Fear vs. excitement in dogs

Can you tell the difference between fear and excitement in your dog? The body-language signals are pretty similar. But the “treatment” for the symptoms may be very different.

Yesterday we met a little Russell Terrier that we were told was terrified of going outside. His mom said it started last summer when the building across from their home was demolished and their lives were defined by the constant rumble of heavy-duty trucks.

Cause & effect

We didn’t see it. We met them at the facility where we train, which is a doggy day care in the area. The dog, we’ll call him Jocko, loves going to day care and is the life of the party there. 

Since he was at his “happy place,” he was distracted but not at all fearful in the training room. So we went for a walk. The day care is in a fairly heavily trafficked business zone, not a residential area. There were multiple cars, trucks and buses that went by as we walked. 

Jocko was trembling on the walk, which is both fear and excitement. He was also pulling, hard, at the end of the leash. If he were just trying to get back to the day care, we would have ascribed fear to his pulling. But he was pulling just as hard forward as back, so that was ambiguous. 

Then a truck went by. And a bus. And he was still at the end of the leash in their direction. Not trying to get away, not hiding behind his mom. We saw no change in his demeanor when the noisy vehicles passed by.

No rush to judgment

By the time our lesson ended, we still didn’t have a good read on whether this dog is scared spitless or over-the-top excited. He was panting, but not drooling. His tail was up, not tucked. His eyes were forward and fascinated, not showing the whites at all. 

Regardless of the cause of his over-threshold behavior, Jocko needs help learning that he can process the world around him calmly. He’s allowed to be cautious, but he needs to trust that his mom will always keep him safe. He’s also allowed to be thrilled to explore his world. But that he can only do so when he minds his manners.