Today's Topic: Dogs can be afraid of just about anything. For example, a dog may exhibit a fear response around a certain person, object, noise, or in a specific situation or environment that presents an external threat—whether it’s real or perceived. While fear is considered a normal behavior that is essential for adaptation and survival, sometimes a dog’s fear response can reach more extreme levels that is stressful for those at both ends of the leash and, at times, requires intervention by a professional. So what can you do as the parent of a fearful dog? To help us answer that question, we invited Debbie Jacobs, the author of the book, A Guide To Living With And Training A Fearful Dog, on the pod to discuss whether fear is due to traumatic past experiences, lack of socialization, or genetics, and whether knowing the cause matters; why changing our own views, beliefs and expectations is so important as parents of fearful dogs; why the idea "facing our fears" is so prevalent in our society; and practical solutions to commons situations parents of fearful dogs find themselves everyday, and much much more.

Guest Bio: Debbie Jacobs is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and a Registered Behavior Technician. She is the author of three books, A Guide To Living With And Training A Fearful Dog, Does My Dog Need Prozac?: Musings And Sound Advice On Living With A Shy, Anxious, Fearful Or Reactive Dog, and a children's book, Find Finn!. She is the owner and creator of the Fearfuldogs.com website, a respected resource for information about working with dogs struggling with fear based behavior challenges. She also hosts the Walking in the Woods with Dogs podcast that can be found on most podcast platforms. Debbie also runs webinars and seminars about behavior and training, She offers consultations to owners, rescue groups, shelters and foster caregivers. She lives in Vermont with her husband and her dog, Nibbles.

Season 1: Episode #16: "Fearful Dogs" w/Debbie Jacobs