What is Canine Anxiety?
Canine anxiety is the unpleasant state of mental uneasiness, nervousness, apprehension, and obsession a dog feels or experiences sometimes.
Just like humans, there are also anxious dogs, and anxious dogs can sometimes create fearful dogs. Every pet owner wants to see their dogs in the best possible state of health. In this article, we'll help to understand canine anxiety and how it affects their behavioral modifications. The anxiety could lead to unwanted behavior and, sometimes, phobia.
Anxiety is as common in dogs as it is also in humans. Although it may vary in dog breeds, it's still present in every Dog, and because of this, we expect to observe different causes in each dog species.
What are the Causes of Canine Anxiety?
Like humans, canine anxiety has a series of causes and ranges from fear, separation, and aging. These factors are often the underlying causes of canine anxiety.
The fear associated with canine anxiety is caused by loud noises, strange people or animals, visual stimuli like hats or umbrellas, new or unfamiliar environments, specific situations - like the vet's office or car rides - or surfaces like grass or wood floors. Although not all dogs react to these kinds of stimuli, some may have a brief episode of reactions, while some of these stimuli may affect anxious dogs more consequentially.
Canine Anxiety is Caused by Separation
Anxiety is estimated to affect around 14% of dogs. Dogs with separation anxiety cannot find comfort when left alone or separated from their family members. This anxiety often manifests itself in undesirable behaviors, such as urinating and defecating in the house, destroying furniture and furnishings, and excessive barking.
Age-related canine anxiety
This type of canine anxiety is predominant in older dogs and is often associated with cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS). There is an observed decline in brain functions such as memory formation and storage, reduced perception abilities, difficulties in learning, and social awareness in dogs with CDS. This is akin to Alzheimer's and age-related diseases in humans. Due to the cognitive dysfunction syndrome associated with age-related canine anxiety, dogs with this type of anxiety often tend to be confused and continually develop recognition. problems.
How to Understand Your Dog
Dogs are beautiful creatures that every home would love to adopt. They are friendly, security conscious, playful, and can be everything you want them to be. But, to get the best out of your Dog, just like you want to get out of your child, friend, and family, you need to understand them, and you need to understand their psychological needs. You need to form a positive relationship with them. They aren't called "man's best friend" for no reason.
In an anxiety case caused by separation, one way to learn about your dog's reaction or behavior when agitated is by watching out for her reactions when; you are getting ready to go out, maybe at the sight of you putting on your shoes or grabbing your jacket. Is this behavior repetitive? Does your fur friend start barking? If so, then for sure, your dog will likely feel lonely and thus suffer from separation anxiety.
An unattended case of anxiety in your Dog can cause them to develop an anxiety disorder- a case caused by a prolonged feeling of unease and stress.
Below are tips on how to understand your Dog and help them when faced with anxiety:
When your Dog becomes unnecessarily aggressive and barks excessively or unusually, this could be a sign of unease, a possible result of anxiousness. Other signs or symptoms associated with canine anxiety that you should observe include, but are not limited to, urinating or defecating in the house, drooling, panting, destructive behavior, depression, pacing, restlessness, and odd repetitive behaviors.
When you understand or study these patterns in your Dog, it is advisable to help prevent them.
Some of the ways to prevent canine anxiety include:
Reading and Understanding Body Language
This is a great way to help prevent canine anxiety. Learning and reading your Dog's body language can help to predict when it will become anxious. Knowing when your Dog is uncomfortable or scared can help you avoid negative experiences or use them as a joyous training moment. Body language, just like in humans, can also tell you when a dog is getting anxious, which is especially helpful if your Dog has a history of aggression associated with canine anxiety.
Relationships With Outsiders
When your Dog is used to seeing new faces, either of humans or animals and places, they get used to it and would seldom react when they encounter something unfamiliar with it. Socialization can prevent the development of canine anxiety surrounding new experiences and people.
Obedience Training
When you train your Dog to be obedient in all courses, they'll also be respectful to you in times of anxiety. This is a great preventive measure you can take towards managing canine stress. It helps to establish a healthy relationship and establishes trust with your Dog. When a dog can trust its owners, they are less likely to continue to feel anxious when they see you aren't.
Frequent Exercising and Nutrition
Regular exercising helps in your Dog's development as well as physical and mental well-being. A well-exercised dog is too tired to focus on situations that might cause anxiety, and a well-fed dog is less likely to feel anxious around food. A stimulated dog is less likely to pick up destructive behaviors, and proper and regulated nutrition is also essential for your Dog's health. Making sure you take care of your Dog's physical and mental needs can help you prevent any behavior problems resulting from canine anxiety.
Avoidance of Cases That Lead to Canine Anxiety
If you study your Dog well, you can tell when and why it would be agitated. Knowing this can help prevent canine anxiety.
For example, knowing that your Dog grows anxious around large groups of dogs or other animals means that you should avoid dog parks. Never before could you relate to an animal more.
If the source of the anxiety cannot be avoided, preventive measures like leashes, body harnesses, and, in some cases, basket muzzles can prevent dangerous situations. Once you know your Dog's triggers, you can prepare for these situations ahead of time.
Treatment and Management of Canine Anxiety
If you're reading this, then the chances are that your Dog suffers from separation anxiety. And not only that, but they're a big-time cuddler, too. There are many breeds of dogs that possess a natural predisposition to concern. This can cause them great stress in your absence, so to help them out, you need to invest in something to ease their minds when you're away.
Calming Dog is a brand that provides a series of products that includes wear, beds, and sprays that help to manage canine anxiety. These products can be combined or used separately to manage canine anxiety.
Calming Cuddle Bed Plus+
Your Dog is so much more than just your pet. You treat them like family because they are family! When you're working hard so your Dog can live their best life, you want them to be comfortable. And you worry about what's going through that mind of theirs when you're away because you know they're happiest when they're with you.
Our beds are proven to give your Dog just what they need when they're at home alone.
But, basic won't do for your dog-you want to treat them just like the king or queen they are! That's why you need to treat them with our Calming Cuddle Bed Plus so they can live (and sleep) like royalty.
When you give your Dog a way to stay calm, relaxed, and ultra-cozy, they're far less likely to be lonely, naughty, or stressed. Our Calming Cuddle Bed Plus+ features our signature Calming Insert to keep your dog calmer longer.
The truth is, we can't always be home to keep our dogs company. But we can always find a way to meet their desires to feel comfortable. And our Calming Cuddle Bed Plus is the way to do it.
Show your Dog just how much you love them by gifting them with an ultra-plush, super-cozy bed that's just for them. This is an excellent choice for dogs of all ages, especially pups who need a peaceful space to relax when you're away that doesn't require any jumping up to reach.
By providing your precious pup with our Calming Cuddle Bed Plus+, you'll give the perfect way to stay calm, stress-free, and happy in your absence.
Each Calming Cuddle Bed Plus+ comes with our signature Calming Insert, an expert blend of Valerian oil, Vetiver, Sweet Basil, and Clary Sage essential oils.
Choose from a variety of shades, all made sustainably with organic materials.
Three different sizes to meet your Dog's needs
Each Calming Cuddle Bed Plus+ features a removable cover that's machine washable (gentle cycle recommended).
Our Calming Cuddle Bed Plus is proven to reduce your Dog's anxiety, which means less stress on dogs and their owners.
An excellent choice for dogs with joint issues by providing them with much-needed support and comfort.
Dogs that have a way to keep calm when their owners are away are less likely to exhibit destructive behaviors
Calming Fountain Plus+
Our Calming Fountain Plus+ allows your pups to have calm, crisp water any time! This is an excellent option for multi-dog homes and encourages your dogs to drink more H20.
This double-deck fountain features an eye-catching LED light and can hold up to 2.4L of water. Designed from food-grade material, our Calming Fountain Plus+ ensures your dogs can always have the freshest water to drink, even when you're not home.
The Calming Fountain Plus+ offers a triple filtration system, so your pup will get the freshest water each time they go for a drink. And with the LED light, you won't have to worry about accidentally bumping into your Dog's water bowl in the middle of the night. It's a wet foot or sock nightmare none of us need. This thoughtfully designed fountain features three strong suction cups underneath the base, so you won't have to worry about it being licked across the floor, either.
Have cats at home too? Even they will gravitate to this cool fountain! Your Dog needs to drink water regularly to feel its best, and the Calming Fountain Plus+ is the best way to offer your Dog the freshest water all day and night.
Calming Zen Chews
Calming Zen Chews help your pup relax when they're feeling anxious or stressed. These tasty homeopathic calming aids are excellent for enhancing your Dog's quality of life by improving their well-being. If you know your Dog will face a stressful situation, offer them some pup-approved Calming Zen Chews to help alleviate their woes. Tastes great, too!
Each bag of Calming Zen Chews includes 60 chews, with natural and pet-safe calming agents, such as Chamomile, L-Theanine, and L-Tryptophan.
When you choose our Calming Zen Chews for your four-legged friend, you're giving them a way to better cope with stressful situations, such as thunderstorms, being left home alone, and traveling.
The Calming spray product
Our dog calming spray product has proven effective, given from the reviews by our customers and dog owners.
The calming spray mimics pheromones, hormones secreted by dogs and other animals that attract the opposite sex. Appeasing or calming hormones are examples of pheromones that are believed to help in alleviating anxiety and stress in dogs.
Dog calming sprays are suitable for general stress, separation anxiety, and noise phobias like thunderstorms or fireworks. Albeit, the effectiveness of Dog calming sprays on aggression problems are not pronounced.
The calming spray can be applied on our calming bed and blankets products for effective anxiety alleviation in your Dog
While using calming spray, ensure to observe that your Dog does not react to it or develop medical conditions as a result of side effects. Although our products have no known side effects, some other circumstances might instigate it.
When dogs are stressed and anxious, destructive doggy behaviors will reveal themselves as a coping mechanism. No dog owner wants to return home to a house destroyed by a lonely and terrified dog.
Offering your precious pup a natural stress reliever with no side effects can help to give both you and your dog peace of mind.
Cuddle your dogs when they cry
The same way your crying child will gradually stop crying and become calm when you affectionately embrace him or her, your crying Dog will do the same. Physiologically speaking, embracing your Dog reassures them of the love you have for them, which helps to reinstate the trust they have in you. I was hoping you could do this in most warranted cases and when they are agitated to avoid too much closure, which leads to separation anxiety when you are away.
Massaging your dogs
Just like cuddling, massage would go a long way to calming your Dog.
As you know already, a massage section would relax and calm any anxious person. The same thing can happen to an anxious dog.
As you probably know, anxiety often causes the body muscles to become tense; this is also true in dogs and other animals alike, and massage therapy is one way to alleviate tension. Start at the neck and work downward with long strokes. Try to keep one hand on the Dog, while the other works to massage. As you frequently massage your Dog, you would soon identify the most stressed part of your dog's body when it becomes agitated and stressed. The need for this is to focus on this area next time she becomes anxious and becomes more effective.
Counter-conditioning and desensitization
These are other effective ways by which you can treat and manage your Dog's anxiety.
Counter-conditioning would involve training your Dog and changing her response to the things that get her agitated and anxious. This is usually achieved by replacing the anxious or aggressive behavior with a more desirable behavior, like sitting or focusing her attention on you when she becomes angry or anxious.
On the other hand, desensitization would involve rewarding your fur friend for good behavior put up in response to anxiety. This can be done by initiating anxiety in your Dog. Typically, after learning what causes anxiety in your Dog and her response, you develop a strategy that teaches her how to behave in such circumstances. You test it out on her on every successful learning and reward her for good behavior put forward.
It works in the same physiological fashion as it is in humans. Your child learns that there is a reward for good behavior and punishment for bad one, the same way your Dog will learn too and develop good habits towards anxiety.
Both counter-conditioning and desensitization have proven to work effectively in managing and treating Dog's anxiety. You, too, can learn and benefit from this strategy.
Dogs are generally obedient and lovely animals to be with, and you should go the extra mile to make them comfortable. Comfort gives them the needed assurance they require, and we hope you have found this article helpful and can better understand your canine's anxieties and how to manage them.