So what can you do to help when there’s a storm brewing with loud thunder crashing and Bruno, your beloved Great Dane, is shivering and quaking like a bowl of jello? Well, step one is for you to understand as much as you can about the cause of fear in our canine friends.

According to dog behavior experts, dogs have two types of fear, instinctual and learned. Instinctual fear is core for every canine and can range from fear of loud noises such as gun shots, and explosions, or even the noise of the blender as you prepare your morning smoothie. It can also include a natural fear of predatory animals such as coyotes, wolves and bears.

Learned fear comes about from a trauma-based experience. Experts believe dogs imprint trauma into memory at an early age, between 2 and 4 months, and these memories can affect the dog’s behavior into adulthood. For example, if a dog is struck by a bicycle or attacked by a larger dog early in life, the dog may be fearful of bicycles or large dogs in adulthood. 

To help your dog overcome his fear, desensitization is key, experts say. For instance, if you’re afraid of heights, you might try to overcome that fear by gradually experiencing new heights, say by stepping up a ladder and reaching a higher rung every other day until you can climb all the way up to change that light bulb. Repeating the behavior without negative consequences is essential to mastering the fear for your dog as well.

According to John Sievila, owner of Arizona K-9 Partnership, a dog training company serving Phoenix, Arizona for over a decade, the key to helping dogs overcome their fears is for the Pet Parent to be the Alpha (leader) by example which means not showing any fear, and not trying to comfort them.

“It is human nature for us to try to console our canines when they are fearful, but doing so will have an adverse effect. Remember that dogs don’t comprehend language the way you and I do. When they become fearful and if we use a high voice to console them it sounds like whining and can be construed that we are fearful, too. The thing to remember is to be confident and ignore the perceived danger and when the dog does the same praise them in a strong, confident way. You will be amazed at the results.”

So back to Bruno. There he is, a 165-pound bundle of nerves. Resist the impulse to try to soothe him with baby talk, or pet and reassure him. Instead get a leash, hook him up and review your basic obedience steps for 15 minutes. Speak to him with confidence and exude your leadership personality. He will see you are not scared but in control. He will relax in time if you are consistent.

If your dog is afraid of storms, help desensitize him by purchasing an audio tape or video tape of thunderstorms and play it repeatedly. If your dog fears blenders, turn on the blender every evening while you are feeding your dog. He will get accustomed to it and even begin to associate it with dinner time.

Use your creativity to figure out more ways to desensitize dogs to things they have imprinted as scary. It works!