Anxiety in Dogs

Anxiety can manifest itself in multiple ways, from whining and barking to shivering and whimpering. You may also find that your dog becomes destructive or hostile when anxious. Over time, they may lose their appetite and become completely withdrawn if the anxiety is not addressed.

The most common reasons for anxiety in a dog is abandonment, fear of being home alone, loud noises, traveling, and/or being around strange people, children, or other pets. We’ve also seen the anxiety in dogs that have been abused or neglected.

The best way to treat your canine companion is to determine the cause. Anxiety is usually evident and easily identified. Once you pinpoint the reason, you can go about treatment management.

Let them be a dog

For dogs prone to any type of anxiety, but especially generalized anxiety, regular hikes on fairly secluded nature trails can have major therapeutic effects. The key is to let the dog joyfully be a dog—free as safely possible to sniff what they want to sniff, chase what they want to chase, sprint when they want to sprint. If you begin frequently stringing together long sequences of joyful behavior, it can almost “rewire” the brain to be able to experience joy more often and anxiety less. Including a confident, playful dog friend on the hikes can make them even more beneficial.

Give them a schedule

We know a schedule keeps us on track, but the familiarity of a routine also gives us a sense of security. The same is true for dogs. You don’t have to live or die by a routine, but feeding, walking, rest, and playtimes should be somewhat predictable. This helps the dog know what to expect from each part of the day, reducing the anxiety that can be caused by the uncertainty of not knowing what to do with themselves.

Help them face their fears

Let’s say a dog has a fear of men. Canine behaviorists might use desensitization and counterconditioning, to help your dog overcome it. Desensitization means exposing the dog to the very thing they fear at lows levels initially but increasing them slowly over time until they become more accepting of it. Counter conditioning involves pairing the fearful situation at low levels with something a dog really digs, like his all-time favorite treats. The treats not only help in how to calm an anxious dog but could help them actually enjoy it. For example, if a dog is fearful of men, you could first expose them to a man standing at a distance where the dog is only slightly concerned and does not overreact (desensitization), while you feed the dog delicious treats (counterconditioning). When the dog no longer shows any concern, you slightly reduce the distance and repeat the exercise.

Give Them Calming treats

Along with specific treatment options from your veterinarian, there are dog calming herbs, treats, and supplements that might help your pet. These are supplements often recommended by us to soothe anxiety and stress in dogs. Our calming treats formula that will help your dog avoid stress, calmly come through travel and reduce aggression. Beloved pets Calming Treats provides a calming nervous system and a complex healing effect on the body. You can feed them easily. NO GMO, cellulose, canola, corm, palm, soy and other ingredients that can harm your pet. Bacon flavored treats will be a real pleasure for your dog.