Anxiety is one of the common conditions in dogs. Mostly caused by separation, stressful events, and traveling. Separation anxiety could be stressful for you and your dog, and these are some ways to spot it and know how to deal with it.
Symptoms of anxiety could be:
· Aggression and biting
· Low mode/depression
· Excessive barking
· Growling
· Unsettled stomach, nausea, and vomiting
Anxiety can ruin your dog’s way of playing and interaction with other dogs. When you first notice the symptoms, make sure to help your dog get through it. These are some ways to help your anxious dog overcome their anxiety. Crate training, exercise, and music therapy.
Crate training - when crate training. Make sure to get a good crate for the dog to feel comfortable in. Next you would need to make your dog have a proper mindset when they go into their crate. If the dog is calm, then make sure to let them rest in there for 10 minutes and keep doing that and add more time to get them to stay in there for longer periods of time. Give the dog a treat when they go into their crate, the dog will enjoy being in the crate more. The training may take a few months. So, make sure to be patient with your dog.
More exercise - Just like humans, exercise also helps dogs alleviate stress and anxiety. Playing and running around with your dog will make the dog feel much better and could get rid of negative behaviors. Like chewing and the other symptoms listed.
Music therapy – Humans can be calmed down with some music, while all the other noises around us disappear, this works the same way for dogs. Whenever your dog is in a stressful event like a thunderstorm. You could play music to block out all the noises. This works in cars too since it could block out all the car noise and traffic for your dog. Studies say that dogs prefer classical music. Maybe you could even put some headphones on to really block the noise.
Remember to be patient with your dog, it’s hard for a dog to learn things but it will be worth it when they do. From these 3 ways of helping your dog with anxiety, especially separation anxiety. They should all help your dogs to overcome their anxiety and help them feel more at ease with being alone.