Helping Fearful Dogs (and People!)
Helping Fearful Dogs (and People!)
Helping Fearful Dogs (and People!)
Life Lessons from Lotus
It’s no secret how I feel about Lotus (my dog pictured above). She has been used by the Lord countless times to teach me about helping fearful dogs and a ton of other life trials that don’t even have anything to do with animals. Probably one of the biggest lessons God has taught me through her, is using exposure training when dealing with fearful dogs.
You are probably thinking, “what is that?” or “what does that have to do with natural living?”. Well, it took me a bit to make the connections. I do not like to medicate at all. Especially not with anxiety or fear with myself or my dog. Instead of avoiding people from interacting with her and her fearful behavior, I learned about exposure training and decided to apply the principles with Lotus. It meant I had to take her places and “expose” her to new situations. She was really fearful when we first adopted her. Fearful dogs can sometimes be the most concerning because they can lash out or be too afraid to learn. In addition, that fear caused her to not trust me to lead her and she then would choose to not obey or worse, “take matters into her own hands”. As a result, she thought she had to defend herself.
Isn’t that the truth about fear?
Fear can cause us to lash out at the people we love. It can cause us to be angry at those who love us. Sometimes fear will lead us to only look for comfortable places where no one will hurt us. When we are put into new places and have to depend on the One guiding us, this will change.
Courage arises when we see how going places in the car is no big deal. Confidence emerges when we can go through obstacle courses and figure out that we can jump really high. Fear dissipates when we realize not all people are scary. When we are exposed to new experiences we can discover our strengths and gifts. It is exciting as we begin to associate this new reality with good instead of bad… faith instead of fear.
A little on Distractions
Additionally, I would help my dog focus on me for her next step..regardless of the distractions. One thing I had to teach her was to look in my eyes, while I moved my hand (with a treat) from side to side. If she kept looking at me (not the treat) then she was rewarded. Isn’t that awesome? When we focus on Jesus, regardless of the distractions, we won’t miss out on the treats. One scripture that shows us how to do this is Psalm 123:1, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus…” In Lotus language, it sounds like this: “Sit. Stay. Listen.”
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
Shopping ideas
Lick O Chops Omega Supplements
A helpful inflammatory supplement
A great calming and mobility oil
Links for ingredients from dog treats blog:
Lotus’s recommended remedies
The Ju Ju (what we called it)
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*Feature Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
Helping Fearful Dogs (and People!) Life Lessons from Lotus It’s no secret how I feel about Lotus (my dog pictured above). She has been used by the Lord countless times to teach me about helping fearful dogs and a ton of other life trials that…