Fear

Many discussions lately on whether on not you should comfort your dog when it's frightened. It seems that it's OK now to give them comfort as you can't reinforce fear. Having reactive dogs has made me more aware of these situations.

Reading all the posts on reinforcing fear brought back memories. Jake and Woody were frightened of loud noises, fireworks, and thunderstorms. Woody would claw at me to pick him up when he was frightened. We would cuddle during storms, the longest being the two weekends we spent in the laundry room during the hurricanes. I used to long for storms so I could cuddle with Woody as he was very aloof. On his last day, when he was so sick, Woody clawed at my leg to pick him up and cuddle. There was no storm, but he was frightened. I didn't realize it then.

Walking Maggie alone, without Shane or Frank, has become a struggle. She pauses to sniff every 2 feet. I tried giving the leash a tug, but it didn't work too well. I discovered she would do OK when I was running, but can't keep that up for long. I realize now that she is scared to be out there with all the noises so I am treating her every chance I get. Our walks are shorter but I can tell she is having fun.

I so envy people who can just take their dogs for a walk. Our walks are intense training sessions. Twice a day. Every day. Takes its toll.