As much as I wish I had sent my dog to Brandon for training before bringing him home kzfaq.infoUgkx1_veP7CApJK_GWy_TczaMciuG64PqJeU I am so grateful for this down-to-earth, practical guide. His training techniques and tips really work. Thank you as well for dedicating your life's work to rescue dogs, and to rescuing those of us who want the very best for our 4-legged family members.

I would really like to see more videos on training nervous and scared dogs

This was perfect, I tried all your tips world with my 4.5 month old lab/shepherd. he would react to all male strangers in and out of our home but as long as people interact with him, he calms down.

Heartwarming. How lucky Milli is to have her humans (and visitors ;) except and understand her and to help her, opposed to labeling her "aggressive" with strangers. I bet lots of dogs could avoid pounds if this got around. Grateful yet again for your enterprise.

This is exactly what I needed to know for my 6 month old German Shepherd. Thanks!

these videos even from over 5 years ago are helping me tremendously with my new rescue dog! I cant thank you enough

Great job. I liked how she warmed up to you at the end.

Milli did so well with you, that's amazing!

Fantastic! I will be sharing this with my clients. What a great example on how effective reward based training works. Kudos!

Thank you Zak, today my kids came over with their dog. It started out very bad, as my dog is fear/aggressive. So I used your training. Stepped away, came back several times. My son's dog actually was the break through when she turned her back on my dog to sniff her. It calmed the situation a great deal. They are not best friends by any means but it was tiny bits of progress. Dolley, has made strides but what today taught me was we have far to go. I am still hopeful and will never give up on her. Your videos are saving us both frustration. Thank you, thank you. Phillane

I've just shared this with a group of my refuge-assisting volunteer friends in France. We have a lot of hunt dogs and badly-socialised dogs who are nervous around people. The body language stuff in this should be compulsory for anyone around a nervous dog. Thanks so much for all this great advice in one short video (I wish all my guests were as sensible - oh well!)

I like that. Working / understanding dogs similar way.The award is tremendous when you see them relaxed.

This was beautiful! The trust you built... So special!

Zac George's videos are the most helpful dog training videos out there! I use these videos to help people achieve their training goals! Great instruction.

How about the dog with fear aggression. Not biting but violent barking with all dogs and people outside of their family.

EXCELLENT video Zak. EXCELLENT.

This video was far more helpful than I expected. Good job.

Many years ago I purchased a 40" quiet time bed for my dogs, and I am glad I did. It has survived being used every day and it has survived the many times I have thrown it into the washer and dryer. It is the best item of dog bedding I have ever purchased.

god I love your channel, finally someone who really understands dogs and how to help them without the overly media presented force

This was an exceptional video! Thank you!

What a great video Zak! Our 6 month old golden retriever Maya, is exactly like Milli. Your advices really help! We really have problems at the Vet, she is very nervous, barking, growling, showing her "smile" ... But we are not giving up 😊 she's done better the last weeks and I think she will do even better in a few more weeks. Thanks again for all the good tips!

This is a great video with a lot of information packed in it. I think it's one of your better ones.

Zak George Thank you im 10 yrs and i have got a german shephered and all your videos helped me soo much i apriciate it!

Wow this was so extremely helpful thank you!!

I like watching zak Georges you tube videos im always open to new idea's and reinstall older ways in a different way. Thanks zak for your tips and tricks its been a blast my puppy sam and I are Having a great time training using some of your training advice. Tony

Thank you so much for this video! I have the same issue my dog and I can't wait to follow your advice :)

this helped me so so so much thanks

Awesome video. So helpful.

We needed to see this. Our dog better get ready for some chill encouragement.

Thanks so much! Precisely what I needed to know about my 1.5 year old lab/shepherd.

Very helpful, thank you!

My dog has this problem. Thank you for this very helpful video!! 😄

Loved it!

We struggle with anxiety with our jack russel, named... you guessed it - Milly! This was great to see...

beautiful dog!

You are just such a lovely trainer ✅

This is the issue I have had with my Chihuahua mix. Thank you for this video, Zak.

Great job!

Hi Zac, I;ve been enjoying your videos. We have a young sheltie--8 months old. She has been apparently apprehensive about anything thing with wheels, pretty much since we got her last April. She initially lunged & barked whenever a car, bike, scooter, skateboard, etc went by when we were out walking. I started just getting down & putting an arm around her whenever a vehicle went by & this has helped a lot, but she still pays LOTS of attention whenever anything goes by. Right now she usually lies down when a car, bike etc. goes by & then jumps up a watches for awhile. Skate boards still really make her go berserk. We are looking forward to the day when she is able to totally ignore things with wheels going by.

My dog is much worse. She constantly barks and growls. She won't even take a treat from strangers. She might take it if it's thrown on the ground but not always. It's very hard to get her to listen because she runs from us. If someone on the couch stands up she won't let them move through the house.

More videos on this topic PLEASE!

Really nice, good dog, glad to see the change. I would guess just graduating slowly at her pace to other places she will do great.

this is exactly the video I was looking for. our frenchie that we took in has this barking issue with men.

THANK YOU

great video. we have an anxious lab hound mix, Chewbacca. He was a rescue and while he loves us and is very cuddly, he can get very shy and nervous around strangers. Great tips for us to keep practicing with him. :)

This was a good video, My dog will do almost the same thing that this dog does when she is around people she doesn't know & my dog will bark at men as well. I learned to good tips from this video to teach my dog. :)

Awesome! I definitely need to know this for one of my Akitas. :D

Very good! Our dog (also named Millie) is very much like this dog.

very nice!!!

Zak, have you ever tried getting a scared dog like this one to acclimate to you by tossing treats behind the dog while keeping your hands close to your body while you toss? This can really speed things up. You are doing a great job of explaining the dog's body language and it was wonderful to see you go through the process of getting this dog comfortable enough to play with you. I refer clients to your channel all the time!

Your awesome it really helped me and I think the dog wanted more food when she was licking your hand

Zac - you need to come to Australia & spread the word about the training revolution! Aswell as meet some amazing Aussie breeds like the Kelpie.

My puppy is very similar to Milli, but an even more extreme case. He’s like this with everyone but me, even members of the family that live with us. He’s a Siberian Husky, so we thought he’d be friendly with people, but he’s the opposite to the expectations people would have if a husky. It’s not like we didn’t socialize him, but he just feared everybody. With a lot of work, he now has become like Milli where he’ll just bark at people. I can get him to chill eventually, although after some time he’ll start barking again. He absolutely won’t let anyone but me touch him, except in very rare occasions. And I haven’t been able to motivate him to tug with other people. He’ll even get too distracted to tug with me. He’s very good driven, so he’ll listen to commands tho, such as sit, down and touch, but at the end of the day he still doesn’t trust anybody, which has been kind of hard, because all responsibilities have fallen on me, when it was supposed to be a shared responsibility :’). Still, we’ll keep trying and working with him at his own pace.

I think some anxious dogs will remain anxious with strangers all their lives... I had an Aussie who was nervous around strangers. We had a group of 8 people come to our house every single Sunday for almost 2 years from 10am to 5pm (choir practices) and although our Aussie always tolerated these people in the house, he never let ANYONE pet him and would always run or jump away as if he had never seen these people before. We socialized this dog as much as we possibly can - he would just have his own "circle" of people.

Thank you mine is scared of my dad. My dad stays in his room most of the time, so this worked because my dad is pretty much a stranger.

SO CUTE~!

Amazing video. A video about how to deal with a noise phobic dog would be great.

I have been using many of these same techniques with my new guy who was born feral and has some severe trust issues. The change in him over the past year has been remarkable, but he still have a long way to go. I do see one thing in the video that I would see as wrong. Mr. Zak, you talk a lot with you hands and very fast hand movements. I have found around any skittish or shy dog that all movements should be kept to a minimum at first and done as slowly as possible. You can even see at points where your rapid hand movements put the dog off a little bit more so that it takes longer for him to get used to you. Also, never move when the dog is not watching you. You suddenly being somewhere the dog didn't expect can really set back the whole process. Most dogs really want to like people, but some have issues trusting people for reasons you mentioned. Someone gave me this really good advice for helping socialize my feral: Get a treat that he does not get at home. Go out in public (I take mine to help at dog adoption events). Have strangers give him the tasty treat. Right now, Butters is starting to be absolutely certain that all strangers have beef jerky and you can see his curiosity and flight responses fighting around new people now. Eventually, we'll top the hill and it's straight down to loving everybody.

My GSD has that problem, I tell people just ignore him and don't talk or look at him, when they do this, he comes up to them, now he's friendly. But that only half the time. he knows who he wants to be nice to. still working on it.

Great video!! Zak, do you have a video that addresses training your dog to be tolerant of brushing their teeth? I've been searching for a good video on this and have yet to find one. Thanks!

You are awesome! i learned a lot how to tame my dog with you but now it dont defend itself on streets from other dogs. How can i teach it to be a little bit more agressive. Thanks from a brazilian viewer

I just read a lot of comments about people getting puppies at 4 months old and how they were raised in barns. I just got a pure bred Aussie at 4 months and now I'm worried I won't be able to give him a good life with his nervousness. He's terrified of anything that has to do with the outside, a leash, and loud noises. We have another dog who is amazing we rescued him at 7 weeks old and so we consistently socialized him to where is comfortable in any setting. He makes our nervous puppy more comfortable, but he won't even use the bathroom outside he is absolutely terrified

Great dog traning and we are going to use it on a dog that has this scared problem.

This is great! We just discovered that our Cavalier King Charles pup does this with children! He is not shy or bervous around other people in general (a little slow to warm at times) but he pretty much went nuts when a couple kids came over to the house. Should we employ the same training in this video with him and kids? Tips please! We really want him to be able to be around anybody!

Same

Great video! My concern with this is that you need multiple people to do this many times for you and your dog. Would I have to keep inviting different people that are strangers to my dog to practice this?? That's the difficult part if so.

First of all I want to say that I really like your methods I think this is probably the best way to build i relationship with your dog early on and i can tell it's really effective. We have a 7 months Border Collie in our office (think of it as apartment) and when we have clients coming to the office Spas just freaks out and starts barking, I'm trying to get his attention with "look at me" and "quiet" but even if I have his attention for a few seconds he goes right back on his target and he keeps barking. Unfortunately I don't have 20 or 30 minutes to make him confortable so eventually I force him to another room. I think of asking a few friends to come by at work a several times to work on that but I'm not sure it would work out. What bothers me is that even if it works the method in the video includes a lot of turkey meat given by a stranger. And I dont think want teach him that coz I'm afraid that he might be tricked or poisoned by stranger. What do you think I should do? Maybe Spas should stop coming to the office and stay home alone but i really think it's better for him to be around people all day plus we are 4 people in the office and we all enjoy Spas being there. He's really energetic and lovable dog. Maybe i should say that he barks at strangers only at home and in the office so it's more of a territory thing he usually lays down right next to the front door. So newcomers get in his space really fast and he reacts I understand that.

my families dog does this to all the men, including myself, in the house. We just got him and its hard to get used to and imagine him being comfortable around me and just makes me miss my old dog D: ty for the tips tho, i'll try them out

I have a pitbull that is 4 months old and is extremely friendly with dogs and kids, and just all humans. And in public she is very calm and confident. All though if we pass a park with children running and screaming she will start barking. Although instead of backing up or barking in one spot she lunges toward them and I’m trying to fix this

I got my dog at 12months old, I've had him 5 months now, he was sacred of everything including the maniquin in the shop window, he has progressed a lot, but he is terrified of vehicles I know what triggered it, 1st a delivery driver was moving cages in the back of his truck, 2nd a car back fired, 3rd a horse in a horsebox was stamping it feet. 4th a guy started his motorbike and he was so scared he stood there and wet himself, He had just got used to the world when this sequence occurred. Now he will go out and do his business but will panic if a noisy vehicle passes and he will pull on his lead as close to the walls as possible all the way home or worse wet himself in fear, Any suggestions how to desensitise him to traffic. When he first came to me he was scared of all vehicles, strangers, loud noises, he was fine with fireworks and he's fine with the jet fighters that train above his head. But he gets so anxious outside with road vehicles.

Just rehomed a 6 month pup, owners said hes always been a little shy around strangers. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to break it, I want him to know that whoever I bring in my house is safe for him. In time though, I just rehomed him only 3 days ago. I was told it could take 3 weeks for him to adjust and 3 months to fully be comfortable in his new home. The reason this is foreign to me because the dogs weve had before this never experienced this sorta anxiety with strangers, they were all just loveable dogs, didnt make for a good watch dog lol but that's what I want. Dogs I owned before were shepherds mixed, this one is a shep crossed with american bulldog. Im thinking what would be good for him is socializing him by taking him to the dog parks, taking him to classes and just really socializing him. I already notice their is a good way of approaching him and a bad way. One friend sat down, avoided all eye contact, but gave him a treat everytime the dog came over, then it only took a few minutes before my dog was in a comfortable state. But then tonight, I had a friend come over and basically demand attention and was looking at him in the eyes well standing up. I know that wasnt the proper way to approach but I want my dog to know regardless of the person, he should be at ease with any stranger in my house, that'll be my long term goal.

Can you move to Seattle so you can help train our dog...??? My husband is obsessed with your videos

I have actually seen this exact house layout with the pool, kitchen, back glass doors, and living room looking almost 1 to 1 to this place...

Which video do you recommend for senior female Boston Terrier (9 yrs) with high level of anxiety? She grew up with 2 older and larger dogs but became only dog 4 years ago. Introduction of male chiweenie puppy was positive until 9 mos of age then her anxiety resulted in aggression towards puppy. I know it was our lack of consistent discipline of puppy that turned mild stress & anxiety to high anxiety and aggression. Goal is to learn her signals and correct/distract so we can adopt another shelter dog (older one this time around). 2 trainers so far, after initial consult, said best for her to remain sole dog but no training was attempted. Thanks.

My ten months old male puppy has never sniffed another dog till now. He missed out on socializing due to his illness during his first six months..now he's fine but very shy and reserved with outsiders and other dogs

Zak I think a good idea would be to give new dog trainers a list of the vocabulary you use train dogs. like look at me, lie down etc

Millie has my name!

Can you make a video on how to teach your family to cooperate?

hi zak i know you have videos on teaching dogs fetch but i have a question. I have been trying to teach my dog marmaduke a miniature schnauzer how to fetch and am having a hard time. My dog chases after it fine its just the bring back part that he doesn't understand. He'll bring it about half way and when i bend down to get the toy he'll run away from me and continues playing with his toy. Even when i start of close when i reach to get the toy or he sees me hell run and play with the toy. I know he loves me throwing it because he'll offer a default sit right away. He is both toy and food motivated. I tried the chasing method but as soon as i turn around or bend down to get the toy he'll run away. I also tried the treat in the ball method which did not work for me either. Any tips or could you have a video on this?

About two months ago I rescued a Jack Russle mix who is four years old. He seemed to have a decent home before but was not well socialized. He is making huge progress with his fear of strangers, but is still much more wary of men. One thing I am concerned about is his nervous behavior around other dogs, even though he lived with three others before and reportedly loved them. When we go to the family's house there are 4 other dogs and I'm worried about how he will handle it. He has never been aggressive and has no record of biting another dog or human, but Im still wondering if he can be rehabilitated so that he won't live in such fear.

I have just come across your videos and I find them very helpful concerning my new puppy. What type of things can be done when he barks at people, including my boyfriend and myself, for attention? Even if he's exercised, how can I teach him to be calm and quiet when we have guests over? Hes in the process of being crate triained, so I understand that is part of it, but he is ver persistant with the barking and its not out of fear or anxiety. Thanks again.

hi Zack you have become one of my favorite trainers. You are my first go to every time! I just adopted a two year old toy poodle. I don't know what type of home she came out of. but she is scared of my husband she barks at him any time he moves too quickly. But yet she'll play tug-of-war with him but she won't play with me. it seems as though when she plays tug-of-war with him she's very angry about it. when I try to play with her she goes and hides yet normally she's stuck to me like glue. I don't understand it. Please help

I actualy used these techniques for our dog. He was never abused. Just afraid of all people and mostly big men. I have to say it does work BUT he is not 100% "OK". We have come to a point where he feels comfortable around most women but is reluctant around most men. Though it has helped with his barking, growling and frenzy behavior around strangers, it did not entirely "fix" his issue. I totally accept that though and try not to force him. Fear is something extremely difficult to eliminate(if not impossible in some cases) but you CAN reduce it and help relax your dog! All in all DO try those techniques but be careful and dont unnecessarily stress your dog or pressure him..

I have a German Short Haired Pointer who displays all the characteristics of the dog in the video as well as an extremely high energy dog. We have been slowly trying to keep him in the crate or rooms by himself but it is tough. He is also outside for hours each day running around with our other dog who is a husky. He gets more than enough exercise but it still hyper. Ay other tips that you can add? He's the sweetest dog but has so many issues.. He jumps on you when he's excited, he has extreme separation anxiety, and seems to do things for attention (like grab our shoes and start to chew on them even though he knows not to). We will continue to work with him, but any extra tips or recommendations on what we are doing or could be doing would be helpful! Thanks :)

My dog acts just like this!

How do I deal with my 4 month old doberman who's scared of loud noises? She often shuts down.. Or tries to run away from whatever it is that triggered her to be scared.. I'm not really sure if I should allow her to run (would that encourage the act?) Also when she shuts down.. I don't know how to snap her out of it..

Milli's anxiety isn't /that/ bad, good for them :)

Hi Zak

I just adopted a 5 month old lab mix and she is exhibiting submissive behavior. When she meets anyone new, or I call her and then approach her and she thinks I'm upset, she cowers, tucks her tail and urinates. Sometimes it's just a trickle and other times she's almost completely empties herself. Is this behavior she will grow out of, and how can I set her up for success in training her not to behave this way? Zak, thank you for your videos and I plan to give to your crowd funding campaign!

Yea but I'm not going to have a full on training session with every person that comes over to create a bond with the dog. How can you make the dog less nervous about guests in the home overall?

do you have a video of how to teach a dog (like a puppy mill dog) how to play tug? my dog is 8 years old and came from a puppy mill, can he still learn to play tug?

What can we do for dogs that are very low energy when anxious? I got a shelter dog a few weeks ago and I'm trying to get her comfortable with me but it's proving difficult to have her feel safe anywhere besides the bed or couch. She doesn't play and wont take treats when I try to train

We have a small dachshund Pomerania mix she’s about 10lbs. And she’s great she does sit lay spin up high five or what most say is shake and she comes to me when called pretty good we got a long lead to practice but when someone new is outsider she gets low swags her tail and barks it looks kinda like how she play with our two young girls but then when the new person tries to pet or let her smell them she runs away a bit and leans down on her front feet with her but kinda up and tail wagging my husband says it’s nervous energy but I feel like it’s nervous but also she thinks they want to play but I have no idea how to make her feel comfy to pass by people when on a walk or when meeting new people.

My golden/coonhound mix just recently started showing acute fear about a month ago. He now hides under furniture avoids rooms with people in them, and no longer eats and drinks as usual (once per day now). We used to play fetch daily and now he doesn't want to. What could cause such Adriatic change in disposition?

Thanks for the help!! Got my dog to stop barking at people. who come over

Hey Zak, I love your videos, however I feel as though you are rewarding the dog for barking and being nervous. Thoughts?

Hi Zak, if you ever get a chance to answer this question I would love to know how to deal with inter-dog aggression. My dog barks and growls and eventually attacks other dogs. Commonly people say it's a fight for dominance, especially when it is specific to other male dogs his age. But I do believe it is fear based and his defensive mechanism. How can you humanely teach your dog not to be aggressive towards other dogs without using any physical force or dominance training?

zak what treat did you used? cuz i have a stray dog anyway He just when to our gate I want him but MY GRANDFATHER PLEASE tell me were to buy it and what Name!

Great video! I've got a question though. What can I do if my dog won't even take food from us? We adopted our dog a couple of weeks ago and he still won't take any food from us. He barely eats at all. As far as we know he wasn't mistreated but still, he's afraid of everything... Help please?

hello zak i could really use ur help i have a chawawa that is really nervouse and scared