I am not sure a dog has the ability to say 'this is exciting' when they are feeling nervous
I think they can reframe it, because that’s what I’m doing with Willow; the scary noise elicits a gasp from me, which predicts an exciting party. So she still experiences the same startle response to the noise, but the physiological changes that are created become a predictor of excitement rather than fear.
It’s not the same as “telling ourselves” as this guy is suggesting, but that same reframing is something that we can condition. I think it’s more effective than trying to get a dog (or ourselves) to calm down after a scary stimulus, and instead we can look to take that feeling of increased heart rate etc and get ourselves to interpret it as something good.
Earlier this year, after the flu, something set my 'fight and flight' adrenaline system off and I suffered with terrible tummy turnovers and feelings of fear, it was really dreadful, I thought I would go mad with the feelings. I tried to tell myself they were the same feelings as excitement but it didn't change the fear. Fortunately after a few months it disappeared, I am wondering if the penicillin set it off as I could see no reason for my fear, my body just got mismatched!
I’ve experienced similar, where my body is having a physiological response and my brain has interpreted it as fear. One such time was on a long drive and I had one too many cans of Red Bull - my heart started pounding and it made me feel really afraid; not afraid of what was happening to me, just general fear. It’s like, if you’re afraid your heart beats hard, so when your heart beats hard, you must be afraid! Similarly when I broke my sternum, I was so much more aware of everything in my chest for a very long time (because OW) and if I walked up a hill which increased my heart rate, I’d feel afraid.
Maybe the same thing was going on with you; something was causing the tummy flips and your body was saying, “Hey, when I’m afraid, my tummy flips. My tummy is flipping, I must be afraid!”
