We Have Nothing to Fear …
Every year millions of people get bitten by dogs and hundreds of thousands require medical care. [i] In the United States, where we spend 35.9 billion dollars[ii] each year to care for and pamper our house pets, how is this possible? The answer may surprise some people. We have a lot of fearful dogs in this country and fearful dogs bite people.
What is Fear?
Fear is one possible result of the body’s chemical reaction to stress. Stress is the demand on the body to adapt. Fear triggers the body’s release of various hormones and chemicals including cortisol and adrenaline. Adrenaline is a fast acting chemical, which is released into the body quickly and dissipates within thirty to sixty minutes. Cortisol is a slower acting hormone that can take days to dissipate. The various chemicals raise the body’s pulse rate and blood pressure and cause physical body changes including dilated pupils, panting, wet pads and so on. Fear causes an arousal response in people and dogs.
What Causes Fear?
· Temperament -
Some animals have a faster fear response because of their temperament. They may be born with a quick trigger for fearful response to sounds or movement. They may be genetically more sensitive to sound or sudden movement. It is critical for these dogs to be socialized properly.
· Fear Periods –
Nature programs dogs to be more cautious during certain developmental periods. In the wild, these fear periods help keep young dogs alive. Traumatic events, which occur during these periods, can easily become “hard wired” into the dog’s mind. A trip to the veterinarian for inoculations may create a lifetime phobia in a temperamentally sensitive dog. Better to avoid the trip during a fear period or make sure the dog has many trips to the veterinarian that do not cause the dog trauma. Taking the dog on frequent trips to the veterinarian, while it is young, sitting in the waiting room while feeding it treats and taking the puppy home, without he or she experiencing anything unpleasant, will help desensitize the puppy to going to the veterinarian. Common fear periods occur at around seven to ten weeks, twenty to twenty-four weeks, around a year and again sometime between fourteen and twenty months. Careful, gentle exposure is the key for socialization, however limiting exposure to new, scary things during the fear periods is also important.
· Lack of Proper Socialization -
Dogs who have not experienced proper socialization, while young, are often faster to arouse. Proper socialization between seven and sixteen weeks helps the brain decide what is “normal”. Normal things do not generate a fear response. “Abnormal” things are scary and activate the arousal response. Young dogs need careful, gentle exposure to different people of various ages - including preschoolers, different races and different physical appearances. They should have experience with older people and people who use adaptive devices such as walkers and wheelchairs. Young dogs need gentle exposure to different species of animals, different physical locations, various surfaces to walk on (sand, gravel, concrete, gratings and so on), different audio and visual stimulus (metallic sounds, flags flapping, children playing, music and so on). All of these experiences help inoculate a dog against the fear of average, everyday experiences and people.
· Trauma –
Trauma is the exposure to a situation, which causes an arousal response in the dog, and is generalized by the dog to similar situations. For example: a dog that is attacked by another dog, or group of dogs, at the dog park or doggie daycare. The dog may become fearful of other dogs that look like the dog(s), or may become fearful of the park, daycare or all dogs. A dog that is startled and aroused by a very loud noise may become fearful of gunshots, balloons popping or thunder.
The Face of Fear
What does fear look like? Different breeds and even different dogs may show fear in different ways but most dogs show one or more of these indicators:
· Dilated Pupils – the black part of the eye grows larger, sometimes to the point where the iris is almost invisible. Often the eyes look “shiny”.
· Averting the eyes – in the initial fear reaction, a frightened dog often lowers his or her head and looks to the side and indirectly at the stressor. This may turn into a direct stare as the dog moves from the initial fear reaction to fear responses.
· Salivation – which may include:
o Open mouth
o Panting or drooling
o Wet pads
· Ears back – the ears may be back so far as to look “pinned” to the head
· Curved Posture – the body may be curved into a “U” shape with the head down low
· Tail Tucked – tail between the legs tucked up against the body
· Raised Hackles – the hair on the back of the neck, shoulders or back stands up.
Fear Triggers
Many different things can trigger a fear response. Most fear triggers contain one or more of the following:
· Stressors - are factors that may cause the body to acclimate. Sometimes, because the dog’s temperament, lack of socialization or presence of a fear period a stressor may cause trauma. Common stressors include loud noises, dog on dog incidents, veterinary visits and things falling from over the dog’s head.
· Pressure – is any force that acts on the dog to adapt quickly. Adding pressure to a stressor increases the possibility of a fear response. A frightened dog that is forced to go closer to a gunshot, for example, is more likely to exhibit a fear response than a dog that is allowed to approach the loud noise at his or her own pace. A dog that is pushed into a group of dogs is more likely to exhibit a future fear response in groups than a dog that is permitted to approach the group more slowly.
Fear Responses
Understanding fear responses in dogs is essential in order to prevent dog bites. The sooner a fear response is noted, the faster we can help the dog feel calmer and avoid an incident. Fear responses include:
· Freeze – freezing in place is often the first response we notice. A dog that is frozen in place, not moving feet, head or tail is a very frightened dog and should be dealt with cautiously. The dog should be given the opportunity to move away from what frightens it. Approaching a dog that is frozen in position can be very dangerous.
· Flight – is the desire to put distance between oneself and the fear trigger. Whenever possible, the dog should be allowed to get away from the stressor. If that is not possible a visual blocker should be placed between the dog and the stressor. A visual blocker can be a fence, car or even your body.
· Fight – for most dogs, fight is the last response. Dogs will most often choose to get away rather than fight. Many dog bites occur when the dog feels trapped. A child hugging a dog, a dog being approached in a corner, a dog on lead and a dog hiding under a bed or sofa are all examples of dogs who are trapped, feel they cannot escape, and may bite.
Fear responses occur when fear indicators are ignored. The dog is “forced” into a response when his or her indicators (dilated pupils, salivation, body posture, ear and tail carriage and so on) are missed or ignored. A dog that exhibits fear response has been pushed too far.
Dog Bites
Fearful dogs generally bite the “offending” body part – the body part that is approaching the dog. Children, because of their short stature and their tendency to hug dogs, often get bitten in the face. Adults are most likely to be bitten in the hand or arm. Simply leaving the dog an “exit strategy”, a way to get away from a situation, can avoid many bites.
Human Body Positioning
There are things we can do, as we approach dogs, to make the dogs feel more comfortable and to lower the chance of triggering a fear response. If we model our own behavior on “polite” dog behavior, we can help dogs feel more comfortable in our presence. Dogs do not approach one another directly; rather they approach each other with an indirect, curved body posture with their head low and eyes averted. Humans can mimic that approach by stopping (which allows the dog to determine the distance between them), turning slightly sideways, head turned away from the dog with eyes looking down. Speaking in a soft, calm voice and allowing the dog to approach us also may help a timid or frightened dog cope without triggering a fear response.
Fear Inoculation
Inoculating dogs against fear, by good breeding and proper socialization, can substantially lower the incidents of dog bites in this country. Socialization is not something over and done when the dog is a puppy. Socialization continues throughout the dog’s first two years and should be maintained for life. Confident, bold, outgoing dogs rarely bite people. Frightened, under confident dogs often do.
Taking Responsibility
We need to teach our children proper behavior around dogs. We need to rid ourselves of the attitude that our dogs should put up with anything anyone does to them. Dogs deserve respect for their need of space and their need not to be cornered or trapped. Children and adults should learn not to do anything to a dog they wouldn’t do to a stranger’s child. These things include swooping down and picking the dog up, forcing it to submit to being hugged or petted, snatching things away from it or dragging it out from underneath anything. If the people cannot be controlled then the dog must be protected. Putting the dog away for the safety of everyone involved should not be viewed as punishing the dog, rather as protecting him or her.
Dogs and humans must practice mutual respect for the safety of everyone. A fearful dog should be given time and distance until he or she feels comfortable and confident enough to approach people or things. Given proper breeding, gentle socialization and proper handling, most dogs will never be put in the position where he or she feels a bite is necessary.
[i] J Gilchrist, MD (July 4, 2003). Nonfatal Dog Bite--Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Departments --- United States, 2001, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Center for Disease Control. Retrieved October 17, 2006, from http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5226a1.htm
[ii] Industry Fact Sheet (June 28, 2006).Fetch! Pet Care, Retrieved October 17, 2006, from http://www.fetchpetcare.com/page.php?id=45
