Play is the Way to Conquer your Puppy’s Fear Period

Rae started training with us recently and she is going through her “fear period.” 

This is a developmental phase in early puppyhood where the brain has a lot of plasticity and emotions can be intense. Puppies tend to act more fearful during this time period and can be easily overwhelmed. 

Rae and I went on a training walk this week where we encountered lots of scary things- loud noises, barking dogs, objects moving unexpectedly from the high winds. 

Whenever Rae became fearful I redirected her into a food chasing game. She is familiar with a food chasing game, and learned it separately from any scary stimuli. A few times I had to stand in between her and the scary thing to redirect her into the game, but mostly she redirected into the game the moment she heard my verbal cue “Rae, wanna play?”

Once her body language shifted from fearful to playful in the game, I would end the game and let her investigate her surroundings again. After every game she observed her surroundings with confidence and curiosity, able to better regulate herself due to the emotional shift from playing. 

Knowing how to support your puppy during a fear period can have a huge impact on their ability to regulate themselves for the rest of their lives. A puppy who is taught to avoid scary things or flooded with scary things until they shut down will not have a chance to strengthen crucial neural pathways in their brain that help them regulate fear. This can result in a lifelong increase in fear, anxiety, and reactivity. 

During early puppyhood it is important to build skills that help the puppy recover from fear and become curious about what they are fearful of. Using play to help your puppy regulate their emotions and letting them decide how they want to investigate scary things sets them up to be brave and resilient dogs in the long run.