Havanese Fears: Slow Conditioning

Have you ever seen your puppy look at something and hesitate or give you a look as if they are concerned about that inanimate object? Puppies do go through fear stages and when they do not understand something, it's important that you do not coddle them or validate their concerns. Instead, you should help them realize there is nothing to worry about. How can you do that?

As you can see, Treasure noticed a piece of tissue paper under the door and couldn't figure out what it was. She kept looking at it with a 'what is it' stance and backing up - then going forward. How did we handle it? Well, I use keywords and say it in almost a baby talk voice. They don't 'get' it at first but after you do it with several items, they get that those keywords means there is nothing to worry about. Of course this also means that you have a correct relationship with your little one where they TRUST you. Without trust, none of this works.

I use the words, 'silly girl' and I put their paw on it or pull it out and examine it - whatever it takes. By doing this consistently instead of saying - oh poor thing - snuggling her and or laughing about it, you have helped in the slow conditioning process. You have helped your little one develop their coping skills. This is critical. It will give your dog a base of coping skills to work from in the future.

Fears are simply not understanding what something or someone is capable of.

When a pup whines as it fears walking up and down the stairs, their canine mom often guides them down almost in a pushing them up or down fashion as if to say, 'get on with it'. They don't say - poor thing. They do not coddle and when we humanize it, we see this as mean but in reality, it is the best thing she can do. She teaches her pup that there is nothing to be concerned about by getting it to face its fears and get on with it.

If you continue this method, your Havanese may still react to something strange but will recover much faster. Once coping skills are in place, the rest falls into place. You may even find that a hesitant Havanese by nature will be more adventurous when using this method.

All it takes is love, patience and guidance to help your Havanese become all they can be. It's worth it!

Tomorrow we will talk about puppy bites, chewing and all that fun stuff.

PS: I should tell you, Treasure was seen running too fast for a photo - just like a banshee with that blue tissue paper in her mouth and Havanese do love toilet paper and paper. I never saw a dog rip paper into bits so fast and so many little pieces as the Havanese.

TIP: If you are experiencing high winds, get your little one outside and have some fun with it. This way they won't fear the wind the next time. We had the crew out having a roaring grand time despite the rain. Personally, I love wind like this.