Knowing the signs that your German Shepherd Dog is stressed or anxious about something is very important to your dog’s well-being. But once you learn how to tell what your dog is feeling, you also need to know what to do to help her. How you react to your Shepherd’s moods about a person, object or even the environment will affect her, as well. So be sure you know the correct way to handle your dog’s fear. The following are four things to do when your German Shepherd is stressed.
#1 – Find The Trigger
First and foremost, you must figure out what is causing your German Shepherd to be anxious, afraid or stressed. Sometimes it’s obvious – if he’s lunging and barking on his lead at the dog across the street, it’s a good bet the trigger is the dog. But other times it may not be as obvious. Pay attention to your dog’s body language to give you clues. Is your Shepherd staring at anything? Running or cowering in the opposite direction of someone or some object? Acting hyper-vigilant (looking everywhere frantically – this may indicate it’s the environment that has him stressed)? If you can’t figure it out, have a professional dog trainer help you.
#2 – Remove The Trigger
At the beginning, you need to just remove the trigger for the well-being of your dog. The more your German Shepherd is exposed to it, the more stressed he will become. So once you know what the trigger is, avoid it as much as possible until you have a plan to get him over his fears the right way.
#3 – Don’t Force Your German Shepherd To Confront Her Fears
Many times, people think, “If I force her to the object she fears, she will see it’s fine and not be afraid anymore.” Dogs don’t work that way. If you force your German Shepherd into a situation that stresses her, it can escalate to the point where she becomes fear aggressive. She may redirect on you, or attack the object/person/dog that is causing her response.
#4 – Train Him
The only way to help your German Shepherd is to use training to overcome his fears. There are many ways of doing this and what technique you use will depend on the trigger, your dog and you – choose the method that works best for the situation. Definitely get the help of a professional trainer that has experience overcoming fear using positive methods. Correction will only make your dog fear the situation or thing more.
