Meet Rambo, The Australian Shepherd Who Doesn't Trust Bridges

Like many other herding breeds, Australian Shepherds are very courageous. However, that does not mean they aren't afraid of anything or can't develop a phobia. In fact, a viral Instagram video shows that Aussies can develop Gephyrophobia, which is characterized by the fear of bridges.

Fear of crossing bridges is common among humans as well as among animals. In the video captioned "Don’t look down. Don’t look down," a blue merle Aussie named Rambo is seen carefully crossing a short bridge with his owner waiting for him on the other side.

The video shows Rambo being careful about every step he takes. But with praise and encouragement from his owner, Rambo eventually made it despite his fear! Rambo's owner can be heard in the background saying thing like "common Rambo," "common man," "you're almost here," and "you almost made it." The video is cute at the end when Rambo's owner joyfully says "You made it" and Rambo jumps on his owner with joy.

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Rambo was walking on the bridge as if it was going to collapse under his paws. While the fear of bridges is real, there are ways to get to the other side. One such way is to follow in the footsteps of Rambo. Gephyrophobia can develop in any breed of dog and the Australian Shepherd is no exception.

While some dogs eventually overcome Gephyrophobia, others unfortunately never do. As seen in the above video, most dogs overcome Gephyrophobia with lots of praise and encouragement from their owner. Australian Shepherds generally respond best to praise, which makes them more likely to repeat a desired behavior.