DOG ANXIETY
- NERVOUSNESS, FEARS & PHOBIAS
DOG ANXIETY - NERVOUSNESS, FEARS & PHOBIAS:
Is your pet nervous in general? Do they scare easily? Appear to be scared of everything, seem to be ‘scared of their own shadow?’ Can they get scared for apparently no reason? If so, they might be suffering from anxiety.
WHAT IS ANXIETY IN DOGS?
Fear: An emotional response to a present or perceived threat.
Stress: A feeling of emotional strain and pressure; a type of psychological pain. Chronic stress is a prolonged, often overwhelming feeling of stress that negatively impacts daily life. The body's natural response to prolonged stress is anxiety.
Anxiety: An emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of apprehension, unease, worry, or dread over anticipated or perceived threat events.
Phobia: A Phobia is an excessive and irrational fear response, characterised by an unfounded dread of something unlikely to cause harm.
Panic: a sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behaviour
Distress: when stress and anxiety are severe, prolonged, or both.
Does Your Pet:
-
Exhibit fearful, anxious or hesitant behaviour in unfamiliar environments or around new objects, animals, or people they've never encountered.
-
Find it hard to adjust to new environments.
-
Freeze in response to unusual noises and unfamiliar things.
-
Are they fearful, anxious or hesitant of unfamiliar people and animals?
-
Show reluctance to enter unfamiliar rooms.
-
Tend to withdraw rather than investigate unfamiliar things, new environments, unfamiliar individuals, or animals.
COMMON SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY IN DOGS:
An anxious dog or a dog experiencing stress, fear or anxiety may display the following body language symptoms:
-
Rigid posture (freeze) or “shut down”
-
Panting, salivating and / or drooling
-
Tail tucked between their legs
-
Dilated pupils
-
Flattened ears
-
Head down or lowered body position
-
Licking of their lips
-
Barking, whining, whimpering or howling
-
Pacing
-
Shivering
-
Running away and / or cowering in the corner of a house
-
Self-harm, including excessive licking or chewing
-
Not eating, or little appetite
-
A general inability to settle.
COMMON CAUSES OF ANXIETY IN DOGS:
Numerous triggers can lead to fear, nervousness, and anxiety in dogs. Here are some common triggers of fear / anxiety responses:
-
Other Dogs: unfamiliar dogs, dogs that appear threatening, unpleasant experiences with dogs.
-
Other Animals: cats, birds, cows, sheep.
-
Unfamiliar People: children, strange men, people that act, smell or look different.
-
Loud Noises: fireworks, thunder, gun shots, trucks, trains, construction sites.
-
Objects: balloons, hats, umbrellas, walking sticks, beards.
-
New Environments: places they haven’t visited before.
-
Strange / Unusual Environments: boarding kennels, a new house, travelling in a car.
-
Different Surfaces: tiles, grates, steps, grids, manhole covers.
-
Specific Situations: going to the vets, at the dog groomers, being washed.
ANXIOUS DOG RESPONSES THAT MAY RESULT FROM STRESSFUL SITUATIONS:
If a dog is anxious or stressed, they might display any of the following behaviours:
-
Subtle changes in body language that easily go unnoticed by those without training or experience.
-
Avoidance and / or escape from the stimulus or situation.
-
Aggression ‘out of the blue’.
-
Defensive fear-based aggression. Such as barking, lunging, snapping or biting. Common reactions (defence mechanisms) employed in the face of the unknown, or a perceived potential ‘threat’.
IS MY DOG JUST BEING SILLY:
-
NO! If your dog is displaying fearful behaviour, they are not being silly. Although the behaviour may appear silly (funny even) to you, take it very seriously. Ignoring their reaction or dragging them into a situation they are not comfortable with is the last thing that you should do. This is potentially dangerous. If your dog feels their only option to protect themselves is the bite…. Well, this is how accidents happen. I would love to say it doesn’t happen often. Sadly, this is not the case…
-
Owners who try ‘flooding’ (exposing their pet to a high level of stimulus to the thing they fear) are usually not rewarded and many live to regret their actions. Taking a sink-or-swim approach is very dangerous and could result in you needing to euthanise your beloved pet. Sink or swim could mean life or death…
-
To avoid exacerbating your dog's fears or anxiety, it's crucial to approach acclimating them to a stimulus with careful consideration and the guidance of a trained Animal Behaviourist. Simply knowing there's no real threat doesn't mean your dog will adjust, and you certainly haven’t effectively communicated this to them. Defensive fear-based aggression is responsible for the majority of dog bite incidents.
IS LACK OF SOCIALISATION KEY TO DOG ANXIETY?
Insufficient socialization during puppyhood can result in dogs displaying fears, nervousness, anxiety, and phobic behaviours. This may not mean they were not socialized at all; it can mean they were socialised incorrectly or insufficiently.
-
Socialisation needs to be done correctly to avoid fearful responses.
-
It’s not purely a matter of doing a lot with your puppy.
-
To effectively socialize, you need to socialise and habituate your dog in the right way. Please see New Puppy – 8 Steps to Success for more advice on this topic. This can be found on the Learning Zone on the website:
Unfortunately, many owners are blissfully unaware they are socialising their puppy inadequately. They do not understand how to conduct effective socialisation. Conducting effective socialisation to all new things a puppy needs exposure to within their sensitive period of development (a magical window of time) is near impossible. To maximize the success of your dog avoiding neophobic reactions, the average puppy needs to be socialised effectively before they reach 16 weeks old. And certainly, before they reach 6 months.
AVOIDING ANXIETY IN DOGS - SOCIALISATION TOOLS:
Behaviour tools have been developed to guide owners on how to effectively and adequately socialise their puppy.
-
Socialisation Chart: Details a range of new experiences and new things to remember to socialise and desensitise your puppy to. The chart explains, and this is key, how to conduct effective socialisation on the back. How to do it well!
This resource can be found on the Learning Zone of the website. Click on the link below:
DOES GENETICS OR BREED DISPOSITION PLAY A ROLE IN ANXIOUS DOGS?
How was your puppy cared for before they came to you?
You did your job, you effectively socialised your puppy. Gold star to you, because that is no easy feat! But what happened before you got them? Was the mother well cared for, well-nourished and free from stress? Once born, did your puppy’s caretaker socialise them, correctly, before they got to you? Puppies are learning from day one.
Genetics
To a certain degree, genetics or breed disposition can play a role. Sometimes, dogs are genetically wired to be weak nerved and wary of novel stimuli. Within the same litter of puppies, some are very confident, and some are less so. Back in time, when dogs were not domesticated, each behaviour characteristic had a particular function. Nervous behaviour traits had a function and were useful to the pack.
Today, in the domesticated dog, a nervous trait is not useful. Despite lots of adequate socialisation, some pups may never be totally comfortable when faced with novel stimuli. There is nothing wrong with these pups. They simply need a little more help and guidance when faced with novel stimuli. Knowing how to help them adjust is key, to help them to avoid developing anxiety. They don’t need to go down that road. The problem with this, though, is that you don’t realise they will. You are not a trained Behaviourist.
DOG ANXIETY TREATMENT:
The earlier you spot anxiety in your dog’s behaviour, the greater success you will have in treating it, and the easier it will be for you. To treat it, you need to get help from a professionally trained and experienced Animal Behaviourist / Dog Behaviourist. They have formal qualifications and extensive knowledge of animal psychology, mood, emotions and behaviour training tactics. Anxiety left untreated grows in its severity. Many dogs are rehomed / surrendered to a rescue organisation / euthanised because their anxiety was left untreated. Please heed this advice; get help as early as possible to treat your dog’s anxiety from the right professional person, an Animal Behaviourist. Check qualifications and accreditations. Many people say they are an Animal Behaviourist. Anxiety is not a dog training issue.
Enlist the help of a professionally trained Animal Behaviourist / Dog Behaviourist. They will assess the root cause of the fear and anxiety and evaluate your dog’s inherent behaviour and true personality. After their assessment, they will develop a Behaviour Modification Plan for implementation. The earlier you seek help from a professional Animal Behaviourist, the easier it will be for you to turn things around with your dog because you will have less work to do. In saying that, a professional Animal Behaviourist will still be able to help you with your dog even if the anxiety has been left untreated for years. It is still worth getting help and you will be surprised what difference it will make for the quality of life for your dog and by extension yourself. A professional Animal Behaviourist will never turn you away or tell you it’s too late.
Dog anxiety treatment focuses on changing the dog’s emotional response to the stimulus (counterconditioning) and/or replacing the undesirable response with one that is desirable using reinforcement-based techniques (response substitution). In scientific terms, this is Desensitisation and Counter Conditioning. In other words, we turn the negative association into a positive experience for the dog.
The good news; it is actually quite a simple process.
The bad news; the process is very subtle and depends heavily on many variables.
Each variable is reviewed by your detailed orientated Animal Behaviourist. Each case is different because every dog and every owner is different. Remember this very important point; an Animal Behaviourist is a skilled professional. Enlisting their help not only makes your life easier, but you get the results you want.
A trained Animal Behaviourist can make the most complex situation look easy and will build you a manageable behaviour modification plan for you to work from.
DOG ANXIETY MEDICATION:
If your dog’s anxiety is so high it stops their ability to learn the Behaviour Modification Plan designed by your Animal Behaviourist, then anxiety medication may be required from your vet. BUT, by only giving your dog anxiety medications to treat a behavioural issue, you WILL NOT be fixing or treating the underlying cause of the behavioural issue. Medications mostly help to treat the symptoms of the behavioural issue. Medications should only be given as part of a Behaviour Modification Plan. Your Animal Behaviourist can work alongside your Vet. They work in unison to help you to fix the issue.
THUNDERSHIRT FOR DOGS:
Thundershirt for dogs is a natural calming aid that may help reduce anxiety in dogs in a drug-free way. Just like cuddling an infant, the Thundershirt for dogs applies gentle, constant pressure to the dog to calm anxiety, fear and over-excitement. The Thundershirt for dogs might be beneficial in the following anxiety situations while you are conducting desensitisation work; fireworks, thunderstorms, separation anxiety, travel and visits to the vet, unfamiliar situations, or environments, new people, new animals, etc.
A Thundershirt provides mild symptom relief. It WILL NOT be fixing or treating the underlying cause of the behavioural issue. Get help from a professionally trained and qualified Animal Behaviorist to rectify the cause of your dog’s anxiety.
For more information on the Thundershirt, click the link below to visit the manufacturer's website:
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?
At Animal Behaviour Australia we are committed to rectifying the cause of your pet’s behaviour problem, giving you a problem-free pet. Dealing with symptoms alone does not rectify the underlying cause or address motivating factors resulting in your pet’s unwanted behaviour. Seek help to address BOTH the cause and symptoms, by booking a Behaviour Consultation for your pet with our Animal Behaviourist. A targeted treatment plan provides tailored advice for your unique pet and particular situation. Each pet and situation is different, so every plan is different. A Behaviour Consultation is less costly than you might expect. To view consultation types and pricing, click on the ‘Book an Appointment’ button below. Get help for your pet now. BOOK NOW!!
THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS CLIENTS ASK BEFORE BOOKING: