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Chronic anxiety is a terrible thing. If your dog is ever unsettled, wary or afraid, they need your help. 

Imagine your greatest fear. Maybe it's public speaking, or spiders, snakes, flying or being trapped in small enclosed spaces.

Now imagine facing that fear every day. Imagine the anxiety you would feel in the moment, and then imagine all the dread that you would live with throughout the day, throughout your whole life, knowing that you are going to be confronted with your worst nightmare every day, over and over again.

If your dog has chronic anxiety, that's what they're going through and it's not pleasant. 

The sooner you address the problem the better. If you ignore your dog's fears they will get worse, and eventually, provoke your dog to react aggressively. That can be scary and upsetting for everyone, and it can make rehabilitative training much more difficult and time-consuming.

So let's help your dog now.

First, we have to figure out what, if anything, your dog is afraid of. 

It might be obvious. Maybe your dog immediately displays very unambiguous signs of fear or aggression whenever a certain stimulus is present, for example, the vacuum, thunder, men or other dogs. If so, you may want to skip to the next section and get started rehabilitating your dog with classical conditioning right away.

But then again, your dog may be stressed by more than one thing or situation. There may be other stimuli that your dog finds unsettling, but the signs are more subtle. 

Or maybe, you have no idea what, specifically, your dog is afraid of.

To help you figure it out, we've put together a document that illustrates the most common signals that a dog is afraid, plus a checklist of some of the many things that dogs frequently become afraid of. 

Now, there are two types of stimuli that are especially important to address: certain types of people and certain types of handling. 

When it comes to people, dogs are most likely to be afraid of children, men, strangers, odd gaits or movements and people wearing sunglasses, hats, uniforms, or costumes and people carrying unfamiliar objects such as umbrellas, walkers and tools.

When it comes to handling, dogs are usually sensitive about people grabbing their collars or handling their muzzle, ears, paws, tail, and groin, or when people stare into their eyes or hug them.

One of the easiest ways to test whether your dog is feeling anxious or afraid is by offering them a food treat. If your dog usually takes food from your hand but doesn't want to take treats in a certain situation, it's a good indicator that there is something in the environment that is making your dog feel uneasy.

See if your dog happily approaches and takes food from other people. If your dog readily takes treats from you but not from other people it's a good sign that your dog doesn't feel comfortable with those people. 

Familiarize yourself with the signs of fear, and then start to safely and gently expose your dog to some of the items on the checklist, starting with whatever you think might be the most likely cause of their anxiety.

If you don't see any signs of fear, try offering your dog a few pieces of kibble. If your dog takes the food, ask other people to offer your dog kibble. If your dog eagerly takes the food from you and the other people, that's a wonderful indicator that your dog is comfortable in that environment and with those people. 

That said, it is possible for a dog that really loves food to take treats from someone even when they are not altogether comfortable. You can tell if this is the case because the dog will be slow to come close and will stretch to reach the food while trying to keep as far away as possible. Or they'll snatch the food and quickly back away.

Regardless, having a person give your dog treats is the very heart of classical conditioning and each piece of food given will help your dog feel more and more comfortable about this person. 

As they grow up, dogs will naturally become more wary of people, dogs, things and environments that they are not exposed to on a regular basis.

If you want to make sure your dog remains confident and comfortable throughout their entire life, you'll want to keep taking them to new places, to see new things and meet new people, and you'll want to hand-feed, praise, and play with them while you do so to let them know that there's nothing to be afraid of.