Canine Anxiety

If your dog is “anxious,” it means he doesn’t know how to relax on cue. Anxious isn’t just fearful or nervous. Anxious dogs aren’t simply reactive to certain scary things, but they seem to be anxious much of the time. You can’t just take a break from the anxious dog when you need a break, you can’t just let your dog go spend the night with the neighbor. Anxious dogs might bark incessantly, pace around. S/he might follow you constantly, they won’t let you out of their sight, or the opposite –they head for the hills and never look back. Anxious dogs often seem to have “butterflies” in their stomachs, manifesting either in very picky eaters who won’t take food reinforcements (making it difficult to train) or in dogs who can’t stop eating, who wolf down all their food and then go on to eat socks, rocks, toys, sticks, and drywall. They often drink a lot of water. Anxious dogs tend to get gastrointestinal disorders (diarrhea, throw-ups). They react to different things — some dogs are very storm phobic, others are fearful of people or other dogs, and some just can’t be left alone in their own house (or in a boarding kennel!). A whole lot of people seem to have anxious dogs lately, but there are some simple things you can do to help your anxious dog:

1. First, go and visit a veterinary behaviorist, such as Dr. Nicholas Dodman at Tufts University, and get the right prescription medication. Unfortunately, most veterinarians are still prescribing acepromazine for canine anxiety, which stops immediate symptoms but can make canine emotional anxiety and behavior prognosis worse (google acepromazine and Dr. Karen Overall, or go to http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/dvm/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=136493&sk=&date=&pageID=3 ). There are better drugs today available, which address the dog’s anxiety, not just the dog’s muscle function. The correct drug can make it far easier for dogs to practice relaxing. For most anxious dogs, medication is only necessary during the learning stage. Medication makes it easier to break the habit cycle of anxiety, and dogs typically don’t need the medication once they have new “relaxed” habits in place.

2. Crate train your dog. A crate is not a cage, it is a conditioned relaxation cue — or at least it will be. How? Have your dogs practice eating treats and meals in the crate, and then build up to eating treats and meals with the door closed, and close the dog out of the crate just before he’s completely finished, then let him back in to finish later, also chewing on a bone for a few minutes in the crate. I’ll put more articles on crate training on my www.wholedogcamp.com site soon, and there are many other good web articles on the topic. Crate training teaches your dog to TRUST you and to TRUST confinement. It teaches dogs to enjoy a bit of alone time. Anxiety in the crate is a learned behavior, but so is relaxing and feeling safe in a crate. To teach a dog to feel safe in a crate, use food , but also reward dogs with an open door. Crate dog, and close the door. Cue the dog to “down.” When the dog lays down, open the crate door. If he starts to stand, or bark, close the door. When he lays down again, open the door. Use a release cue (“ojkay”) to signal the dog that he can exit the crate. All dogs have a natural inclination to den up. The more your dog practices laying down, eating breakfast, chewing dog bones, taking naps in his “den,” the more you’ll be able to use the crate to calm your dog whenever he displays anxiety, or demands attention. I apologize for the audio in this video clip. My husband was drilling a hole in a piece of plexi-glass in the background, so this dog was being a very good girl, staying quietly in the crate, even during an obnoxious sound.