Like us, dogs have anxieties and fears. A dog’s anxieties, may not be the same as our own anxieties, but they cause stress and physical reactions just the same.
Some common dog anxiety problems include –
- Separation anxiety – A dog gets anxious when left alone.
- Noise anxiety – A dog becomes fearful when exposed to loud or unusual noises. Some examples include fireworks, thunderstorms, garbage trucks, and more.
- Travel anxiety – The car is like a den, but dogs are unaccustomed to moving dens. Therefore, they may become unsure and stressed over something so new and unexpected.
- Confinement anxiety – A dog gets anxious when he feels trapped or confined. If a threat should arise, a confined dog may be unable to escape or flee.
Symptoms of Dog Anxiety
When dogs are anxious, they may engage in repetitive or displacement behaviors to relieve their stress. For example, when we are anxious, we may pace, bite our nails, or play with our hair.
Dogs may also pace, groom, and more. Some dog anxiety behaviors may lead to property destruction, may cause us harm, or may simply be undesirable to our human sensibilities. This may include –
- Non-stop barking.
- Chewing up furniture, walls, shoes, garbage, and anything else in sight.
- Pooping and peeing in the house, crate, or other confinement area.
- Eating his own poop.
- Aggression toward people, dogs, or other animals.
Punishment or aversive techniques will do little to stop these anxious dog behaviors in the long-run, because punishment does not address the source of the problem, which is the dog’s anxiety. In fact, suppression of these displacement behaviors, through pain and dominance methods, will make the problem worse, because pain increases stress and uncertainty.
Below are some common ways on how to deal with dog anxiety.
1. Desensitization Exercises
One of the best ways to help a dog deal with his anxiety issues, is by slowly desensitizing him to the problem stimulus.
In the desensitization process, we start with a weak version of the stimulus that is triggering the anxiety attack.
The stimulus must be weak enough, so that my dog is able to stay calm in its presence. Then, I get him to focus on me, by doing eye-contact commands or simple obedience exercises.
If my dog is able to focus and stay in-control, I reward him with a very high priority treat. For desensitization purposes, I usually bust out the really good stuff. I try to pick a highly aromatic or smelly treat that my dog loves, but does not usually get to eat. The smell will help to engage his nose, and further distract him from the source of his anxiety.
When he is comfortable with this exercise, is calm, and able to follow simple commands, I very slowly raise the strength of the problem stimulus. I make each session short, fun, and very rewarding.
In this way, my dog learns alternative behaviors for dealing with stressful situations. He also learns to associate something that was previously a source of fear and stress, with something positive (nice smells, yummy treats), and with being calm.
2. Calm Environment
Another important aspect of helping an anxious dog, is to create a calm and predictable environment for him, in his daily life.
- Fixed routine – I set a fixed schedule for feeding, walking, play-time, leaving the house, coming home, and more. I also establish a fixed set of rules, and a consistent way of enforcing them. A very fixed routine and rule-set, helps our dog understand what to expect from us, and also what we expect from him in return. Greater certainty reduces anxiety and stress.
- Staying calm – Most dogs are very good at picking up the energy of the people around them. My Shiba Inu, for example, is very sensitive to what I am feeling. If I get stressed and anxious, he picks up on that immediately and becomes anxious himself; but with a hundred times more gusto! Therefore, it is important for us to stay calm and in-control.
- Relaxing massage – Some trainers suggest giving our dog a massage to help him relax. There is also the special TTouch massage method, which uses circular finger motions to help relax our dog’s body.
I tried the TTouch method briefly on my Shiba Inu, but it did not seem to have much of an effect on him. Desensitization exercises, together with a fixed routine and consistent rules, helped us most.
3. Calming Equipment
There are a variety of products designed to help calm our dogs. The attraction of such products, is that they require little to no work from us. However, it is also unclear how effective they truly are.
a) Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP)
DAP is a synthetic chemical that was developed based on a hormone produced by nursing mother dogs. Mother dogs produce this hormone to help their puppies feel calm and secure. It also helps the mother dog establish a positive bond with her puppies.
Scientific studies *do* show that DAP has a positive effect on puppies. However, it is unclear whether DAP helps with anxiety problems in adult dogs.
There are also a variety of natural calming scents, including lavender, and other herbal remedies.
b) Dog Calming Music
“Music has charms to soothe a savage breast, To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.”
~~[William_Congreve]
Music can certainly help calm us down and soothe our nerves. Therefore, it is not such a big stretch to imagine that it can also be helpful to our dogs. However, the wrong kind of music can actually increase anxiety in dogs.
What is the right kind of dog music?
According to sound researcher Joshua Leeds,
“Rock music, jazz, heavy metal made them more anxious. Classical slowed them down. It just relaxed them in a way that the other music seemed to irritate them.”
~~[Want to Calm Fido Down? Try Music!]
The Thundershirt looks like a dog winter coat. It wraps around the torso of a dog, and works by exerting constant pressure on the dog’s body. Proponents argue that this pressure, can have a calming effect on the dog’s nervous system.
However, the only study I found was a very limited experiment, from an unsubstantiated source. Therefore, it is unclear whether the claims made on the effectiveness of Thundershirts are true.
Note – Pressure wraps will not work on all dogs. Some dogs may get even more anxious, when they experience continuous pressure on their body. In addition, it is unlikely that pressure wraps can fully solve our dog’s anxiety issues. Wraps and other calming equipment, are commonly used together with desensitization and other dog behavior modification techniques, to achieve true long-term success.
Depending on the dog and the situation, you may need to incorporate training with the cape to show an effect. The Anxiety Wrap recommends an 11-step treatment program for separation anxiety that includes using the wrap and leaving toys filled with favorite food treats for the dog to enjoy while you are gone.
Some people also use clocks or heartbeat pillows, to help calm new puppies.
4. Medication
Do not medicate your dog with over-the-counter human drugs, on your own. Dogs have very different physiology than humans, and dosage is very dependent on weight.
I always consult with my vet before giving my dog any medication.
Some medications used to suppress a dog’s anxiety response include –
- Clomipramine(Anafranil) – This drug was originally developed to treat OCD in humans. With dogs, it is sometimes prescribed to treat OCD and separation anxiety issues.
- Fluoxetine(Prozac,Sarafem,Fontex) – Fluoxetine is perhaps most well-known by its tradename Prozac. Prozac is used to treat heavy depression, OCD, and serious eating disorders (Bulimia nervosa) in humans. Eli Lily makes a special Prozac for dogs called Reconcile.
For lonely dogs with separation anxiety, Eli Lilly brought to market its own drug Reconcile last year. The only difference between it and Prozac is that Reconcile is chewable and tastes like beef.
- Sedatives – Powerful sedatives such as benzodiazepine (benzo) are prescription only. Some lighter sedatives such as antihistamines (Benadryl) and valerian can be obtained as over-the-counter medications for humans. Do not give sedatives or any other medication to dogs, without first consulting with a veterinarian.
The dog medication business is now a very profitable enterprise, and there are a large number of dog drugs available for purchase. These medications treat anything from separation anxiety, OCD, and depression, to motion-sickness, forgetfulness, and obesity. Most dog medications are short term solutions and may have serious side effects.
Dog Anxiety Problems
I believe that the best way to help our dogs with their anxiety issues, is through desensitization, as well as a calm and relaxed home environment.
Dog calming equipment and medication are very tempting solutions, because they involve little to no effort from us. However, their long-term effectiveness is highly questionable. These methods work by suppressing or muting the effects of anxiety, rather than addressing the source of the anxiety itself.
This is in contrast with desensitization and home management techniques, which target the anxiety stimulus, and teaches the dog new ways to cope with fear and stress. Rather than just suppressing symptoms, desensitization helps to build a dog’s confidence, and promotes a stronger bond between him and his human companions.
Ultimately, behavior modification and desensitization techniques lead to long-lasting effects, and a better quality of life for a dog and his family.
Hi, we’ve got a Jack Russell who was the best natured, most loving little dog then our now 7 month old daughter came home and our dog hasn’t truly adjusted and shows signs of being stressed and anxious and in last few months has started to loose hair on her nose and top of head which vet cannot explain or help with but I’m convinced it’s due to our daughter. If you have any advice on how to help our dog it would be greatly appreciated
Yeah, large changes in the environment and routine can cause stress for dogs. My dogs also pick up on my energy and the energy of other people in the house. If I am stressed, frustrated, angry, or depressed, they get stressed as well.
I don’t have any children, so I can only describe what helped with my dogs when I moved to a new house.
1. Setting up a fixed routine and consistent house rules.
My Shiba Inu, Sephy, really needs a fixed routine. If things keep changing, he gets very stressed. Therefore, I try to create as much certainty as I can for him.
2. Quiet place to rest.
I create a quiet place for him to rest away from noise or other stress triggers. I try to observe what things trigger anxiety in Sephy (e.g. certain noises) and manage those triggers so that he is not exposed to them. Meanwhile, I also do desensitization exercises to get him more comfortable around those triggers.
3. Try to control my own energy.
I try to control my own energy and stay very calm around Sephy. I don’t overly comfort him or anything, I just get on with business as usual, but manage his environment so as to reduce stress.
4. More daily exercise and fun activities.
Sephy likes exploring and going for walks. After we moved, I increased our daily walks and took him to fun but quiet places to explore. I also played fun games with him, and gave him other positive outlets for his stressful energy.
Does your vet think it is from stress? In cases where my vet cannot help, I have often found that it can be helpful to see a specialist.
Here are a couple of articles from the ASPCA on introducing a dog to a newborn baby-
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/introducing-your-dog-your-new-baby
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/preparing-your-dog-new-baby
I am trying to find a solution for my 11yr old female Husky, Blitzen’s night-time anxiety. This has been going on now for a few months. It’s as if she’s become nocturnal. Around 1a-3a every night she is wide awake and pacing, pawing at the bed, whining, almost hyper ventilating. We have a doggie door and she will go outside and whine the most pathetic sounding sad cry. I try to bring her into my room, but she paces and pants and can’t settle. I am becoming sleep deprived since I cannot sleep a whole night with this behavior. My vet suggested Sam E and Benedryl, both of which had the opposite effect and made her wired instead of calm. I am desperate for a solution for both of our sakes.
Did anything else change when this behavior first started? Were there changes in routine, activities, noises from outside, or anything else? Are there any other changes in behavior? Is she eating, drinking, and playing normally? Did the vet give her a full physical examination? Sudden behavior changes can sometimes be from a physical issue.
With my dogs, I always start with ruling out physical issues. After I have ruled out physical issues, I try to identify what in the environment or routine may be triggering this change. I try to supervise and observe my dog closely to see if there is any sound, or other changes that may be causing the anxiety.
Once I understand the source of the anxiety, then I can better manage it, and help my dog deal with it through desensitization.
Hi, I just got a 9 month old Puggle who I believe may have been mistreated before because she’s very easily alarmed by any sudden sounds even if she’s laying with me and the sound comes from me. It also takes a while before she willingly comes to anyone in the house. It also took a while for her to eat treats and she doesn’t play with toys very often. We got her a crate that she slept in for a week in my room without a problem. The crate has her bed on one side and a piece of fake grass on the other side and she never had any problems with the crate. However 2 days ago I overslept so she ended up being in the crate for 12 hours and peed on the side with the grass. I took her out when I woke up and she still pooped outside and acted normal that day. Since then when we put her in the crate to go to bed she barks and howls and moves around anxiously until someone’s in the room. I’ve tried comforting her and letting her out when she’s quiet and scolding her when she’s yelling but nothing seems to have changed. Help!
Does she only get anxious when she is *alone* in her crate? If so, then it could be separation anxiety.
What if she is alone but outside of her crate, does she get anxious then?
Some things that I do to help my dog with separation anxiety-
1. I set up a very fixed schedule and a consistent set of rules. A fixed schedule helps to establish consistency and certainty, which helps to reduce stress in my dog.
2. I give my dog positive outlets for his anxious energy. I do walks, play structured games, and do positive obedience training sessions.
3. I do desensitization exercises to very slowly get my dog comfortable with being alone.
Here is more on separation anxiety and some of the things I did.
Article on separation anxiety from the ASPCA.
Based on what you’ve said I do believe it’s separation anxiety because if I do the same thing and close her in a room without me she reacts the same way…but if a door is open in the room she will gladly be in the room without anyone around her for a while so I don’t really understand…also this dog has been through a few homes and we got her at 9 months untrained so I think it’s making it harder to do anything with her…she has yet to catch on to the potty training after a month and we take her out very frequently
I’m starting to lose hope after a month and I’m worried I’m not skilled enough to train her..I don’t think she even understands her name yet lol
I also had a very difficult time with Sephy (my Shiba Inu), in the beginning. I was quite stressed out by his behavior, and it seemed like things were never going to get better. Ultimately, I just took things one day at a time, and tried to learn as much as I could about dog behavior, so that I could understand Sephy better.
Things slowly started to get better, and now we are good friends. He is still a Shiba, so he will do his Shiba-moves, but he is a fun guy to be around and he makes things a lot better for everyone in the family. In fact, I started this website to write about my experiences with Sephy. 😀
Some articles on my difficult time with Sephy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/zen-dog-training-tips
http://shibashake.com/dog/my-shiba-inu-story
Big hugs to your pack.
I have a 5ish year old Boxer we rescued 3 years ago. He was horribly abused, was terrified of men (and still is a little bit, it took him 2 months to get used to my husband), malnourished and suffers extreme separation anxiety. We tried everything under the Sun to help calm him and keep him relaxed. In our trial and error period of a full year he destroyed our mud room 3 times and chewed through 4 heavy gauge wire kennels. We can not, EVER, leave him in our home without a family member being home. He is still anxious if I, his alpha, am not home, but he doesn’t cause harm to himself or others. Luckily I am home with him most days.
He has to be kenneled if we have to leave and he can’t not join us.
After many failed attempts at desensitizing him to the triggers of his anxiety we tried natural calming agents to help. None worked. His anxiety was to profound and the methods were ineffectual. We just could not calm him enough, when exposed to his triggers, for the agents or program to work. We had to put him on medication. For his own safety. He was causing great harm to himself in his terror to escape what he probably thought was another abandonment.
While keeping with the desensitize program and very close monitory from his vet, Sully (Neuroti-Dog) takes Xanax and Clomicalm. He used to take Clomipramine but the expense went through the roof the last few months so we changed it. When he was first put on medications our hope was to use the meds to calm him enough for him to respond to the desensitizing. It worked. Until he found new triggers to cause him anxiety. No sooner do we desensitize him from one trigger and he finds another. I walk around my house with my car keys in hand, my coat and shoes on more often than not. I use his buzz words without action on my part other than to give him his favorite treat and we won’t even get into what I have to do when the dry cleaner bag comes out! I never stop using this program, if I lax even one day, he goes back to his original triggers of anxiety. Needless to say, Sully requires constant monitory for not only his medications but his anxiety through desensitization. Oh, BTW, he ate his Thundershirt. :-/
So, I would say that our vote is: Desensitizing with a calm house partnered with a closely monitored medication plan is what works best for our dog. He is an amazing animal that deserves a peaceful Forever Home and he will have it with us until he crosses the Rainbow Bridge. I just wish HE knew that! 🙂
Thank you for the great article! I am always looking for more ways to help Sully live a peaceful life.
Hello,
We have a 7 year old female husky (that we got from the ASPCA at 6. Months) that had TPLO surgery on her right knee las august and her left knee this august. She did great with the incision and the surgery, but both times once her hair has grown back, she has licked all of the hair off of the outside (incision was on the inside) of her right knee and the front part of her right front leg ( a rectangular patch that was shaved for the Iv in her first surgery). We can’t get her to stop licking/ biting it (she does it when we are not looking and she thinks we can’t hear). We have tried everything we can think of, telling her no, anxiety pills, coneing her, those sprays that are supposed to taste bad, putting a cut sock/ baby legging over her front leg, and nothing works. She has always done her nails but I was told that was a breed thing not an anxiety issue, other than that she has never had an issue similar to this. We and her vet are out of ideas. She has never liked it raw , but it is hairless and we are afraid that if we can’t stop her it will get raw, right now we are having to cone her whenever we can’t watch her and I hate doing that. Does anyone have any suggestions?
My Shiba Inu was like this after he got neutered. The only way I was able to keep him from licking the incision site, was to supervise him and cone him when I could not supervise, until there was no longer any skin irritation. I used the cone until I was 100% sure that everything was healed, so that he does not set things back with his licking. Licking (like scratching on a scab) may give him some temporary, very short term relief, but it quickly creates more irritation, which leads to more licking, and so on.
There are softer cones which look more comfortable and less awkward, but after reading reviews at the time, I was worried that my Shiba would bite through or otherwise bypass the soft-cone in short order.
Big hugs to your girl. Hope she feels better soon.
Thanks. But she is not licking where her incision was, she is just licking two other spots that were shaved for the operation, but there was never any scab or cut there.
Hello Jennifer,
Apologies for my not-to-the-point response.
I think that the general issue is one of skin irritation. In my experience, it is usually the incision area that has the most irritation because of trauma to the skin, stitches, and more. However, as you have described, there can also be irritation in other parts, for example, in the areas with shaved hair.
As I understand it, without the protection of fur, the exposed skin is more susceptible to small scrapes and scratches, dryness, hotspots, and more, that may cause irritation to the skin.
After a big shedding season, my dogs lose a lot of fur especially in the lower leg regions, and during activity or play, they may irritate those “thin-furred” regions. As a result, they start licking, which causes more irritation, which results in more licking, and so on. In extreme cases, the behavior can be habit forming and lead to acral lick dermatitis. There are also other reasons for dog licking and itchiness.
In cases of skin irritation, I prevent my dog from further inflaming the affected site through supervision and use of a cone if necessary. This will stop the condition from worsening. In addition, I try to identify the cause of the irritation in the first place.
I think a vet is most equipped to help us pinpoint the issue and give us advice on how to deal with it. If my vet is unable to locate the problem, my next step would be to visit with a skin specialist.
my dog has epilepsy, when he doesn’t have seizures he is very anxious. i would like to know if there is something that will help him relax. he is under vets medical prescription.
Big hugs to your dog. I am afraid I won’t be of much help because I don’t have any experience with dog epilepsy.
This site seems to have some useful resources as well as a support group-
http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Resources.html
I have a bernese mt dog that is terrified of flies, mosquitos, anything that flies and/or buzzes…….howo do I desensitize him?
Is he afraid of the sound that they make? How strong is his reaction? This is how I do sound desensitization exercises with my dog.
Are there particular “insect-areas” that he is afraid of? What are those areas? What is his reaction? If my dog is afraid of a particular area, I do desensitization by using distance to weaken the stimulus.
Here is more on desensitization and counter-conditioning from the ASPCA-
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/desensitization-and-counterconditioning
Another one from the Animal Humane Society-
http://www.animalhumanesociety.org/training/library/counter-conditioning-and-desensitization
My husband and our dog have been very close since the day one. Bailey is now 8 years old. Ever since Bailey had a sudden, painful tummy ache while sitting on my husband’s lap, Bailey associates my husband with that painful experience and avoids him, won’t jump up on his lap or even walks way around him on his way to another room.
How can we help Bailey to feel comfortable around my husband again?
Desensitization and counter-conditioning exercises may help-
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-to-calm-a-fearful-reactive-dog#people
I tweak things as necessary to suit my particular situation. I make sure to start small, go in very small steps, and to always keep the experience positive. They key is to teach my dog to re-associate the person with positive events and fun activities.
What are Bailey’s favorite food and activities? If your husband is sitting and reading on the couch (not paying any attention to Bailey) and there is food around, will Bailey come over and eat the food?
In the beginning, I make sure the other person *does not* initiate eye contact or talk. In this way, I keep things low key and non-stressful. The energy of the people around my dog is also very important. If I am anxious or worried, my dog will pick up on that and get anxious as well. I try to stay calm and positive, I let my dog set the pace, I keep sessions short but frequent, and I make the experience very rewarding.
Thank you for your reply. We took your advice and are keeping Bailey’s experiences with my husband very positive. Bailey always loved to share whatever my husband is eating, so he made a little Hansel and Gretel trail of sweet potato chips that led up to the sofa. This is working for now. We will continue to take things slowly and positive, letting Bailey set the pace within reason. Thanks again.
I had our 5 year old black lab out for a walk. We were approximately 1/2 hour away from the house when it started to thunder. He was quite scared but there was nothing I could do to get home any faster than walking. I spoke to him in a calm voice and during the walk back to the house there were probably 3 or 4 more rumbles. When we got in the house he wasn’t shivering like he’d normally be with load noises but kept next to me. A couple of nights later we started out for our walk again. I didn’t think about the thunder on our previous walk and we weren’t half way when he stopped and wouldn’t go any further. We were following the same path as the evening of the thunder. I tried to coach him to continue but he wouldn’t budge. When I turned and started back the way we came, he started to jump up and down, tail wagging and visibly happy.
A couple of evenings later, off we go for a walk. Same path but only 10 minutes into the walk a plane flew over head. It didn’t seem to be particularly loud but it was enough to frighten the dog again. He turned around and ran for home.
This all happened about 6 weeks ago. Since then he won’t walk past our driveway with me. He’ll go with my husband, he’ll go with me and my husband but not me alone.
I’ve walked our dog just about every night since we got him about 2 years ago and dearly miss it. I know he does as well because he’s still quite active and loved it when I said let’s go for a walk. He’s been through thunder storms before but he was always inside, he’s been in a camp hunting for 3-4 nights with gun shots sounding off causing him to shake and shiver but he always seemed to get over it.
I have no idea what to do but sure miss walking him in the evenings. Do you have any suggestions on what we could try?
Sound desensitization exercises helped my dogs with their fear of loud noises.
This article from Patricia McConnell has a list of techniques on how to deal with fear of thunderstorms-
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/thunder-phobia-in-dogs
More articles from McConnell on thunder phobia-
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/thunder-phobia-and-sound-sensitivity