05/09/2025
I NEED TO FEEL SAFE!
Like all living creatures, ourselves included, dogs need to feel safe – it’s a basic need for survival.
It’s hard wired into our brains to keep asking and checking – “Am I safe?” or “Is this safe?”
When we think about feeling safe it’s natural to just think about not being harmed or being in danger, but it’s not just about physical safety - feeling emotionally or psychologically safe is just as important.
While physical safety may be obvious and simpler to address, emotional safety is far more complex and not always easy to recognise or identify.
The same applies to our dogs – they are sentient beings whose behaviour is triggered and driven by emotions.
So many behaviour problems that we see in dogs stem from the brain saying– “I don’t feel safe!”
A dog that lunges and barks or behaves aggressively with another dog or person is very likely doing so because they feel unsafe. They are trying to make the scary thing go away.
A dog that is guarding resources is doing so because they are afraid that the resource will be taken away – they don’t feel safe when another animal or person approaches that resource.
A dog that is reacting to fireworks or thunderstorms or other noises is doing so because they don’t feel safe.
The same can be said for separation distress – the feeling of intense panic when left alone – “I am not safe!”
Some dogs may never get over a specific fear, but doing all we can to help dogs feel safe in our world is one of the most important gifts we can give them.
Our first responsibility should not be about training, obedience or trying to change behaviour, but to focus first and foremost on building trust, self-confidence, resilience, creating a safe and secure base and being the person that our dogs can rely on and trust.
In the words of Dr. Gabor Maté - "Feeling safe is the treatment and creating safety is the work".
In my words (as it pertains to dogs) – It is our responsibility to put in the work to enable our dogs to feel safe and when they feel safe, this will be part of the treatment or the solution to the problem.
