We get asked often at our training facility, Canine Einstein, “how do I help my dog feel more confident?” This is a great question, but it is also a complex question. Every dog can benefit from confidence boosting, but not every dog will get there the same way.
What we know is that confidence is important for every dog. Confidence helps to reduce reactivity, decreases stress and anxiety, promotes an overall wellness and helps our dogs have more fulfilling lives. Think about the different issues some dogs have and how confidence building can help them:
- Shy or Nervous Dogs: there is a difference between a dog being introverted (or needing a smaller social circle) and being shy or nervous. Shy and nervous dogs are often suffering from a lack of confidence, therefore confidence building may decrease the nervousness and help the dog tolerate meeting new people or dogs better.
- Fearful Dogs: Like our nervous pups, many fearful dogs lack confidence or a feeling of security. Confidence building helps them feel not so afraid of the world
- Reactive Dogs: many dogs who are reactive to dogs or people are so, not because they are aggressive, but because they are insecure and not confident. They are unsure how to handle the feelings they are experiencing. Confidence building helps with reactivity by helping dogs learn to cope with the feelings they are having and reducing the stress, fear and anxiety.
- Younger dogs: younger dogs are learning about their world and learning to navigate it- confidence building in these dogs helps them have experiences that are positive in nature.
- Senior dogs: As our dogs age, their vision, hearing and overall health may decline. This can lead to an increase in anxiety and stress. Helping our dogs feel more confident, allows senior dogs more time to enjoy the time they have with us and to be able to relax- many confidence building activities, even help with physical or cognitive declines often associated with aging.
