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learned helplessness
You may recognize learned helplessness, but probably assumed this animal is just being calm and “good”.
Unfortunately, these dogs are just trying to hide and hope you go away because they are scared! These dogs may allow you to manipulate them, but they are still very much afraid.
The body language is pulled in as the dog is trying to make himself smaller and less threatening. Ears are usually down, the gaze is averted and the tail is tucked between the legs.
When these signals are ignored and the situation not diffused, the next encounter may not go so well. The mental state of pets in learned helplessness is critical to understand. These pets have been exposed to repeated situations of fear and stress. This results in the pet believing that it can no longer save itself from this situation. This type of reaction may lead to unpredictable behavior in other stressful situations.
