My Dog ​​is Afraid Of People, What Do I Do?

Your dog is charming, you couldn’t have chosen a better one, however, as soon as an unknown person approaches, he crawls between your legs as if your life depended on it. You try to apologize to others by assuring him that he is a very nice dog, but everyone believes he is only nice to you. Your dog is afraid of people.

We all love that our pets move their tails when our friends, family or even strangers want to approach them and pet them. However, we have to resign ourselves when this does not happen. Are there any solutions to prevent your dog from being afraid of people?

Reasons for fear of people

There are several factors that can lead your dog to feel fear of people, whether a group (elderly or children) or a particular person. These are the most common ones:

• Genetics and race. There are some types of breed that are considered shy and scared, such as the Great Dane, which despite its large size is a fearful dog. If you are from the time when they broadcast the famous Scooby-Doo series, you must know this animal’s personality very well. Greyhounds also have a similar personality.

In these cases it can be very difficult, even impossible, to eradicate this type of behavior, as genetics is very difficult to fight. But, even in these cases, knowing the predisposition that these dogs have, if you teach them as puppies to socialize with other dogs and people, it may be that when they grow up they will be the friendly and sociable dog you want.

• Traumatic experience. This is another factor that can influence your dog’s fear of people. If you’ve had it since a puppy, you may think your pet hasn’t had any traumatic experience. Consider that for them, possibly, the word traumatic does not acquire as much importance as it does for us.

Possibly your dog was not mistreated, but it is possible that small gestures by someone around you, even when they were playing, affected your dog’s personality. For example, it is possible that one of your children may have irritated, even if playfully, the animal when it was a puppy. Even as a joke, this may have affected the animal’s subconscious, making it a more antisocial pet.

Possibly one of his friends played with him hiding a bone or his favorite toy. Both situations can cause the animal to see humans as a threat and use fear as a protective shield.

How to eradicate people’s fear of my dog

As we told you before, if the dog is an adult and conditioned by its genetics, it can be very difficult to eradicate this fear of people. If it’s a puppy from a conditioned breed, help the dog to socialize right from the start.

However, in most cases it is possible to eradicate your dog’s fear of people by doing two things:

• Socializing your dog. Teach your dog to approach other people and other dogs, but don’t do it in a sudden way or even force him, it won’t get you anywhere. Try to get him to socialize with quiet puppies and gradually select bigger dogs. Do the same with people, teach your dog that there’s nothing wrong with being petted by a stranger. The advantage is that a scared furry, as a rule, will not be aggressive.
• Educating people. Yes, people who want to get close to your dog should be educated with several things in mind. They must allow themselves to be smelled by the animal or reach out for him to smell it, because a caress from a stranger can scare any dog.

In fact, when someone comes and touches us from behind, the first thing we do is turn around to see if we know the person. We are afraid of the unknown and your dog too.

Contribute to your dog’s socialization with people, give treats to people so that they have a card up their sleeve when approaching the animal. Little by little you will see how your dog’s phobia will disappear.