Cog-Dog Radio Fear, Anxiety, and Pessimism
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Jan 27, 2026 Clear definitions separate anxiety, acute fear, and lack of confidence in dogs. Discussion covers anxiety as anticipatory avoidance and ways to show safety. Acute fear is framed as a response to real threats and managed with desensitization or avoidance. Building confidence through achievable wins and choosing the right challenge level gets attention.
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Anxiety Is Anticipation, Not Presence
- Anxiety is anticipation or apprehension about real or perceived threats and can become a generalized, dysregulated state.
- Anxiety drives escape and avoidance behaviors that are futile because they target events that may not yet exist.
Prove Safety Or Provide Avoidance Skills
- Show anxious dogs whether threats are real or not and give them skills to avoid real threats when present.
- Use remedial socialization to expand a dog's inner circle and reduce anticipatory anxiety around other dogs.
Fear Is An Acute Response To Present Threats
- Fear is an acute, targeted unpleasant emotion triggered by a real threat or perceived immediate stimulus.
- Fear differs from anxiety because it is caused by the presence of a threat rather than anticipation of one.