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Anxiety is one of the natural phenomena in humans along with all other creatures. The dogs are no exceptions. Dogs may get anxious for many reasons which include – being alone at home, for the fear of being first time groomed, being newly adopted, separation anxiety, traveling or loud noise, etc. An anxious dog isn’t so easily identifiable as humans. So, you need to be concerned about your dog being anxious through the most common symptoms of that. If your dog is seen to be anxious, you don’t need to have nightmares about that. Instead, you should be relaxed because this anxiety refers that your fur baby having a healthy and normal emotional cycle.
Why Do Dogs Have Anxiety?
Anxiety in dogs is no exception. This is a common instinct among dogs. There may be some reason for your dog being anxious. Knowing the reasons will make you help them come out of this anxiety. Some common reasons for anxiety in dogs include:
- Newly brought at home for the first time
- Being separated from biological mother all of a sudden
- Being alone at home when the parents are at work
- Separation anxiety for their owners
- Having a grooming session for the first time
- Not being familiar with the noises that grooming tools make, like Dryer, clipper
- Being scared or afraid of something, like- water
- Crate trained for the first time
- Abandonment
- Car sickness or scared of traveling
- Scared of meeting new people, children, or any other pet
- Because of aging, etc.
What Are The Symptoms of Anxiety In Dogs?
Sometimes, it becomes tough to know if your dog is anxious. Some common symptoms of dog anxiety are:
- Trying to hide inside the sofa or other furniture
- Barking or howling in an extra amount
- Excessive whining along with aggression
- Defecating or urinating at home
- Drooling
- Depression
- Panting
- Unusual destructive behavior like scattering everything here and there
- Unstoppable barking
- Pacing and restlessness
- Tucking of tail
- Digging and scratching inside the home
- Excessive licking of everything
- Trembling or shaking of the body
- Unusual chewing of everything etc.
How To Prevent Anxiety In Dogs?
As a caring dog owner, it’s your sole task to prevent your fur baby from being anxious. This will make him feel relaxed and at the same time relieved from depression. Dog anxiety is most of the time observed due to separation. A few of the tips that can be followed to make your dog less anxious:
# Avoiding sudden changes
A minimal change in a dog’s diet isn’t an exception. But these changes all of a sudden can cause anxiety in dogs and so you need to prevent your dog from that.
# Essential training for prevention of anxiety
When you know you’ll be out for work for some days or some hours, you need to make your dog previously prepared for that. Make your dog perform a similar type of exercise every day at the same time so that he can keep himself engaged in those activities in your absence.
# Act as usual
When you are leaving your pup alone at home, act in such a way that it’s very normal. If your dog doesn’t pay much attention during your departure, your absence won’t be much shocking to him. You need to act the same when you return. Otherwise, if you get excited when returning home, he’ll get excited too and there may remain some risk of separation anxiety.
# Crate training
Crate training is an important part of your dog’s full development. If you know that your dog may suffer from separation anxiety, you should crate train him as early as possible if not done yet. Gradually, it will make him feel secure and safe within the crate when you aren’t at home.
# Arrangement of a special toy when alone at home
When you’re leaving, you can provide a special anxiety relief toy or treat dispenser to your dog. He’ll be allowed to play with this toy only when left alone. This playing will not only cut off his time in your absence but also will make the alone staying at home playful to them.
# Medications
If these pieces of training aren’t so contributing to improving your dog’s appearance, you can consult your Vet about the safe medications that can be given to him for anxiety relief.
How To Make Dogs Less Anxious?
We know that prevention has been always better than cure. But the thing, cure also matters. You need to follow a few tips to make your dog less anxious:
1. Regular exercise and routine examination
You need to change your routine in such a way so that you can schedule everything perfectly and keep your playing time just before you leave for work. Anxiety causes a lot of energy. And if that energy is already lost due to excessive playing, you’ll find him sleeping instead of being anxious when you return home
2. Ensuring contact physically
The signs or symptoms of anxiety in dogs are already known to you as we’ve enlisted all of them. If these symptoms are noticed in your dog, you should immediately cuddle, pick or hug him to remove the stress.
3. Giving him a massage
While anxiety symptoms are noticed in your dog, you can give your dog a massage by adjustable speed massager. This massage makes your dog stress-free and also helps his blood regulations at the same time.
4. Try some music
Music is an effective measure to prevent anxiety in both dogs and humans. Classical and hospice are quite relaxing to dogs. These kinds of music somewhat act as sedatives to them.
5. Use of calming things
There are a lot of things available in the market which help in eradicating the anxiety in your dog. The most popular product to calm down dogs is an anxiety relief vest or T-shirt. There are also other toys, treats or medications that are available out there to reduce stress in dogs.
6. CBD Oils
CBD Oils are a good blend of cannabis and hemp. And for both humans and dogs, it acts as a sedative to reduce stress. But its regular usage isn’t validated yet. But still, many owners report that this oil has worked successfully on their pups.
7. Professional support
A professional is much most concerned about the dog being frequently anxious. He can easily learn of the reason behind your dog being anxious and can give you some tips to fight against adverse conditions of your dog’s depression.
Conclusive Points
Being anxious is a common instinct in humans. You don’t need to be nervous about your dog’s anxiety at all. But if your dog becomes anxious or over-stressed and if it occurs on a very regular routine, you can consult professionals. Moreover, it’s better that you follow the physical steps first. Before getting into the medications, you of course need a prescription or acceptance from your vet.
