Some dogs are fearful by nature and their parents were fearful too. Timid or fearful dogs have also often had a poor puppyhood, perhaps from a puppy farm. They have not grown up to be confident around everyday noises, sights and sounds. While it is easy to accustom puppies to these things, the adult dog may need weeks or months of careful training. The easiest way to do this is to get expert help from a dog behaviour counsellor via your vet. Make sure your dog is in good health. Illness, pain or old age can affect a dog's emotions.

IS MY DOG FRIGHTENED?
The signs of fear in a dog are: low or tucked in tail; ears drawn back though not flat against the head; short sharp pants, yawns, head high ready for a defensive bite, weight on the back legs ready to run; shaking or trembling; whites of the eyes visible; hackles up if he's frightened of other dogs.
Fearful dogs may turn tail and run, freeze immobile, try to dig themselves into a hole (even a hole in the sofa), try to hide in a small dark place or even turn and fight. Dogs can be frightened of the oddest noises, Other possibilities are people in uniforms, cats, cows, squeaking mice, fire engines etc. To help dogs that are frightened of noises, read the FAQ, HOW TO HELP DOGS WITH NOISE PHOBIA

AM I HELPING OR HARMING?
Oddly enough we can sometimes make things worse by being too sympathetic. Petting isn't as soothing for a dog as it is for a human. Besides, petting a dog, when it shows signs of fear, may actually make the dog feel that being frightened is a way of getting the owner's attention. So we are encouraging the dog to be fearful.
Jollying the dog along, distracting it with games etc, or giving it food works much better than too much sympathy, attention and petting. Doing clicker training exercises is also good as it gives the dog something to think about, other than the fearful object/noise.
If you are getting very anxious about your dog, the dog will pick up your anxiety. So keep calm yourself and put on a happy face!
Do not force a dog to face the fear. With humans, who can understand this strategy and can have it explained by words, this may sometimes work, but it doesn't work for dogs. Moreover, it can make the dog much, much worse. Facing the fear can end up with a totally traumatised dog.

TEACHING A DOG TO FEEL SAFE
To accustom a fearful dog to things that frighten it, it is necessary to get the dog slowly, very slowly, used to whatever frightens it - noises, people, places, smells or whatever.
To do this, you need to expose the dog to what it fears but in a way that allows the dog to feel completely safe in the mean time. To learn anything, the dog must be feeling relaxed. You MUST start at the level where the dog still feel safe and BEFORE it feels fear.
For instance if a dog is frightened of people, take the dog where it can see people, but at the distance far enough for the dog to feel safe (if necessary people away on the horizon!)
If the dog does show even the slightest fear, stop immediately and on another occasion take the dog at a greater distance from people. Slowly, slowly take the dog a little closer to people every week.
This will take weeks and months. The slower you go, the more likely you are to succeed. Do not rush.
While you are doing this, give the dog something to do, like playing with a ball, doing a trick or doing clicker training exercises.

TEACHING A DOG TO REPLACE FEAR WITH ENJOYMENT.
Next, you are going to teach your dog to feel enjoyment at the times it used to feel fear. Dogs enjoy food, games, toys, and walks. Go back to the beginning and redo what you did to teach your dog to feel safe.
Only this time, add something nice. Take the dog that is frightened of people at a long distance away and feed treats, do games with toys. Slowly play the games nearer the people.
You are rewarding the dog for remaining calm. So the dog that is frightened of people learns that the sight of people means games and treats.
This will take weeks, even months, and requires endless patience. You may need to get the help of others people, animals, cars etc and set up situations. You cannot go too slowly but it is easy to go too fast. Rushing the procedure will mean that it fails. Patience is the key.

ONE DIFFICULTY
One major difficulty is making sure that in the retraining weeks, your dog isn't exposed to what it fears. Do your best to keep him out of fearful situations. For example, if you are retraining our dog to be confident around people, taking him in a street with passersby will be a major upset.

GETTING HELP

BEHAVIOUR HELP - If the dog is severely phobic, it will be worth getting the programme set up with a proper pet behaviour counsellor rather than trying to do it yourself. Help is available from the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors.
DAP - There is now a plug-in device, DAP, which emits a calming scent for dogs. This can be set up in the dog's living space. It needs turning on a week before the scent is at its peak and it must be used continuously. Turning it on and off reduces its efficiency. It lasts a month. There is also a spray that can be used in a car.
DRUGS - There are also drugs that may help in the process but these will only work if you have a proper training schedule supervised by experts. A drug on its own without the retraining programme will not be effective. Read the FAQ on noise phobia to learn about what drug not to use.
ELDERLY DOGS
Fear can be the result of senility in dogs so it is important to deal with this, before starting any retraining. There are now drugs, such as Selgian, to help with senility and a Hills prescription food to boost mental power. Give an elderly dog a month on these before trying any feat training.