Behavior modification tips for fearful dogs

Patients labeled as aggressive are often fearful or stressed. You can help owners of anxious pets take measures to make them more comfortable in your office-and in life in general.

Classical conditioning is one way to approach reforming a pet's response to a stimulus that it may fear. See Changing associations through conditioning for more.

To help a dog feel less stressed during an office visit, it can help to have owners teach their pets the command attention, which can prevent or interrupt unwanted behavior. For a client handout on this topic, click here.