What Can Cause

Anxiety in Dogs
What Can Cause

Anxiety in dogs

Anxiety can a problem in dogs when it persists even in the absence of “danger” or for no apparent reason for you. In this situation, your dog becomes unable to judge the dangerousness of a situation and anticipates a threat. This constant fear causes severe stress to your dog and keeps him constantly on the look-out.

Often, because of this feeling of constant insecurity, their learning ability is impaired and the usual education or training techniques often do not have the desired effects. In addition, even if he is very obedient, your fearful dog may be unable to respond to basic demands in a situation that worries him. Why? Because obedience does not help to distinguish between presence and absence of threat.

Depending on his personality, your dog may develop different problem behaviours secondary to his anxiety. Which? He may, for example, start barking excessively or expressing aggression.

The symptoms of a stressed dog are easily recognizable: first, the animal will gasp as if it were too hot, and its legs will sweat. His sleep and his appetite will change, causing him to turn in circles instead of sleeping peacefully, to refuse the food you present him.

A dog particularly stressed can also begin to destroy his environment, or to develop a particular obsession.

In general, any change in the behaviour of your dog should alert you (hyperactivity, overflowing affectivity …) be careful, however, because these symptoms can also be a sign of an underlying disease. To make sure stress is the cause, ask your veterinarian for advice!

Causes of Stress

They can be many and varied. We can note for example:

Separation anxiety when the dog has not learned the detachment correctly, when the dog sees his master to whom he is hyper-attached, he loses his bearings and becomes very anxious.Your dog did not have a sufficiently rich development in various and varied stimulations during his first three months, a disorder has therefore developed following these lacks because he could have enough good experiencesto be able to trust an adult.

Your dog has not created the detachment with you and therefore develops a hyper attachment that prevents him from experiencing your absences serenely.

Your dog has had one or more bad experience (s) in this or that environment and / or with this or that person and / or with this or that object and this has ended up traumatizing him. He is then wary, by instinct of survival, of the different situations where the object of his bad experiences appears.

Deprivation syndrome in dogs raised with few external stimuli and then found in the city and with many people: they are then paralyzed by fear.

Simple phobias like aprecise and identifiable fear such as: storm, fireworks, and firecrackers.

Your dog has had one or more bad experience (s) in this or that environment and / or with this or that person and / or with this or that object and this has ended up traumatizing him. He is then wary, by instinct of survival, of the different situations where the object of his bad experiences appears.

How to reduce your dog’s anxiety?

If your dog does silly things during your absences, do not scold him! Clearly, your dog lives in the moment and does not understand if you scold him for an action done in your absence. You must always take it to the point that there is a real effect.

So, ignore your dog and his nonsense, do not clean in front of him (or bleach for dirt) and follow the following tips to prevent the foolishness of your dog.

Remove the departure and arrival rituals, When you leave and when you return, completely ignore your dog and act as if you were going to get your mail to the mailbox.

To ignore a dog is: do not look at him, do not touch him, do not talk to him.

In addition, every day, when you are at home, do not hesitate to desensitize your dog to the actions that mean “departure” for him by pretending to put your coat, take your keys and your bag, etc. without actually leaving.

Your dog must associate your departure with something very positive by offering him a toy of occupation or simply his bowl of croquettes for example.

A Kong-type toy filled with food or treats hidden throughout the living room will also allow your dog to take care of and appreciate this moment.

Anxiety due to the nature of relationships, The lack of quality communication can cause your dog to develop anxiety. Changes in social groups (such as during an adoption, for example) are common in dogs and can lead to this type of anxiety.  this condition is found in adult dogs newly changed group, pack or family; when the animal is brutally transferred in a group that is not his, the modes of communication are not always the same; the dog will not necessarily get the usual answers when he tries to communicate; there is a risk of growing ambiguity in the interactions and therefore an anxiety state.