For a household pet, the malshipoo is a very popular dog to consider. They to be a specialty designer dogs, a cross between the Shih Tzu and the Maltese. Hypo-allergenic as well as non-shedding, they’re good at adapting to apartment living or full-time indoor life. They developed the breed in Japan where they’re used for guide dogs before coming to America and domesticated.
Can a Malshipoo Suffer From Stress?
If your malshipoo puppy displays anxiety, several factors may cause it, such as pain or illness. It is important to understand why your pup is anxious before taking any steps to help him feel better. In some situations, when we adopt a dog, we have done it at a shelter. This environment can be extremely stressful and can lead your malshipoo to suffer a lifetime of stress and anxiety. He could have many causes, such as pain or illness. It is important to understand why your pup is anxious before taking any steps to help him feel better.
Your malshipoo can experience many levels of stress and anxieties from a slew of different triggers. Triggers are specific events and situations that your malshipoo draws from associated with events that happened in their past. When your malshipoos exposed to triggers such as weather, loud noises or just being in a new place, their minds instantly jump to these traumatic events, raising their stress levels.
What Is the Difference Between Fear and Anxiety in Malshipoos?
The difference between fear and anxiety is that fear is a reaction to something, while anxiety is a feeling that is felt about something. If your dog is walking down the street and a car comes speeding towards them, it’s possible that they’re afraid of being hit. On top of this, your malshipoo can’t reason with the situation and will become anxious about the events that are going to happen next. When exposed to the same event or situation, some dogs will be more anxious than others. Some dogs have a tendency to overcompensate, while others can remain calm and collected.
Your malshipoo may show signs of fear or anxiety in several ways. Your malshipoo may cry or whimper when you try to touch them or put them in a new environment. They may become aggressive or fearful of new things. Some malshipoos may seem to be happy and playful one minute and then become fearful and anxious the next.
Separation Anxiety in Malshipoos
Separation anxiety is a common issue for dogs, especially if they’re not used to being away from their home and family. It’s normal for dogs to become upset when they’re left alone. However, when your dog becomes extremely fearful or anxious about being left alone, it could be a sign of separation anxiety. The way to deal with separation anxiety in malshipoos is to start out slowly and accumulate the time that your malshipoo is left alone.
If you’re going out for a few hours, you want to ensure that your malshipoo is as comfortable and stress free as possible. Some owners may consider crating their dog, however, if they experience stress and anxiety, consider other alternatives. If your malshipoo is having trouble going to sleep or waking up on his own, you might get him a calming bed.
Your dog’s comfort is very important, and it’s in your best interest to provide your dog with a more relaxing sleep. A good night’s sleep is an essential component of your dog’s quality of life. It’s your responsibility to make sure that he gets a good night’s sleep. That’s why Calming Dog supplies such high-quality products that will help improve your dog’s life.
The calming bed will help your dog stay warm and cozy throughout the year. It will also keep their skin clean and dry. Stress can cause the dog’s skin to feel dry and irritated, making the dog appear as if he has allergies or eczema. As a result, it helps our malshipoos remain happy and healthy.
Help Your Malshipoos Overcome Stress
Stress is something that we all face in our daily lives. For our pets, stress is very real and can be quite overwhelming. We often underestimate how stressful the world can be for our malshipoos. When stress builds up, it affects our dogs in several ways. A stressed dog will experience many of the same symptoms as human anxiety. These symptoms include: Restlessness, Lethargy, Nervousness, Fearfulness, Aggression, Difficulty sleeping, and Irritability.
The more stressed your dog is, the worse these symptoms are likely to be. Monitor your malshipoo closely for any signs of abnormal or out of character behavior. Sometimes dog owners will not notice these small signs until the problem has escalated to extreme levels. Doing a daily or weekly evaluation of your malshipoo will help detect any signs of stress, anxiety or other health issues.
Common Signs To Watch For
There are going to be many things that you can look for which could show stress and anxiety with your malshipoo. Some of these signs are common in human behavior and are spotted right away. However, with dogs, common day-to-day activities we may consider being normal are underlying signs of stress. Take your time to look for these and monitor their frequency and future behaviors.
Aggression
The malshipoo is a domesticated animal. This means they are safe to be around humans and live among us in our homes. When we adopt a malshipoo, they will typically be calm, relaxed and happy to be with a family. In some situations, malshipoos who come from abused homes or have had a hard life will show signs of aggressive behaviors. Over time, we can reduce these with love and trust.
A stressful event or situation can trigger aggression and aggressive behaviors in many malshipoos. When being threatened or experiencing heightened levels of stress, your malshipoo may strike out aggressively. Monitor this closely to determine if it was a onetime occurrence or something more serious.
Avoidance
Your malshipoo will be a very social animal. They like to follow you around the house, jump into your lap and engage with their humans. However, in cases of increased stress and anxiety, your malshipoo will hide or avoid you for several hours, if not days.
The behavior of your malshipoo will become clear. If they are meeting you at the door with your slippers or jumping up on your leg to get a treat, you will know when these events don’t happen. While avoiding you, your malshipoo will get into things around your house. Digging through your personal items, hiding under the bed, or venturing into areas of the house they haven’t done before are all signs they are trying to get away from something or someone.
Chewing on Paws
A common behavior is for malshipoos to engage in his self-grooming. Licking their paws, rubbing their ears and rolling around are all ways malshipoos care for their general cleaning needs. When this becomes a problem is when they do it constantly or seem to favor one particular spot on their body. When chewing on their paws or other parts of their bodies, the hair may become all matted and sore. Their skin underneath will become red irritated. Watch for these signs in your malshipoos behavior/ Over time it could lead to soars and other health issues.
Situation Avoidance
Triggers are a large part of stress and anxieties with your malshipoos. One major trigger that most owners don’t really focus on is specific situations you put your malshipoos in. The reason for this is we are more interested in getting to where we need to go or do what we have planned. Your malshipoo really just wants a consistent flow to their life with very few deviations.
Some examples would take your malshipoos in a ride in the car. If your malshipoo is fearful, shows signs of stress or whines while in the car, try to determine what the trigger is. In many situations, a ride in the car means a ride to a place they associate with pain or unhappy memories. Try to disassociate negative experiences in the car with more positive ones. Consider taking your malshipoo to a park or to a play date with other dogs. Allow them to eat a treat or give them a comfort item to ride with. Associating negative events with reinforced positive ones will help reduce stress and help when them avoiding specific situations and individuals.
Relocating to a New Environment
Moving is stressful for the best of us. With your malshipoos, they do not know upgrading to a larger house near a better school or job opportunities. All your malshipoo knows is you are uprooting them from a safe and familiar environment and thrusting them into an environment they have no knowledge or clue about. This sudden uprooting of your malshipoo can lead to short-term levels of stress and anxieties before they settle in to their new surroundings.
Before throwing your malshipoo into a new home, consider bringing them there to scope out the sights, sounds and smells. Introducing them to their new environment won’t be as much of a shock if you ease them in slowly. Also, make sure you keep your dog’s environment clean and comfortable. This means that they have enough food and water and that their shelter is clean. If we toss them into filth or simply an environment not setup for them, adjusting can become very difficult.
It will also be important to stay with your dog for prolonged periods of time during this adjustment period. Leaving your dog now will increase their stress and anxieties. Separation anxiety may become a major factor in your dog’s behavior after moving into a new home. For the first month or to be around as much as possible. Reestablishing normality in your lifestyle will take some time. Be patient.
Observe your malshipoos actions and behaviors when introducing them to the new environment. If you notice your dog is overly nervous, anxious, or afraid of something, try to figure out what is causing the issue. Then address the issue as soon as possible. Putting your malshipoo into a stressful environment won’t do them any good, spinning your excitement and joy for the new environment into a stressful one for you and your dog.
Bringing a New Pet Into the Family
Similar to the excitement of moving into a new home, the prospect of bringing a new puppy into the house can be equally exciting. Well, for the humans, for your malshipoo, it could be a totally different story.
Your malshipoo at first may look at the new puppy as a threat to their territory. If you have had your malshipoo for many years and they have established themselves as the Alpha, a new puppy could appear to them as a threat to their position in the family. To help relieve stress and anxiety towards the new puppy, separate everything the two dogs own. This means getting a specific dish for water, food and a bed. These additions will help your malshipoos understand that the new dog isn’t there to take over, bur rather add something to the existing family unit.
Like most recent additions to the family, the first few days in your new home will be a bit of a struggle. The new puppy may be more curious and aggressive for exploring and trying to be friends with your malshipoo. This could lead to increased levels of aggression, growling, and even the occasional fight. Make sure that you are home to monitor and separate them if need be. However, it is important for them to work out any issues and stress that they feel. With time and patience, everyone will get used to the new puppy and become fast friends.
Introducing Your Malshipoos to New People
When you get a dog, they will quickly become the center of your universe. Through the change period, you will basically cut yourself off from friends and family, allowing your malshipoo to adjust. After about a month, they should settle your dog in and ready to go on with life. However, there may be a serious problem with company and other entering their space.
When introducing your dog to people, you don’t want to introduce them to everyone on the planet. This can cause problems with begging and entering areas they shouldn’t. An example of this would be at a park. If your dog feels it is okay to approach anyone, they can become harmed or do something that they shouldn’t, such as grab a snack from a stranger or snip at a child who may become too aggressive.
Start slowly by introducing your dog to new people. Start with your immediate family or those that you see daily. From there, you want to walk them through the neighborhood and learn about other dogs and animals that may be around. If your neighbor has a dog, consider introducing them to each other. Allow them to play in the yard or interact at a fence.
The more familiar your dog is with their surroundings, the more beneficial they will be to you if something is not right. Before you introduce your dog to anyone, have a series of commands that you can use to dictate their behaviors. Words like no, sit, stay are all good commands and trigger words you can use to influence behaviors. As you introduce these words to your dog, continue to use them on a daily basis.
Conclusion
Stress is a normal part of life. But when it affects our dogs, we don’t want it to get out of hand. Increased stress levels can cause illness, unwanted behavior and misunderstanding by all involved. With managing stress, anxieties and other issues, your dogs are experiencing taking the first step and taking action will go a long way.
Make sure you build up your knowledge and tool set. With the right tools, you can help your malshipoos manage stress and anxiety so they can be more productive and live a happier, healthier life. Don’t be afraid to try something new if your first few attempts don’t result in the desired results. Reevaluate the situation from a different angle to see if you missed something. Also, understanding triggers, how they affect your dog’s mood, actions, behaviors and more will tell signs of what is causing problems and how to address them.
Anxiety and stress are two of the biggest challenges dogs face in their lives. They’re the things that stop them from living the life we want for them and they’re also the things that prevent our dogs from being the best versions of themselves. You may think that it stressed your dog if he or she has anxiety-like behavior, but actually, your dog’s behavior can be affected by many things. You just have to know what to look for. Understanding your dog’s behavior and the way you interpret their behavior can make a big difference in the life of your dog.