Fearful Puppy Training
Alpha K-9 Obedience | Fearful Puppy Training
The cognitive development of a puppy includes critical stages for their emotional and social development. It may be easy to overlook these important stages due to the excitement of having a new puppy in your home. At 8 weeks old, a puppy has only had the opportunity to see and experience the world for a short time. It is critical to work through their emotional and social stages with the right type of training to ensure that your puppy will be well-adjusted. Missing the window for correcting fearful behaviors can lead to the development of aggressive behaviors.
At Alpha K-9 Obedience, we can help rehabilitate fearful puppies and rescues to be confident with themselves, with their homes, and with their owners. We offer fearful puppy training in Denver, CO, and can help you prevent future behavior issues like timidness, shyness, and even aggression in the future. As animal behaviorists, we understand the fundamental psychology of dogs, and work hard to understand the root of the problem.
Fearful Puppy Training Solutions
Why Is My Puppy Afraid?
As your puppy is beginning to explore, they are also developing their abilities to react to new sensory experiences. Everything will be new to your puppy and may potentially become a trigger for fear. Day-to-day experiences such as a walk in the neighborhood, loud noises like thunder, and even sudden noises on TV can frighten your puppy and cause anxious behaviors. If you’ve noticed your puppy is more aggressive or even more reserved, then it is likely due to fear triggers causing anxious behaviors. Please note that the anxious behaviors may not present themselves directly after a new experience has frightened your puppy.
How Alpha K-9 Will Help Your Puppy Gain Confidence
Just like humans, dogs have various personalities that change due to various experiences in their lifetime. If a puppy experiences an anxiety-inducing event in the early stages of their growth and development, specifically at 8-11 weeks old, then those fears are likely to carry them into their more mature years. Through intentional training methods, we will work with you and your puppy to provide a foundation of mutual respect that helps to lessen fears and anxiety throughout their lifetime. We will help your puppy learn basic commands and socialization skills, desensitize and counter-condition current triggers through positive reinforcement, and build confidence. Alpha K-9 will help you improve your puppy’s social experiences, manage the reactionary cues you provide to them, and provide you with training methods that will help you and your dog throughout their lifetime.
Instilling positive training behaviors in your puppy early in life will help them avoid aggressive behaviors in the future. At Alpha K-9, we have worked with a plethora of dogs with moderate to severe aggression issues. Fortunately, these stages can be prevented through the help of puppy training by encouraging confident, properly socialized dogs from the start. Contact us today so we may fully understand your puppy’s needs and talk about an individualized training plan for your puppy.
Potential Fear Triggers in Puppies:
- Unfamiliar people including excited children
- Passing cars
- Stationary objects such as trash cans
- Bicycles and skateboards
- Loud noises such as thunder, fireworks, and vacuums
- Sudden laughter, sneezing, yelling, etc.
- Riding in vehicles
- Mirrors or unusual reflective devices
Anxious and Fear-Driven Behaviors:
- Cowering or hiding
- Pacing
- Shaking
- Lack of interest or depression
- Growling, whining, or barking
- Sudden lunging at other humans or dogs
- Submissive or excessive urination
- Over-attachment to people
Why Alpha K-9 Obedience?
Alpha K-9 Obedience is the expert dog trainer for your aggressive dog in Denver, Colorado. Our goal is to rehabilitate dogs by creating a relationship built on trust and respect. We never use pinch collars or e collars when working to rehabilitate a dog with aggression issues. We never punish dogs for their behavior. Instead, we work hard to understand it, providing a happier life for you and your dog.
When you come to Alpha K-9 Obedience, you work directly with Michael Mandell. Michael has years of experience as a certified animal behaviorist, and he works with several counties in Colorado to provide rehabilitation to aggressive and dangerous dogs, including court-mandated dog training for attacks and aggression. Alpha K-9 Obedience has dozens upon dozens of positive, five-star reviews that you can read here.
Alpha K-9 offers dog training in Evergreen, Denver, Morrison, Golden, Lakewood, Arvada, Littleton, and surrounding areas. Contact us to have a phone consultation with Michael to see if Alpha K-9 Obedience can help.
In-Home Dog Training
We offer private, one-on-one dog training and personalized attention with every dog. We want to make sure that we can deliver the hands-on help that’s needed to support permanent learning strategies.
Phone Consultations
Phone consultations for dog training are also a possibility where personalized in- person sessions are not appropriate or practical due to location.
Puppy/Dog Selection
If you need help picking out the perfect puppy or breed for the needs of your family, we can interview you and help you choose the right puppy for your needs.