |
| 1:11.7 | And during those fear periods, they're not going to be at their confident best. |
| 1:15.6 | What can we do about it? |
| 1:16.6 | You need to know what is your dogs normal. |
| 1:19.4 | Read their temp. |
| 1:21.1 | When are they absolutely, let's call it homeostasis. |
| 1:25.2 | They are calm and content. |
| 1:26.8 | What are the signs in their physical body |
| 1:29.2 | that they will show you? That physical body represents what's happening internally. Because if you |
| 1:34.6 | can identify when that puppy is relaxed and calm, then you can identify when they are alert. |
| 1:40.7 | And then from alert will go one of two directions. It may go to excited. Is that my daddy? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from DogsThat, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of DogsThat and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.