Is Your Dog Shy, Scared, or Anxious? Expert Tips to Help Them Feel Safe and Confident

Is your dog timid or fearful? These simple, science-backed tips can help them feel secure and build real confidence

Last reviewed and updated: June 30, 2025

Hold on—the web totally lost it over a Husky/Shepherd pup named Henry and a cat called Baloo, their backcountry trips turning the adorable pair into a sensation with more than two million Instagram fans. But back in 2017, when Denver shooter Cynthia Bennett and her guy Andre Sibilsky first brought Baloo home, they panicked about whether the two-month-old Siamese/Tabby/Norwegian Forest Cat kitten and their dog would ever mesh. Even though the three-year-old Staffordshire Terrier/Boxer/Heeler/Husky/Shepherd was 'the strongest, most loyal and caring dog I have ever known,' Bennett admits, 'Henry had never been around cats.'

Ways to Support a Fearful, Anxious, or Reactive Dog

“Keep in mind it’s your dog’s point of view that matters most—even when their fear seems irrational to you, your job is still to create a deep sense of safety.”

Extra Tips for Calming and Supporting Anxious Dogs

For about a year Bennett had been dropping Henry's escapades to his 30,000 Instagram fans under @henrythecoloradodog, but the instant she started posting the pets' one-of-a-kind bond forged on the family's western U.S. hikes, the page exploded—crossing a million followers in a year. It now sits at 2.3 million and has since sparked Bennett's coffee-table book Our Wild Tails: The Adventures of Henry & Baloo, a same-named store, and the Henry & Baloo Foundation, a non-profit built for land and wildlife conservation.

Zazie Todd is a renowned animal behavior expert and award-winning author of Wag, Purr, and other popular pet books.