How to work with fearful dog from a dog shelter Part 1 - Training with Americas canine educator 

This is a good example of how a dog isn't really rescued unless you know how to help them or are willing to learn. I've run into a fair amount of people at the shelter who believe that all you need to do is love them enough. Unfortunately it's not enough you need to have some techniques to help them.

I rescued a senior dog that came from a hoarding house of 150+ dogs. He was a bonded pair and I had applied for both, but they adopted his buddy out the day before my appointment. I’ve had him a year and have had hardly any improvement from him. I wish you’d do more videos about dogs like this.

That is how my 8 months GSD girl was but tanks to your free videos she is better now she let some people come close to her and now she is starting playing with others dogs

Wow, thank you for sharing the "whys" on her behavior and reactions. I always am learning. Thanks Tom

Thank you thank you thank you for showing work with a fearful dog! Our dog is now comfortable in familiar surroundings, but still pulls and shuts down if we go somewhere new. This is exactly what I needed. On to part 2!

Every time I watch one of your videos, I learn. Thank You!!!

THANK YOUUUU for this content. I'm trying to build my dog's confidence. I have been struggling with her training for the past 3 years since I adopted her.

Thank you so much! Two months ago, we adopted a girl like Babs. Our little lady is a doll, but she is terrified of everything. The outdoors scares her. A tissue dropped to the floor makes her jump. We are using some Tellington Touch with her and "yes" to things we like. We are gaining some ground with her. But, we still have very little currency. There are so many videos of shelter dogs that will work for food. Not our girl. Will not work for food, toys, pets. Period. The only currency we have is to let her into her crate and give her a chance to self-calm. She is doing well with this and is a very brave girl. We are working on counterconditioning to the outdoors with the help of our rock solid shepherd-keeshond mix boy. For us, the visual example of how to walk with her and the explanation of her need to be near our legs is like gold! This is the first I've seen of our situation and I thank you! More on this please!

Poor Babs. I hope she finds a good furever family who will work with her and help alleviate some of her fear. My shelter dog that I’ve had for over 15 months is STILL somewhat fearful, and likes to bury her head! We are seeing improvement, but she is sensitive, too. It’s really hard work, but we’re NOT giving up on her!

Excellent video. The dog education you provide us is awesome and appreciated

This was SO HELPFUL! Thank you!

Please please please more like this! My dog is very fearful and anxious and I've had her for almost five years. It's hard to not get frustrated when we work so hard but she doesn't seem to improve. I'd love to be able to take her on walks anywhere and for her to listen when I tell her not to be afraid of something. I've tried so many things with walking her and just recently took her all the way back to wearing the leash in the house to get comfortable with how it feels. Love your vids. I also wanted to add rq, I noticed a lot of body language in Babs that I've seen my dog exhibit.

I have been searching through video after video to try to find a dog just like mine, who I just adopted about 3 weeks ago. This dog is EXACTLY like mine! Its so difficult to know how to build her confidence. She is the most timid and fearful dog I have ever seen. Absolutely zero aggression, but she hides and shuts down very easily. She is so so very sweet, though. Thank you for this video. It helped me see just what a process its going to take in order to get my "Meka" to trust our family.

Loving these shelter visits!! Great stuff!

Really good video showing that with that kind of dogs very sensitive dogs, less is more. I have a border collie that is also very sensitive and he can get uncomfortable when approached to soon or if someone is too emotional or wants to hug him. So the best you can do is to be calm, give the dog space, let him approach you when he’s ready. Hi from Poland👋

I have hope now thank you so much for all your videos

Hi. Watching this video closely, I noticed when you kneeled down, you was not looking directly in her face or eyes but looking away, which seems to make her feel comfortable and she then moved forward once you stood up. Cool. Stay safe.

She’s got the right person to help her

Thank you for sharing, this will help a lot with me dog too, his such a nervous rescue.🙏🏽

Been watching your videos and they're awesome. I just got a 5 month black mouth cur puppy from the humane society and the dog is super fearful and will run away from me and my family, but will get overstimulated and aggressively play(dominant playing) with my maltese. He will nip at her and always use his mouth to try and catch her so I have him on leash. please make a video to help with this to stop the fear

This is sad but another great video. Thanks Tom for sharing. Xxx

Thank you for sharing this video

Ive been waiting for this video. YAS 😁😁😁

Great video and can't wait for part 2!!! Do you know dogs age? My pit/mastiff puppy is going on 7 months and I'm noticing a fear stage that wasn't there before. Is it true dogs go through this phase periodically without a trigger? (Not attacked etc)

Poor baby ahhhh 😭 I’m glad you’re able to help her

I am a new follower and am starting to train a sweet, mild mannered Rottweiler we adopted a few weeks ago. He is slightly possessive with me and shows it by standing between me and my kids or barking if I’m holding a kiddo. Any training videos regarding that?

Wow! Theese seminar-videos are pure gold. More, please! Sound-tip: I love the fact that you wear a wiewless. However, take your time to put the cord from the transmitter inside your sweater, and place the mic where you don't get your west on top of it to avoid the friction noise. I suggest all the way up on the "neck-ring" (sorry, I'm Norwegian) of your sweater, in the midle, and (important) turn it pointing downwards. If you have a deacent mic, it should be able to pick up your voice OK. If that doesn't work, put in on your west. You're gettin' close to perfection 😉

Great vocal tone here Tom. I hate to think she get lost or even worse dumped by someone from the U.K .She needs out that shelter. Do they not have a fostering program? Great job Tom. You do brilliant work. Thank you : )

Oh no...the poor thing! My brain is working overtime trying to figure out her backstorey, no options seem good 😢 But another great video, love that we get to see a full range of dog personalities/issues

I’m currently dealing with a fearful basically feral malanois little by little we making progress she even got the heel command on her 2nd try

I have an extremely fearful mixed breed dog. She would not be able to be in that room that you were in. You're the only trainer I've come across that has dealt with dogs somewhat like her. Sadly, she is so much more fearful that the featured dog in this video is so much more confident than Luna

So I have a fearful dog that I just got in October. She is 5 years old and was a breeding mommy. She had a good home but on a farm all the time so no socializing with other people and very rare saw men. She finally likes my husband and making good head way on walks but been waiting for the rain to stop to really bring her out. If she get to scared she will poop so I did not want to go to stores. What is to fast to move and how often would be best to get her out. Once a week or several times a day?

hi what do I do if My 72 pd dog lays on the ground when the leash is put on. I have to continually tug on him

She completed a finish. Woah UK. Hope she finds a home. Nice explanation, thanks for posting.

Thanks for this video. I'm learning so much from all your videos. My husband and I just brought home a 3 year old GSD four days ago. She is learning to listen to us (basic commands like sit and come work). I can tell she trusts us at least inside the house. But one problem we have is trying to get her out the door at all. As soon as we try to put a leash on, walk her out the door, get her in the car, or walk more than a few hundred feet from the house, she just freezes up. No amount of coaxing, gentle pressure, firm pressure, or even treats will get her to move. I wonder if it's a fear of not knowing if she'll come back? She is not aggressive about it, just freezes and is like "nope, i'm not moving". What do you recommend? Do you think this is just a time issue since it is still so new? Are there certain methods we can attempt other than tugging on the leash which doesn't currently work? Her backstory - she came to the rescue extremely malnutritioned (she was probably starving), had a rope tied around her neck so long and tight that no hair existed on her collar, and based on her skiddish responsiveness to quick and big movements, she was likely also beaten. She also recently had a litter. Despite her terrible past, we both think she is a super sweet dog and has the potential to blossom into a beautiful lady. We both want to do whatever we can to help get her over her fear and show her love. But we also want to make sure she knows that we are the leader and the boss. I feel like because of her abusive past, I'm struggling to find the balance of getting her comfortable and trusting us, but not taking advantage of us and I want to make sure we start the relationship off right. Do you have any tips?

Hello! So I'm a dog volunteer at an animal shelter. How do you tell the difference between a fearful dog and a fearful AND aggressive dog. The oned that aren't ready to be adopted yet I want to make adoptable so they can move to the front of the shelter

Good Video

I have a shelter dog but her fear is around loud noises, specifically the trash truck. At home she’s constantly finding a hiding place, out on walks she tries to run and hide if she hears loud autos

I have an almost 1 yr old Saint Bernard. He's almost 125 lbs already and came from an abusive domestic violence household. He'll break my leg if he thinks it'll get him away from anyone, including other family members when they come home. Wish there were groups like this near me to help

I need help! I just rescued a dog 2 days ago but he is EXTREMELY FEARFUL. He lived all his life in a cage. He is 3 years old. When I try to pet him he flinches and runs away. When I am able to pet him and give him scratches, he freezes and shakes but at the same time start to fall asleep. He also freezes randomly and takes a long time to get out of her crate in the morning. He never wags his tail. I tried to train him to walk with a leash but he keeps pulling and it just feels like I’m dragging him. What can I do to help him love me?

They can’t track a uk chip? It would be awesome to find her owners

Poor baby. You’re awesome

Did anyone try and find her family in the UK? If she is UK chipped can't we find the owners?

This video is so helpful for fearful dogs! I have a question: my dog is still fearful of people. We take her to dog friendly stores and try and have people say hi to her. Would you say I should just ask people to ignore her instead?

Has anyone done a FB campaign to find the owners? Try calling Tattoo-a-Pet too. She can give the shelter suggestions, am sure. She may even have a list of people looking for this English Setter.

I'm watching this I'm in the process of adopting a pup from rescue centre who's scared of everybody I've a big challenge a head he's gonna be a big dog belgian shepard

I cant even get my dog to walk and inside the house he runs away from me

If you got the time look at my most recent video on my channel rescue husky husky has aggressive behavior while angry is behavior while in cage store open or You're closed but it is perfectly fine on walks with my other dog

I hope they find a foster

Forreal other people dont make these videos because they want to be able to make more money. Sick video

Get a Siberian husky with fear issues, and none of this works. They don’t care how much “pressure” they’re getting from the collar. They don’t accept treats. They don’t accept verbal positives. They will settle when they’re ready and there’s nothing you can do about it

UK chipped!? No luck finding her old owners? :-/

But, what do you do when you have to chase down the dog and trap them in order to get a leash on them? Your video starts with the dog on a leash. I am oh so far from that step.

Poor love.

thanks for the free video but for god sake say something useful

That dog is NOT fearful.

nope..this doesn't teach a scared dog that it's safe