Episode #253 Anxiety, Fear & “Pandemic Puppies” — Providing Emotional Support

Did your dog grow up during lockdown? You’re not alone — and you’re not imagining it if your once-happy puppy now struggles with anxiety, fear, or reactivity.

In this episode, Amy explores why so many “pandemic puppies” are showing emotional challenges as adults — and what you can do to help. Learn how to recognize early signs of fear, build resilience through safe socialization, use desensitization and counterconditioning effectively, and support your dog’s emotional well-being day-to-day.

Whether your dog hides from strangers, panics when left alone, or just needs a little more confidence, this episode will help you understand what’s going on — and give you the tools to create lasting emotional stability.

💡 Plus: Don’t miss our Socialization Class, taught live via Zoom this Saturday! It’s included for all members — visit our website for details.

Chapters

• 0:00 Why Pandemic Puppies Struggle
• 0:41 Early Signs Of Fear And Stress
• 2:29 Build Resilience With Safe Socialization
• 4:32 Routines And Independence Training
• 6:09 Desensitization And Counterconditioning
• 8:08 Manage Triggers And Use Enrichment
• 9:53 When To Get Professional Help
• 10:33 Celebrate Progress And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Does your dog show signs of fear, anxiety, or maybe you have what's called a pandemic puppy who didn't get properly socialized? Today we're talking about that and how to help. Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast. I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter and Fella, the online puppy school. Here we are all about helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy. From training tips to practical tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family. So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the bond with your dog, let's get started. Welcome back to the puppy training podcast. I'm Amy Jensen. I'm a certified professional dog trainer. And today we are diving into a really important topic, one that affects more dogs than you might think. So let's talk about these puppies or dogs that have grown up during the pandemic, and now it's years later. They're going into their adult years, and they might still struggle with some fear, reactivity, or separation anxiety, and it's not necessarily their fault or yours. So don't put that on your back. But let's look at why this happened, how to recognize early signs of fear and anxiety in your dog. Maybe it's not even pandemic related. Maybe your dog just has signs of fear and anxiety. And then what you can do right now to build some resilience in your dog, no matter their age. So let's get started. During the lockdown of the pandemic, families all over the world brought home new puppies. It made perfect sense, right? We were home, our routines have slowed down, and dogs offer comfort during an uncertain time. But here's the challenge: those puppies missed out on normal early socialization experiences, things like meeting a variety of people or seeing other dogs, hearing traffic, visiting new places, or just staying home alone while the family was out. There were so many of us that were just home all of the time that that was a problem. Now, a few years later, we're seeing some ripple effects. So we're starting to see dogs who panic when they're left alone, puppies who might bark or lunge at strangers or dogs. By the way, teenage dogs do this too. So you might have a pandemic puppy or you might just have a teenager. Uh, there's nervous reactions to everyday sounds or changes in the environment, maybe some stranger danger. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. These are learned emotional responses. And the good news is they can be changed with the right support and training. And that's what we're here for. We want to help your dog feel better about the world that they live in. Now, before behavior problems grow, there are often small signs. These are what I call the whispers before the shouts. Your dog is telling you things through their behavior, right? So things we can watch for would be body language. Tucking their tails, pinning their ears, a lip licking, that might not be one that you think of regularly, but yawning, okay, when they're not necessarily tired. They're just relieving some stress. Even that shake off. You know, when a dog gets out of the shower and they shake off all the water. If your dog does that when they're dry, they're starting to tell you, okay, I'm relieving some stress. I'm taking a deep breath. I'm trying to manage my emotions, right? There might be some avoidance, maybe turning away from things or refusing to take food or trying to leave a situation. Now, when they're on leash, that gets kind of tricky and dogs can get frustrated about that. There might be some vocalizing, maybe whining, barking, or even growling if they're uncertain about someone or something. Your dog might freeze, meaning they stop suddenly or they refuse to move on leash. If your dog is showing these signs, it's not defiance. It's usually discomfort. Your puppy is saying, I'm not too sure about this. So listening to those whispers early helps us prevent the louder problems down the road. The goal isn't to make your dog fearless, it's to build resilience. That means that they have the ability to recover quickly from new or uncertain experiences. Now, here are three foundational steps you can start today with your dog. Number one, safe socialization. We want to introduce new experiences gradually. Think quality, not quantity. We want to let your dog observe first from a distance that they're comfortable with. That distance is key. And then we reward calm curiosity. So if they are willing to explore or look at something or go check it out, we reward that. Now we watch people or dogs from afar, so we keep our distance. Anytime our dog looks in that direction, reward them. We can visit new environments like parks or pet stores during quiet hours. Maybe we pick one of those locations and we go there more frequently. So not necessarily introducing a bunch of new locations to your dog, but just pick one new location and work on that location. And then once they're comfortable in that location, we can add another one. And going again during quiet hours or when there's fewer people, that will allow you to create that distance so that your dog feels comfortable and safe. And of course, we want to pair each new experience with things your dog loves. So that could be food, it could be play, it could be appraise, okay, just saying good dog, good boy, right? These all create positive associations with the world. Now, predictability and routine is important. So anxious dogs thrive on predictability. So keep feeding, walking, bedtime routines as consistent as you can. The holidays are coming up, so I know things are going to get a little bit off track, but do your best. It just helps your dog feel safe and know what to expect. Pandemic puppies grew up with constant company. So independence training will be really important. We want to start teaching them now that alone time is okay. So if you're starting with an older dog, even that struggles being away from you, we can start slowly. We can start with seconds, even if we need to, and then we can work up to minutes, and then we can work up to hours. So we want to practice short separations, just walking out of the room for a minute and coming back and doing that repeatedly so that they build up trust. Oh, she's coming back. Uh, we want to leave something special with them that they love, like a toy or a food puzzle. Uh if you know your dog's favorite item, or maybe you have a bone to work on, or it's something that they love to chew on every day, save that for these moments when you're going to practice this alone training. And then we'll build duration gradually as your dog can handle it. These small steps will help prevent separation anxiety and increase your dog's confidence. Now, when a dog is afraid of something, say strangers, a vacuum, or being alone, we can use two powerful tools to change how they feel. Number one, we call it desensitization, which means introducing the trigger at a low enough level that your dog stays calm and relaxed. That's really important. If we're trying to desensitize them, it's not helpful to go to a high level that our dog's already stressed at. The learning can only take place if the level is low enough that our dog is not feeling that intense emotion. So that's where the distance comes in, right? Next is the counterconditioning, and that means we're pairing a trigger with something our dog loves, like food or play or praise. For example, if my dog is afraid of strangers, I'm going to have a person appear far away that's far enough that my dog's noticing but not reacting. And then I'm going to feed them some food rewards. The stranger disappears and the rewards stop. Over time, my dog is going to associate, oh, strangers make the food appear. Maybe they're not so bad. Now, this approach helps shift the emotional response from fear to anticipation of good things. And that's the heart of modern force-free behavior change, which we love here at Baxter and Bella. Now, while you're working through training, management is important. We don't want to work against ourselves, okay? That means we want to set our dog up for success by preventing overwhelming experiences. That might be avoiding putting our dog in situations that trigger big fear responses. We want to create that distance where they feel safe and can still learn. And then over time we can decrease that distance. We want to give them a quiet space to retreat to. Always give them an escape. Let them retreat. Teach them that walking away earns rewards, right? They don't have to confront or face their fear. We don't want any of that aggression to start. So just teach them they can, if they're nervous about something, they can look at it and walk away. Maybe that's a crate or a cozy bed if you're in your house. Maybe that's if you're on a leash walk, just walking the opposite direction. We also want to use enrichment activities daily. So things that will mentally exercise our dogs, especially as we enter these colder months and we're inside more often. Get out those food puzzle toys, right? When you do take your dog out for a walk, let them sniff. Set some training goals and so that you have something to work on each day and your dogs engaged in activities where they have to think and do. Maybe you set a goal to achieve your dog's AKC K9 Good Citizen title this winter, or maybe you get on our website and you have a goal to go through all of our games and activities, or we have a just for fun section with some tricks. Teach your dog some fun tricks this winter, but get them mentally engaged. That will help. Remember, there's no rush. Emotional growth takes time and gentle consistency. If your dog's anxiety feels unmanageable, like they panic when left alone, they're growling at family members, or they can't seem to settle on their own, don't wait. Please reach out to us for help. We are happy to coach you through these issues. Also, it might be a good idea to check with your veterinarian, make sure that their health is good overall, and then they might have a veterinary behaviorist that could help you as well. Getting help early does make all of the difference. Now, pandemic puppies didn't get the start we hoped for, but they can absolutely thrive with understanding and support from us. So start where your dog is today. Listen to their signals, celebrate small wins, every calm walk, every relaxed moment, every new experience handled with curiosity instead of fear, that's progress. You're helping your dog learn that the world is safe, and that's the most powerful gift you can give them. All right, you guys, thanks for being here today. If you'd like more hands-on help building your dog's confidence, check out our socialization class. We teach this live via Zoom actually this Saturday. If you're listening to this podcast as it comes out, if you're late to the party, that's okay. It's available in our members-only area on demand anytime you want. We also have a reactivity class. So if you're struggling with leash pulling, barking, lunging, you're noticing your dog is nervous on walks, that reactivity class is a good one. These are all included in our membership. So visit our website for details. I hope to see you in class. And then thanks for listening to the podcast. I hope you have a great rest of your week. Happy training. Thanks for tuning in to the Puppy Training Podcast. I hope today's tips help you feel more confident and excited about raising your dog. Remember, with a little patience and consistency, you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with fellow puppy parents. For more resources, visit Baxter and Bella online. Until next time, happy training.