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" I never thought it was a big deal that my dog Leila, a 9-pound mutt with an easygoing temperament, is afraid of the vacuum. That is, until Cesar Millan (a.k.a. the Dog Whisperer) came by. &amp;quot;You wouldn&amp;#039;t want to live with a person who is scared all the time any more than you would want to live with someone who&amp;#039;s always angry,&amp;quot; he responded when I told him of Leila&amp;#039;s vacuum phobia. To learn more about dealing with a frightened pup, watch our video for a step-by-step demonstration, then read the Dog Whisperer&amp;#039;s 10 commandments for curing a fearful dog.      1. Monitor Yourself  One of the biggest lessons Millan teaches owners is to pay attention to their own feelings. &amp;quot;If you feel tense, the dog is going to pick up on it,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;I always stay calm. If I get nervous with her, my actions won&amp;#039;t be precise.&amp;quot; 2. Acclimate Your Dog If your dog is afraid of something, part of the problem may be that the fear only surfaces when that item is being used. Millan suggests leaving the tool around so your dog can get used to it. &amp;quot;Feed your dog, give it water and affection around the tool before you even turn it on,&amp;quot; he says. 3. Use Treats   When dealing with a fearful dog, use treats to get the dog comfortable with the object. &amp;quot;Slowly introduce her to the vacuum using treats, so it becomes a positive instead of a negative experience,&amp;quot; Millan explains. &amp;quot;But don&amp;#039;t push the vacuum toward her. If you do that she&amp;#039;s going to be more fearful, but if you pull it away she&amp;#039;ll become curious.&amp;quot; 4. Gauge the Level of Fear Leila&amp;#039;s fear wasn&amp;#039;t nearly as acute as it could have been. Millan says you can tell that by how quickly she relaxes. &amp;quot;Her fear is not as bad as I thought,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;Dogs with a high level of fear won&amp;#039;t take food that they want.&amp;quot; 5. Be the Bridge   Assuming your dog already trusts you, you can use that to build trust with the feared object or household tool. &amp;quot;She trusts me\u2014even though I brought the vacuum, which she doesn&amp;#039;t trust\u2014so I can slowly engage her with the vacuum,&amp;quot; Millan says. &amp;quot;If you just always do the vacuum and let her run away, it becomes traumatic. And that moment of love and trust goes out the window; we don&amp;#039;t ever want to lose love and trust.&amp;quot; 6. Make the Dog Wait Giving treats is actually not the most important part of having them. According to Millan, they&amp;#039;re even more effective when your dog waits for them. &amp;quot;If you give, give, give, they get used to it and they get bored. Making them wait makes them more attentive to the activity.&amp;quot; If you lose your dog&amp;#039;s attention, be sure to pull the treats up to reclaim focus. Millan says you always want your dog to be progressing forward. 7. Give Small Dogs Some Height  When helping smaller dogs get over fear, Millan says it is particularly useful to put them up on a table, chair or couch, where they can sit above the action and watch. &amp;quot;The use of the higher place allows little dogs to deal with the situation much better,&amp;quot; he says. 8. Don&amp;#039;t Baby Your Baby Instead of mothering your dog when she acts afraid, stay calm and in control. &amp;quot;When she hesitates [around the feared object], no food,&amp;quot; Millan demonstrates. &amp;quot;When the body is in an uncertain position, if you give her a treat, you&amp;#039;re only going to nurture that state.&amp;quot; 9. Don&amp;#039;t Anticipate Bad Behavior  One of the problems Millan sees a lot is that just as our dogs are conditioned, so are we. But as humans, we&amp;#039;re supposed to act as pack leader. The next time you&amp;#039;re in a situation where your dog usually misbehaves, don&amp;#039;t anticipate bad behavior or your dog will react to you\u2014with bad behavior. &amp;quot;If he misbehaves, he misbehaves,&amp;quot; Millan says. &amp;quot;But I&amp;#039;m not going to anticipate it. He&amp;#039;s in tune with me, and it becomes like a command.&amp;quot; 10. Be Calm and Assertive That&amp;#039;s the Dog Whisperer&amp;#039;s number-one message. We don&amp;#039;t realize how much our dogs are affected by our own moods, but according to Millan, their bad behavior is often just a reaction to us. &amp;quot;You need to get into manager mode,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;[The first thing] I observe [is] how the human moves when he touches the leash, and what tools will make the human become more assertive.&amp;quot; All photos by Kelly Stuart.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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