Behavioural Topics - The Importance of Feeling Safe

Lisa Hird returns with an article about how important it is for your dog to feel safe, and the signs to look for when it doesn't. This is useful advice for all breed, not just German Shepherds.

Discover more about Lisa's work, ethos, and training experience on her website: https://www.dogbehaviourclinic.co.uk/

The Importance of Feeling Safe

Bringing home a new dog should be done slowly and carefully. Take time to integrate, time to slowly introduce her to new things, time to build the relationship and time for the dog to learn she can trust you and any other dogs in the home..

When we adopted Freya we didn't have any visitors to the home for months, until she had truly settled. She was nervous of new people and had not lived inside a house or ever been for walks. We didn’t walk her for the first week either, to give her time to get to know us and feel safe. If she didn’t feel safe with us, how could we help her feel safe on a walk?

When we introduced walks, we spent some time with her off lead in the garden, dropping down a small treat by our side to encourage her alongside. Once we introduced the harness and lead we progressed to walks. But this was done slowly, at her pace and giving her choices. We might only go 10 steps or we might go 200 steps - it was her choice, every single time. When she indicated she wanted to return home, that is exactly what we did and each walk got a little longer as her confidence grew and because she chose to walk for longer.

We should never underestimate the importance of feeling safe for our dogs.