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My dog hides from harness or bedtime. How to ease her anxiety?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | spayed | 8 months and 13 days old | 15.6 lbs

My dog likes to be picked up and held, but will hide when I'm trying to pick her up to put her harness on or put her in bed, and won't come out for anything, even treats. I don't give any indication that's what I'm doing (i.e. I don't touch her harness before picking her up, etc) so I don't know how she knows. How can I get her to stop this behavior?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By C. Rathjens, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 14th, 2017

Dogs are incredibly good at picking up on body language and routines. Either your schedule is very consistent so Luna knows it's harness time, or there's something you unconsciously do differently when picking her up for the harness. This sounds like an anxiety based behavior. I would recommend amping up your treats (peanut butter, liverwurst, baby food, hot dog are all good choices) and working on counter conditioning her to the harness. Counter conditioning is the process of changing a dog's emotional reaction to a situation, rather than trying to start by changing the behavior (basically teaching her to LOVE the harness so she gets in easily, rather than teaching her to stay really still so you can get it on but she's still freaking out on the inside). If possible, working with a trainer who can help you with this process would be great. I can also do a consult with you to go over more details for steps. Alternatively, here is a pretty good video to work along with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7edMjwEY1c I would also recommend getting Luna an ADAPTIL collar. This is a pheromone collar which can help with anxiety. Good luck!

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