Anxiety is contagious
Don't let your stress reinforce your dog's stress
Often, fearful and reactive dogs behave in ways that make the people around them feel anxious and stressed. The dogs recognize that their people are worried and this further reinforces their own fear, which makes them even more afraid. So they react more intensely, which makes the people even more stressed, and everyone gets stuck in a self-perpetuating, escalating spiral of anxiety and reactivity!
Break the cycle. Smile and pretend you're feeling relaxed, even if you aren't. It will help your dog relax!
If your dog is worried about an unfamiliar dog or person, and they look to you, and see that you're worried too, they'll only get more worried. But if they look to you and see that you're smiling, and you're acting relaxed and playful, then that will help them feel relaxed.
Smiling is a good start, but there's a lot more that you can do to trick your dog into thinking that you are feeling relaxed and comfortable, even when you're actually quite stressed and worried.
Use your voice. Talk to your dog using a relaxed, playful tone. Even better, recite some silly poetry or sing a little song. It's good to have a go-to poem or song that you have at the ready, so you don't have to ad-lib or come up with something on the spot, and rhythm and rhyme will do a lot to make you seem relaxed.
Use your body language. Put on a big smile and do a little dance. Move your body in an engaging and playful way. Rhythmic, bouncy movements are a great way to convince your dog that you are feeling comfortable and to give your dog a reason to focus on you and engage with you, instead of scary things in their environment.
