If you look it up in the dictionary, you’ll find that the definition of “fear” is an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. It can also be a verb, to fear someone or something, in which we are afraid we might be in danger or we might feel pain. Either way, fear is a normal behavior in all mammals, including humans. It’s a primal part of our brains that has the purpose of keeping us alive. But sometimes fear appears seemingly out of nowhere, or it’s unreasonable. Why would a dog be afraid of an umbrella, traffic cones, Christmas ornaments, and so on?

The Origin of Fear

As I already mentioned, fear is normal. If you walk through a forest and suddenly come face to face with a bear, how will you feel? I hope the answer is, “I’ll be afraid!” Why? Because that fear is telling your whole body to run or fight! It’s telling your brain to focus and redistribute “all resources” to organs and body parts that will keep you alive! It’s the same with dogs and other mammals. 

However, what happens when a dog is afraid of everyday objects, people he meets, or other animals that he shouldn’t be afraid of? We have to go backwards and look into two main things that could have gone wrong: socialization and habituation.

While socialization and habituation are two main things that could have gone wrong or a dog lacks both, other things could be the reason.

 

Socialization 

I wrote about the importance and the process of socialization in the article How To Socialize A Dog, so I’m just going to mention the essentials here. And the most important thing to remember is that all dogs need socialization, regardless of the breed.

Socialization is vital for a dog’s development, social hierarchy, and self-esteem as it matures. Dog socialization should always continue, but it’s especially crucial during puppyhood.

If we don’t expose our dogs to the outside world and teach them how to be friendly with other animals or people, they’ll grow into fearful or aggressive dogs, depending on other factors. Therefore, abnormal fear often stems from a lack of socialization.

We can often see this kind of fearful, aggressive behavior in dogs who were “raised” in puppy mills, backyard breeders, or any other situation where profit is more important than a living being.

People who shelter their dogs too much can also, unintentionally, cause a lack of socialization and future fearful behavior in their dogs. This often comes with those owners who have toy dog breeds or smaller dogs whom they see as real babies and not dogs.

What to do? Socialize your dog properly from an early age. After your dog has had all the vaccines, let it meet other dogs, cats, people, etc.

Habituation

This is very similar to socialization, but the main difference is that during habituation we don’t want a dog to be “friendly” with other animals or people, we simply want to desensitize them so that they don’t get afraid of normal sounds, sights, and smells. You can read all about the differences in the article Socialization or Habituation.

Equally important in preventing abnormal fear in dogs is their proper habituation during the early stages of life. Exposing your dog to different sounds, smells, and sights is very important.

You don’t want to “throw” your dog into a new situation, but to slowly and gradually introduce your dog to something you think is important or can be important in the future. For example, the sound of the vacuum cleaner or a loud TV. Habituation is a natural process, and every puppy goes through it passively, and it never stops. There is always something new to discover.

If I “teach” my dog not to be afraid of the fireworks, why is it still scared when the New Year comes? Because dogs forget. If they are not exposed to the stimuli for a long time (such as a year), they’ll experience fear all over again.

This is not something you haven’t already heard of. We are the same when it comes to the sounds, smells, or taste and other senses. Those who live close to the noisy places are used to it, but it will annoy you. Spend a month in a noisy place and you will get used to it, too. Then go back home where you can’t hear the noise, and when you return, you’ll be annoyed all over again.

What to do? Keep on gradually exposing your dog to those stimuli you know your dog will see often or are important to you. Don’t shelter your dog in fear they’ll get scared; that will make matters worse.

Previous Experiences in Adulthood

Sometimes even when we do all the right things, we give our dogs proper socialization and habituation, some things go unplanned. That’s life. In that case, we call this situation “previous experience”, no matter if it’s an animal, an object, or a sound a dog is afraid of.

This type of fear-origin is present when we have to take our dogs to the vet. If the previous experiences were bad, you’ll have a hard time convincing your dog the vet’s office is a nice place.

Here’s another example: a dog is afraid of people in uniforms. All other people are okay, but the uniforms give the dog raised hackles! If you’ve had a dog since it was a puppy, maybe something happened early in the puppyhood. If your dog got to you in its later stages, who knows what might have happened.

It could be something benign, such as a delivery person unintentionally scaring the dog one day, or it could be a serious matter where people in “uniform-like” clothes or real uniforms abused the dog in some way.

What to do? We need to use proper behavioral training techniques to ensure a dog safely and slowly gets less and less afraid of something until it’s not an issue anymore. One technique is called counter conditioning. The best option is to consult a professional behaviorist, especially if a dog gets aggressive when afraid (fear-based aggression).

Genetics

While a dog’s genes may not be the primary factor in determining how fearful it is, they still contribute to the overall way that a dog behaves. Genes are one of the main reasons a young Border Collie “knows” how to herd the sheep or why a Pointer puppy freezes when it sees “potential prey”.

Different genes are why Retrievers retrieve and why Livestock Guardians guard. So we can’t rule out genes completely when looking at the full picture of a dog’s behavior. Our influence, the surroundings, and the experiences play a crucial role, but genes are there too.

I’ve come across several studies in which scientists made a connection between genes or parts of genes and fear. Most of them focus on aggression caused by fear, but it’s worth checking them out: 

1. Genetic mapping of canine fear and aggression (Isain Zapata, James A Serpell, Carlos E Alvarez; 2016 Aug 8)
2. DRD2 is associated with fear in some dog breeds (Kim K. L. Bellamy, Linn Mari Storengen, Ellen Arnet, Karin Handegård; August 2018)
3. A novel genomic region on chromosome 11 associated with fearfulness in dogs (R Sarviaho, O Hakosalo, K Tiira, S Sulkama, J E Niskanen, M K Hytönen, M J Sillanpää, H Lohi; 2020 May 28)

Final Thoughts

Next time you notice your dog gets anxious about a random object, don’t get afraid yourself. Yes, dogs have great instincts, but it’s not always about a “deeper meaning” or whether dogs can see ghosts. They can… But, first, we have to ask ourselves why the dog is afraid of the sound, smell, or a person/animal/object and then think about ghosts.

In most cases, it’s the lack of socialization and habituation to that certain external stimulus. If that is the case, we should work toward desensitizing the dog to that stimulus so that it can learn there is no danger. It takes time, patience, and requires consultation with a professional dog behaviorist. Whatever you do, don’t force your dog to “understand” there is no danger. The so-called “immersion therapy” rarely works and can backfire if used improperly.

Cover Photo by Yevhen Stienin