What is anxiety
Anxiety in dogs can be a very hard experience for both dog and owner. It can be caused from a multitude of reasons from genetics, background, health, diet and mistakenly created by the owner that doesn’t know they are contributing to it. So, what do we do? First, we need to see how the behavior is presenting itself because this is allowing trainers to determine how they can help cure it. Once the physical symptoms are observed that can range from shaking, barking, salivating, destroying the crate to defecating/ urinating in the crate, then it can get more involved in the when it starts, why it starts and what triggers anxiety. The reason for this is because physical symptoms can determine how to treat the anxiety. We can not see anxiety itself, but we see the symptoms of anxiety. Dogs can be very stoic and show no signs of anxiety, which can rear its ugly head in other behavioral issues like aggression or lunging/barking/ running off.
When anxiety happens, many issues arise in different forms which we (trainers) call the Four Fs. Flight, fight, freeze and fawning. This is when the dog tries to break out of the uncomfortable situation (flight), destroys the environment (fight), shakes and shivers (freezes) and/or sur comes to self-helplessness and does nothing. These types of responses are in all animals and need to be conditioned in a healthy environment such as in their homes, outdoors, high levels of distractions and working. Unfortunately, some owners believe that puppies will grow out of this stage or dogs that are newly adopted will overcome this anxiety if left untreated. This is far from the truth and can lead to horrible outcomes.
How to help anxiety
When I was a veterinary technician, I witnessed many occasions where dogs had to undergo surgeries that ranged from bowel obstructions to even jumping out windows. Dogs will chew, destroy, escape, even climb onto counters to self sooth or release this energy in a harmful way. One of the many reasons why I became a full-time dog trainer. With my experience as a vet tech and dog trainer, I can understand where the dog is coming from and help the owners understand the positive effects of training. Just like we have schooling/ education for children, we need to have obedience and behavior modification for dogs. Not only for short terms goals but for a healthy lifestyle.
When anxiety happens, it needs to be taken care of immediately. Not only will it get worse, but the damage will add significantly, and training will be much safer and cheaper in the long run. It still fathoms me how owners don’t train their dogs, even for the simplest things. Anxiety doesn’t just happen in the home but in public, too. Car rides, ballparks, other environmental experiences, and trips to the veterinarians can all add up in a dog’s life and becomes a horrible life for the dog. Imagine being afraid of everything and no one there to help you achieve simple life goals? Our dogs are our best friends, and they deserve the treatment for this condition before it gets worse.
Medication
Medication can help in the short run but it doesn’t solve the underlining reasons why the dog has anxiety. In most cases, medication can be a band aid until it doesn’t work anymore. And we don’t have definitive medical proof of just how medications work except that we go off by what works in the human medical world. But just like humans, not only does medication help, but we also need counseling, therapy, and environmental changes to make the anxiety go away or at least on a controlled level. Along with medication, proper crate training, obedience and behavior modification needs to happen to balance out the don’s mind. Structure and balance are created once these have been in place. However, this does not happen overnight. Just like how anxiety wasn’t created immediately, the process needs to be handled accordingly.
The other view we need to be conscience about is that once one behavior has been resolved, we need to make sure another behavior doesn’t rear its ugly head. Just like aggression, it can be resolved, it can stem another issue. One of the other many reasons is obedience and behavior modification needs to be introduced to help balance out any future misbehavior.
How to help anxiety
That is why contacting a qualified and experienced trainer is vital for your outcome. There are many trainers in the Austin area because the market is saturated in trainers. This is a huge, upcoming field that everyone flocked to in the recent 10 years. But it takes a seasoned trainer to really help you in the long run. That trainer needs to create a program that fits your lifestyle, be able to accommodate the dog’s temperament, experienced in different breeds and ages and if anything needs to be changed in the program, have an alternative plan in place.
Treatment for anxiety ranges from removing the dog from the stressors to helping the dog overcomes using a wide variety of practices leading to coping mechanisms, however, making sure timing and progression works on the dog’s timeline is crucial. Moving a dog too fast in timing, environmental conditioning and mindset can backfire in positive experiences. There does need to be a certain level of uncomfortableness to let the dog build confidence, that’s where we don’t let the dog recover and prove to them they can do it. If we don’t push the dog a little bit at a time, leaving on a positive experience, the dog will never know what’s on the other side of coping. Just like any animal, a mother will push her cubs/fowls in uncomfortable situations, the baby wont know how to grow.
There will always be different forms of recovery, methods of presentations to get the dog to live life in comfort and build confidence and there will always be trainers that have been successful in all kinds of methods, but knowing no two dogs are not the same will never give a universal answer.
Dog toys for enrichment
I recommend a few safe canine enrichment toys that can help with dog anxiety but please know this is not a fix all answer for the anxiety. These are to be seen as tools to help the behavior along with training.
