It's normal that your dog may experience doggy anxiety once in a while, but it can be sad for you as a pet parent to watch him go through it. Luckily there are ways you can treat your dog's anxiety the natural way. That way you won't want to worry as much! Check out these helpful tips that should help Fido!
Anxiety is common among dogs for a wide variety of reasons, sometimes situational and sometimes based on personality. Anxiety comes about through different fears or phobias, and is expressed through various behaviors including constant barking, excessive licking or grooming, destroying everything from clothes to walls and door frames, eliminating indoors even when housebroken, or even reacting snappish or aggressively toward people or other animals.
There are pharmaceuticals available from veterinarians for extreme cases, but to minimize medicating your dog and experiencing any potential side-effects, try these options before going in for a prescription.
Thundershirt
It is a tightly fitting garment that wraps around your dog. The idea is that the feeling of continuous pressure can help calm a dog's nerves for things like travel anxiety and, as the name implies, noise anxiety among other issues.
Distraction
Engaging your dog's brain in work will help him focus on you and things he knows, rather than on the unknown around him that's frightening him. Try rewarding your dog with treats for simple commands like sit, stand, lie down, shake, sit up, roll over and other tricks he enjoys. This can also help him associate frightening things like loud noises or strangers coming over with highly valued rewards, so that the event goes from being scary to being at least tolerable.
Exercise
Exercise accomplishes a couple of things when helping a dog deal with anxiety. Burning off all that extra doggy energy every day through a long game of fetch, a hike, running alongside you while you bike or other favorite activities can go a long way toward reducing problems with issues like separation anxiety or nervous tension.
Dog-calming music
Through a Dog's Ear is a selection of music specifically aimed at calming nervous dogs. The music of Dog’s Ear is intentionally selected, arranged and recorded to provide easeful auditory assimilation.” The music can help for a range of situations like separation anxiety and travel anxiety. There are even compilations designed to help desensitize a dog with noise phobias.
Hopefully, these anti-anxiety tips will be really useful for your pooch. If one of these tips don't work you may need to try something different or ask your vet for advice. Every dog is different, so stay positive and be patient as you help him get through his anxiety. Hopefully, in time he will feel calm and happy that you were able to help him out!
For more information on anxiety tips for your doggy, visit Mother Nature Network.
