Cautious Canine: How to Help Dogs Conquer Their Fears
Patricia McConnell
$6.95
www.dogwise.com
This short book is a great primer for owners of shy and fearful dogs. Basically, Dr. McConnell teaches the reader how to use desensitization and counterconditioning (D&C) to help fearful dogs get used to unfamiliar people and situations. This positive method approach is extremely effective – I have used it on numerous foster dogs with great success.
The key to D&C is to use very high value treats and to start at a distance from the feared object where the dog is not showing any fear. For some, this distance might be only a few feet. For others, the distance is a few hundred feet and then small steps are taken over a long period of time to bring the dog closer to the feared object.
Recommended for the library of anyone who fosters dogs.
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