Systematic Dog Desensitization
This technique has proven to work well as it involves having the thing that your dog is scarred of at his eyesight, but not close enough to scare him. Let's say your dog is afraid of a certain sound, you would play or let him hear this sound at a low volume and eventually you will increase the volume. Or if your dog were afraid of other people, you would bring someone at eyesight of your dog and eventually bring that person closer. When starting this technique remember that if your dog is altered or afraid to begin with, then you probably need to distance the thing he is afraid of a little more. Systematic desensitization involves playing with your dog while he is around the thing he is afraid of. Try playing fetch with him, or a game with him so that he will associate this frightful thing with something good and fun. Once he becomes used to this new person or this new sound he will take it in and accept it as part of his environment and of course, he will no longer find it threatening.
