Helping Fearful Dogs: Bethany Preud'homme's Techniques and Strategies

[@aaronmeyer9431]

I love when Bethany Preud'homme makes an appearance on the channel. More appearances from Bethany please

[@NateSchoemer]

Thanks. She’ll be making another appearance in a few days. 😁

[@shepherds.pie.youtube]

These people are getting such a great start to becoming dog trainers!

[@SkarGig]

I grew up training dogs. I am wondering the best way to get back in the business. It really is my passion, i love dogs, have studied both animal and human psych and just really miss training for agility and obedience. This video is really great and made me more confident because I already know so many of the lessons taught in this video! Right now I'm just offering to train my friends and their dogs (because handling is the most important part of dog training lol)...soon I will be training service dogs for people living with Multiple Sclerosis like myself, and other disabling diseases. That's the dream and seeing others do it how I would makes me feel like it's an achievable goal for sure! Love your channel!

[@miratraven5755]

You sound like you are already on the right track! And good for you to want to train service dog for people who need them to help mitigate disabilities. I am looking into becoming a trainer as well and love Nate’s content.

[@PARoth2011]

Love this video with Bethany! This reminds me so much of working with fearful horses in a round pen, we never face them like a predator. I am building my information base and confidence with my own GSD rescue so I can work with our county rescues to help them find a home. As a retiree, I also want to go one step further and help the new adopter owners understand/learn and work with about their dog to help reduce returns. This video is wonderful and so helpful, thank you!

[@CamilleGG451]

Thank you for your kindness and your work! ❤

[@TheTazman63]

Love Bethany and her technics, thanks for sharing Nate.

[@zsahe21]

I discovered Bethany through Nate's channel, and now I am absolutely in love. Dog-wise I mean. I know she's married to a French Marine.

[@britsadie]

I enjoyed this a lot. This lady's energy is great. Be great to work with her one day with my dogs. Good job Beth 👏 and another 👏 for the dogs and volunteers

[@LauraHopkinsCDL]

Great fear behaviours shown here, thank you.

[@fmknokey]

Thank you for this video. It answered a question I have been wondering about genetics and having an anxious dog. Your videos are always so helpful.

[@whomeverwherever]

I have never agreed with a trainer more. She truly gets it. And honestly, I think it should be mandatory for vets (and techs) to understand these things as they trigger a lot of fear, especially in shepherds.

[@sylviamcneill4372]

Great insight into fear behaviors and cause and effect. I believe many of the tips introduced here are applicable or can be implemented with dogs that don't have as obvious fear reactions. In my case with my Corgi, he is very people-oriented but with other dogs has a tendency to bark aggressively and "act big". If given the chance to actually meet the dog, he has been friendly. I am thinking this is pre-emptive move "just in case". Please correct me if I am wrong. My solution, as described by my trainer, is to keep his focus on me or get it back. I do this by changes of direction so we are not going straight up to the other dog, but are winding to and fro, circling away and coming closer gradually as long as he stays calm with main focus on me. Rewarding calm, focused behavior. I am also supposed to do a strong correction (leash pops) if there is any growling or lunging involved with the barking. Your opinion please. I always enjoy and appreciate Bethany's information and applaud your including her in your series.

[@NateSchoemer]

Thanks! Often, obedience can fix behavioral issues. If a dog is given a responsibility, it's often difficult for them to practice an undesired behavior. This is due to the fact that dogs can't multitask. As for using a physical correction, I would correct the act of the dog breaking the obedience, such as the heel command, instead of growling or lunging. Lastly, you want to make sure that the growling or lunging is not due to fear. If it is, then the leash pop can make the behavior worse. I hope this helps! :)

[@sylviamcneill4372]

@@NateSchoemer Thank you for your reply. I have been concerned about the correction exactly for what you said. I am not positively sure fear is NOT involved. This has not happened so often that I believe damage has been done. But I want to be sure I am responding to his needs appropriately. Needs meaning the ability to maintain composure in public situations. When in a car, many dogs bark at other dogs passing by, as do ours. I haven't viewed that as fear. What would you call it, though? So how can I positively determine if my Corgi's reaction is fear-based or not? I really need to find a good book on dog body language. - Any suggestions? I really liked Bethany going over indicators of change in behavior that fearful dogs do.

[@PARoth2011]

@@NateSchoemer thank you so much for defining the “when” of the leash pop correction, I’m going to improve my timing because, in hindsight, I do give a pop to the reactivity rather than the obedience.

[@mollasima3251]

Love Bethany

[@ysonianin]

This was a very insightful video, thank you! My dog reacts to people aggressively when people start paying attention to her, extending hands, doing something she hasn't seen/heard before, or when people are passing by when she is playing with other dogs somewhere close. Unfortunately, I don't have similar school for dogs to be able to do what is explained on video with different volunteers. Could you please advise what would you do without volunteers, is it possible to condition the dog to at least not bark and snap (and probably bite if not on leash) people? Thank you!

[@janking3355]

What conditioning work could someone do by themselves with a dog who is fearful or under socialized? Also it is so hard to keep aggressive people from trying to touch (pet) my dog. At least most of the Kids ask if it's ok to pet my dog. I tell them no not today. Maybe someday, but she fears mobs of the little creatures running at her, at this time! I'm sure we just need more conditioning, but she's also afraid of people in wheelchairs, in part bc someone in a wheelchair thought it was funny to scare her a couple times. Maybe to him it was funny, but my dog thought it was serious...

[@NateSchoemer]

If you haven't seen it already, check out this video. I think it may prove to be helpful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqXKp6uHmZ2oeJI Cheers!

[@janking3355]

@@NateSchoemer Yes, some of it applies to the Tizzy monster. What I really need to do is to get my hands on these things that scare her, so she can interact with them and me to figure out they are not scary. I'll be working on that in the next couple weeks. Right now we are in the change over to Spring, mucky yard one day, rain the next, then a late season snow, couple nice days, then a couple cold windy days... C'mon springtime!

[@reyhernandez7810]

Play book without the 1k vocabulary and long winded. Thanks for sharing.