Is your furry friend barking or frightened by the presence of a bike? Let’s see together why the dog is afraid of bicycles and what to do.
Sharing your life with a four-legged friend also means spending time with them, and those who love walking outdoors, for example in parks, want to do it with their furry friend.
However, it can happen that the dog is afraid of bicycles, making the walk very stressful rather than peaceful. But why is dog so afraid of bikes? What can we do about it? Let’s find out below.
The dog is afraid of bicycles: here’s why
Very often our four-legged friends exhibit really strange behaviours.
In fact, we can see small dogs who have the courage to face larger dogs, but who are afraid of a simple bicycle instead .
But why do they present such fear? There are many reasons why a dog is afraid of a bicycle, they are:
- They are cautious and not frightened: sometimes a dog might seem frightened but instead he is just careful to watch what the person carrying the bike is doing;
- Past Events: Any kind of strange behaviour from dog could be linked to a trauma the puppy had in the past. On the other hand, a study has shown that the dog can have memories of when he was still in his mother’s womb;
- They do not know what it is: even if very intelligent our furry friends may not understand what object it is and consequently be afraid of the object itself;
- They mistake it for another animal: our four-legged friend could swap the bike in motion with an animal in motion. For this reason, when the bicycle runs forward, the dog tends to run after him and when the object walks towards him, dog tends to run away.
Dog is afraid of bicycles: what to do
It might seem strange, yet to help your dog cope with his fear of bicycles, you need to expose dog to the object.
It is a process that needs time and patience, just follow a few steps, and then walk quietly with your four-legged friend without being afraid of bikes.
Before starting the “treatment”, it is advisable to reduce the stress that the dog has accumulated watching the bikes. So for some time it is necessary to move dog away from this object, perhaps distracting them when a bike arrives, or taking different routes than usual.
Once our four-legged friend is calm, you can start exposing the dog to bicycles. Show the latter to dog from a distance, when the dog shows no signs of reaction, reward them, using positive reinforcement.
Whenever the dog does not react to the sight of the object, bring it closer to the object. when the dog has become accustomed to the presence of the bike, it might be useful to agree with a friend who rides a bike and walk the dog with him.
Finally, the help of a qualified trainer may also be useful to ensure that the dog is no longer afraid of bicycles.