When you're working with a fearful dog, progress doesn't always come from teaching something new. Sometimes it comes from taking behaviors the dog already understands and introducing them under slightly different circumstances.
That's exactly what we're doing in this Training Sessions episode with Mikey, a young Rottweiler currently going through our Board & Train program at Primal Canine.
For this session, we kept the actual training exercises pretty basic. The challenge wasn't the obedience itself. The challenge was introducing a drone into the environment while asking Mikey to continue engaging and working with us.
And for a puppy like Mikey, who came into our program afraid of just about everything, that's a pretty significant change!
Why Environmental Exposure Matters for Fearful Dogs
One of the biggest challenges when training a fearful dog is helping them learn how to respond when something unfamiliar happens.
Some dogs naturally investigate new environments, sounds, and objects without much hesitation. Other dogs, like Mikey, have a harder time processing those same experiences.
When Mikey first arrived, he was extremely hesitant to move away from his handler, explore unfamiliar areas, or participate in basic exercises.
Before we could really start developing his obedience, we needed to build his confidence and willingness to engage.
That process has involved a lot of patience, repetition, and finding ways to make new experiences manageable.
As Mikey has progressed, we've started introducing additional challenges to see how well he can apply what he's already learned.
For this particular session, we decided to use a drone.
Using a Drone as a Distraction During Dog Training
We wanted to introduce something that Mikey wasn't already accustomed to seeing around the house.
A drone gave us an opportunity to do exactly that.
Between the noise, movement, and unfamiliar appearance, the drone created a different training environment without requiring us to change the obedience exercises we were working on.
And since we wanted to document the process anyway, we figured we might as well use the drone to film the session!
The purpose wasn't to make Mikey uncomfortable just for the sake of creating a challenge.
We wanted to observe his reaction, help him work through the unfamiliar situation, and demonstrate how familiar training exercises can help a fearful dog regain engagement when something new is introduced.
Building Confidence Through Familiar Exercises
One of the things we've learned while working with Mikey is that familiar exercises can be extremely useful when introducing new distractions.
Rather than asking him to learn a completely new behavior while simultaneously dealing with something unfamiliar, we're giving him an opportunity to perform things he's already beginning to understand.
This helps us keep our communication consistent.
We can reinforce behaviors he's familiar with, reward engagement, and give him opportunities to succeed while gradually becoming more comfortable with the new distraction.
For fearful dogs, the level of difficulty matters.
If we introduce too many new things at once, we can make it significantly harder for the dog to understand what we're asking.
Instead, we want to find a level of challenge where the dog can still participate, process what's happening, and make progress.
If a dog becomes too overwhelmed to engage, that's our cue to adjust the exercise or create more distance from the distraction.
The objective isn't simply to expose the dog to something scary. It's to help the dog develop a more comfortable response through manageable experiences.
Compounding Exercises: What's Working Best for Mikey
Something I've been noticing throughout Mikey's program is that compounding exercises seems to be one of the most effective ways to help him progress.
What I mean by compounding exercises is taking things Mikey already understands and gradually building additional challenges around them.
For example, we can start with a familiar engagement or obedience exercise in a comfortable environment.
Once Mikey is participating and showing confidence, we can introduce a new element, such as an unfamiliar sound, object, or environmental distraction.
The exercise itself might remain relatively simple, but the situation becomes a little more challenging.
That allows us to build on previously established behaviors while helping him develop the confidence to perform them under different circumstances.
For Mikey, this approach seems to be working better than constantly introducing completely new challenges.
We're starting to find a pace where he can process what's happening without shutting down or losing his willingness to participate.
And that's important because our objective isn't to see how quickly we can push him through the program.
We want his progress to be something we can continue building on.
Watching Mikey Become More Comfortable With the Drone
As expected, the drone introduced a new challenge for Mikey.
But throughout the session, we continued working through familiar exercises and giving him opportunities to settle in.
Eventually, Mikey began becoming more comfortable with the drone and was able to pull himself together and participate more consistently.
That's exactly the kind of progression we're looking for.
It doesn't mean one successful session has completely desensitized him to drones or every other unfamiliar distraction.
What it does show us is that Mikey is beginning to develop the ability to work through unfamiliar situations with some guidance.
For a dog who initially struggled just to move around and explore, seeing him adapt to a new distraction while continuing his training is encouraging.
And overall, I was really happy with how he finished the session!
How to Help a Scared Dog Become More Confident
If you're working with a fearful dog, one of the biggest things to understand is that confidence building should be a gradual process.
Every dog will respond differently, but there are some important principles we use when developing these exercises.
1. Start With Behaviors Your Dog Already Understands
Familiar exercises provide a foundation for communication when the environment changes.
Rather than introducing multiple new behaviors and distractions simultaneously, begin with something your dog can already perform comfortably.
2. Introduce Distractions at a Manageable Level
The goal isn't to overwhelm your dog.
Start at a distance or intensity where your dog can notice the distraction without becoming too stressed to participate.
For something like a drone, that might mean starting with it stationary or operating at a greater distance before progressing.
3. Reward Engagement and Confident Behavior
When your dog voluntarily engages, explores, or successfully performs a familiar exercise, reinforce those behaviors.
We want the dog to develop positive associations with participating in training, even when something unfamiliar is happening nearby.
4. Give Your Dog Time to Process
Some dogs need more time than others.
With Mikey, we've found that allowing him to settle into a session rather than rushing the process often produces better results.
5. Build on Successful Experiences
Once your dog demonstrates comfort with a particular exercise or distraction, you can gradually introduce additional challenges.
That's the idea behind compounding exercises, and it's becoming an important part of Mikey's training.
Remember, if your dog is panicking, attempting to escape, or unable to recover, reduce the intensity of the situation rather than forcing continued exposure.
Every Dog Has a Different Learning Process
One of the reasons we document Mikey's training is to show that not every dog progresses at the same rate.
Some dogs enter our programs ready to engage, explore, and work immediately.
Others, like Mikey, require a lot more time developing confidence before we can begin asking for more advanced behaviors in challenging environments.
Neither situation changes the importance of understanding the individual dog in front of you.
With Mikey, we're finding that patience, familiar exercises, and gradually compounding challenges are helping him make steady progress.
This session with the drone was another positive step in that process.
He started with a new distraction, gradually became more comfortable, and finished the session in a better place than he started.
For little Mikey, that's a win!
Board & Train and Confidence Building at Primal Canine
At Primal Canine in Gilroy, California, we work with dogs of different ages, temperaments, and training needs.
Our Board & Train programs cover everything from foundational obedience and off-leash training to behavioral challenges involving fear, insecurity, and reactivity.
We approach each dog individually, adjusting our training methods and expectations to their abilities and progression.
For dogs like Mikey, that means spending the necessary time developing confidence, engagement, and communication before expecting them to perform reliably in more challenging environments.
Whether you're dealing with a fearful puppy, an insecure adolescent dog, or an adult dog struggling with environmental distractions, developing a strong foundation is an important part of the process.
Learn more about our Board & Train programs and other dog training services at PrimalCanine.com.
Primal Canine | Established 2013
We don't train dogs, we train dog trainers.