What Is the Fear Free System for Pets?
The Fear Free System is a holistic teaching methodology that can help pets learn to have an active role in their care and reduce anxiety around unavoidable activities. It was created by famous veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker, who you might recognize from Good Morning America, to help vets, shelter workers, pet sitters, and pet owners create a connection with their dogs through positive reinforcement.
At Grand & Graham Pets, the Fear Free Methodology has formed the foundation of how our sitters interact with pets. Let’s dig into how Fear Free can help you and your pets move through your routines in a more stress-free way.
What are Fear Free practices designed for?
The Fear Free methods are designed to reduce anxiety and harmful behaviors in all areas of pet care. While all pets can benefit from these practices, they are especially helpful for those with high anxiety, young or untrained dogs, pets with medical conditions, or those who have experienced trauma in the past.
Depending on the needs of your dogs or cats, you can pursue a Fear Free certification for a variety of activities to improve the relationship that you and your dog have with their care. You can watch educational videos or get certified to help improve:
reducing general anxiety and stress
trips to the vet and medical care
stress-free grooming techniques
creating a training regimen
caring for senior pets
exercise and enrichment activities
What are Fear Free handling techniques?
A key tenet of the Fear Free methods is that pets are never forced to do something unless they need to be immediately removed from danger. Allowing pets to have agency in their care and move at their own pace quickly fosters trust and boosts an animal’s confidence as well. This can be particularly important for animals that need regular vet visits or those that have lived through traumatic events.
Fear Free also values ongoing education. Organizations, like ours, that work with them have access to a wealth of resources to help train and educate their staff. They continually put out new articles, videos, and programs with the most up-to-date information on how to best communicate with pets and help them be partners in their own care.
Fear Free training methodology always keeps the feelings and needs of your pets in mind. Exercise and enrichment activities are done on their schedule as much as possible.
For example, while a walk during your lunch break might sound like a nice escape, it’s also likely at the hottest time of the day, and the sidewalks or asphalt could be painful for your dog. The best time for dogs to be out and about is typically around morning and early evening, unless you have access to well-shaded walking paths and parks.
Do the Fear Free methods really work?
While no training or care method can be guaranteed to work for all dogs and their families, Fear Free is a widely respected methodology adopted by pet care professionals, veterinarians, and shelters that prioritizes high standards of care and engagement in their practices. They work with a wide variety of veterinarians and other pet care specialists to take your dog’s physical and mental health into account at every step of the process, and base all their methodology training on peer-reviewed science.
You can learn more on their website, where they offer full bibliographies of their foundational studies as well as research grants to help expand what we know about pet care.
Where can you find pet sitters that use Fear Free methods?
Well, if you’re in San Francisco, CA, you can look no further than Grand & Graham Pets! Our sitters utilize Fear Free methodology when working with our clients’ pets to help them feel just as relaxed as they would when you’re home.
Reach out today to learn more about our Fear Free-informed onboarding process and booking availability. You can also check out reviews from happy clients and their pets to see how this training has helped us form bonds with dogs just like yours.
If you’re looking for Fear Free-certified veterinary care, pet shelters, or other pet care in San Francisco and beyond, you can also search the Fear Free directory here.
The information provided by Grand & Graham Pets (G&G Pets) on https://www.grandgrahampets.com is for general informational purposes only. It does not represent medical or training pet care advice. All information on the blog is provided in good faith, however, we make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, or completeness of any information on the blog. Under no circumstances shall we have any liability to you for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of the blog or reliance on any information provided on the blog. Your use of the blog and your reliance on any information on the blog is undertaken solely at your own risk. All text content of this blog is the property of Grand & Graham Pets and is therefore subject to copyright protection and not for reproduction or reuse. By accessing or using the website, blog, any materials, content, or intellectual property owned by the Owner, you acknowledge and agree to the terms of this Disclaimer. For more information, please see our full Disclaimer.
