Introducing Cautious Dogs to New Experiences

This morning, I decided it was time to introduce my 1.5 y/o Pug, to the Agility tunnel. Winston is a cautious dog. Since he's a rescue dog who joined my pack at 1 year old, I'm not sure if it's just his nature or if previous experiences taught him that curiosity isn't always a good thing.

Every time we encounter something new, Winston is quite hesitant to approach and explore. So, we do everything at his pace. This allows him to gain confidence about new things. If I rushed him, it would only frighten him, thus reinforcing his belief that novel experiences are scary.

I quietly set up the tunnel in a U-shape on the floor of my basement, then threw treats all around the openings. Any time Winston approached the treats, I praised him lavishly, but he refused to set even one foot inside the tunnel. So, I walked away and left him alone with the great temptation of out-of-reach treats.

When I heard the distinctive sound of footsteps on the floor of the nylon tunnel, I returned, walking slowly and praising him.  He got brave and went all the way through and I continued "baiting" the tunnel with lots of treats and rewarded him with constant praise whenever he was in the tunnel.

After about 5 minutes, he became comfortable with the U-shaped tunnel, so I stretched the tunnel out to its full 10-foot length. The new shape was enough to make Winston unsure about entering the tunnel again. He walked along its length, not quite willing to go inside to get the treats.

I quietly praised him any time he went near the openings until he got brave enough to go inside. A few minutes later, he was trotting back and forth in the tunnel, happily chasing treats. Once he'd done that 4-5 times, I called an end to the exercise, so that his last memory of the tunnel was positive.

Winston has come to trust me a great deal, since I've never pushed him past his limits in the last 5 months. I believe that this is the reason we were able to progress so far with the tunnel in a single 15-minute session.

Do I consider the tunnel challenge to be conquered? Not by a long shot. We will continue to work with the tunnel periodically all winter. With hard work (and a little luck), Winston will be ready to add the tunnel to his Agility repertoire  in the backyard, come spring.

If you have a dog like Winston, remember that introducing new experiences in a manner like I've described above can make the difference between building confidence and reinforcing fear. It is very important to watch your dog for signs of stress(1):

• Yawning

• Panting even though the dog is not hot

• Licking his lips

• Scratching

• Looking away

• Shaking off (as though he is wet)

• Stretching

• Quick exhalations of breath

• Lying down and refusing to move

• Drooling

• Pacing or circling

• Tucking his tail and moving away from the object

• Whining

If your dog becomes stressed or fearful, you've gone too far, too fast with the introduction and should stop the exercise immediately. When you begin again (at a later time), go more slowly so that your dog stays comfortable with the new experience. With some dogs, it could take weeks or months before they are truly comfortable with new situations. Just remember to let your dog set the pace.

(1) This list was modified from information appearing in an excellent resource, the Best Friends Animal Society pamphlet, titled, "Dog Body Language," written by Sherry Woodard. I recently searched the site, but was unable to find the page where the pamphlet appears.