Step 0: Support a Balanced Stress Response

Dogs learn best when they feel calm enough to cope. If anxiety is high, even gentle training can be hard at first.

Many families choose natural supplements to help support a normal stress response and make learning feel easier while working through the steps below.

Natural supplements may be used for:

• Daily support: a consistent daily amount to support overall balance
• Situational support: a higher amount before known triggers or practice sessions

BSAVA principle: Learning cannot occur when emotional arousal is too high.

Explore Calm+ products here

Step 1: Prevent Full Panic During Noise Events

Goal: Keep fear at a level where learning and recovery are still possible.

Once panic takes over, the brain switches into survival mode — and learning stops.

It is normal for a dog to feel a little uneasy around people. Mild, short-lived discomfort is part of adaptation. What we want to avoid is intense or prolonged panic, which makes future reactions stronger and harder to manage.

What to Aim For

Your dog may briefly startle or seek reassurance — this is acceptable and not immediately problematic.

The level is still appropriate when your dog:

continues to accept food or treats

is able to settle again with limited support

These signals indicate that your dog can cope with the situation, even if they are not yet fully relaxed.

Signs Fear Is Too Intense

• Refusing food completely
• Ongoing trembling, pacing, or vocalising
• Attempts to escape or difficulty calming down afterward
  When these signs appear, your dog is overwhelmed and no learning can occur.

If Panic Happens

• Prioritise comfort and safety over training
• Allow access to a safe space and reduce demands
• Adjust future steps to be smaller, slower, and more predictable
  

Preventing panic does not mean avoiding all confrontations.

It means managing exposure carefully so your dog can stay engaged, recover, and regain emotional balance.

Learning happens when the dog can still think, settle, and recover.

Learning stops when fear overwhelms those systems.

Step 2: Find a comfortable working distance

Goal

Keep your dog calm enough to observe people without feeling the need to escape or defend.

Exercise:

1. Identify how far away a person can be while your dog stays relaxed
2. Use a leash, baby gate, door, or furniture to maintain that distance
3. Stand or sit calmly while the person remains outside the safe zone
4. If tension appears, increase distance immediately
   

Your dog does not need to greet or interact to make progress.

BSAVA principle

Environmental management & threshold control : Learning can only occur when the dog remains below their fear threshold.

Step 3: Reward Calm Observation of People

Goal

Help your dog learn that noticing other dogs calmly leads to positive outcomes.

Exercise:

1. At a safe distance, allow your dog to notice a person
2. When your dog calmly looks away, relaxes, or disengages, reward calmly with a snack or soft praising
3. Keep sessions short (30–90 seconds) and predictable
4. End the session while your dog is still calm

No interaction or approach is required.

BSAVA principle

Desensitisation with counter-conditioning: Calm exposure paired with positive outcomes changes emotional responses over time.

Step 4: Pair the Presence of People With Calm Activities

Goal:
Support your dog in staying relaxed for longer periods in the presence of other dogs

Exercise:

While another dog is visible at a safe distance:

• Rest on a familiar bed or mat
• Pause or stand quietly
• Allow slow sniffing at your dog’s pace
• Use calm, predictable walking with pauses
• Offer quiet presence beside you
• Slow your own breathing deliberately
• Praise calmly with a soft voice
• No tight leads or directional pulling

If your dog enjoys touch:

• Use slow, steady strokes in one consistent location
• Stop if alertness increases rather than decreases

Avoid excited voices, tight leads, or forced interaction.

BSAVA principle: Desensitisation with counter-conditioning: Calm exposure paired with positive outcomes changes emotional responses over time.

Step 5: Gradual Distance Ajustment

Goal

Increase tolerance to people without triggering fear or pressure.

Exercise:

1. Reduce distance by a small, planned amount
2. Observe body language closely
3. If your dog remains loose and calm, stay briefly at that distance with calming activities
4. If tension appears, increase distance and end on a calm note
   

Progress is measured by comfort, not closeness.

BSAVA principle: Systematic, graded exposure
Progression is guided by emotional comfort, not speed.

Step 6: Manage the Home Environment for Guests

Goal

Prevent fear escalation during visits and reduce the need for defensive behaviour.

Exercise:

Before guests arrive

1. Prepare a safe retreat area your dog already knows
2. Use gates, crates, or closed rooms to control access
3. Brief guests to ignore the dog completely
   

During visits

1. Allow your dog to choose distance
2. Keep movement calm and predictable
3. Do not encourage greeting
   

Your dog does not need to “say hello.”

BSAVA principle: Risk management & predictability
Controlling the environment reduces fear rehearsal and bite risk.

Step 7: Support Recovery After Human Encounters

Goal

Allow stress levels to return to baseline and prevent fear from accumulating.

Exercise:

1. After exposure, provide a quiet, low-stimulus environment
2. Allow uninterrupted rest
3. Maintain predictable routines
4. Gradually return to normal activity
   

Recovery is part of training.

BSAVA principle

Stress recovery & cumulative load management Adequate recovery reduces sensitisation and supports long-term progress.

Important Safety Note

When fear starts to reduce, a dog may not yet have the social skills needed to handle interactions calmly.

Fear often suppresses behaviour. As a dog feels a little safer, that inhibition can lift before new coping or social skills are learned. This can briefly make reactions seem more direct or more noticeable.

This does not mean the dog is becoming aggressive or hard to handle. It means learning is still in progress.

For this reason:

• Always work at safe distances
• Avoid forced interactions with people
• Allow the dog to choose when to approach or disengage

Training should always stay below the point where a dog feels the need to defend itself.

If your dog has a history of snapping, growling, or biting, seek professional guidance before progressing.