Just like humans, dogs also experience anxiety. Dog anxiety is present in all breeds. However, it may affect each dog differently. Even though dog anxiety is something dog experiences once or from time to time in their life, if negligence is shown towards the symptoms, a dog can develop an anxiety disorder. And if not treated on time, dog anxiety can cause behavioral disorders and other issues as well.
Types of Dog Anxiety
Dog anxiety has many types. Let’s discuss some of the most common types of dog anxiety:
Fear
Separation
Fear Anxiety
Fear anxiety can be caused by loud sounds, strangers, or animals. Sometimes, newly adopted dogs easily get scared by seeing things like hats or umbrellas. This is natural but dangerous if the condition of the dog is the same. Also, visiting the vet's office or getting a car ride can stimulate fear.
Separation Anxiety
Separation anxiety is another type of dog anxiety. Dogs with separation anxiety find it hard to make themselves comfortable when they are alone, and this happens most of the time when owners leave for work. Separation anxiety causes the dog to have uncontrollable urinating, destructive behavior, and excessive barking.
Symptoms of Dog Anxiety
How to tell if your dog is suffering from any of this anxiety? Well, these are some of the symptoms to watch out for:
Aggression
Fatigue
Excessive Urinating
Panting
Odd Behavior
Excessive Barking
Sleep Disorder
Many of these symptoms can be the result of any dog's anxiety. If you find any of these symptoms in your dog, it is recommended to see a vet.
Aggression
Dog anxiety can develop into one of the most dangerous symptoms, which is aggression. This can have a direct or indirect result. For example, direct aggression happens when the dog shows aggressive behavior towards other animals or humans.
While indirect aggression occurs when the dog is not allowed to harm others, this mostly occurs when a person comes in between the dog and its source of aggression. Such aggressive behavior is dangerous for both other animals and humans.
Fatigue
This symptom is present in senior dogs. This happens from aging anxiety, and dogs end up getting tired and physically unwell. They sleep most of the time, even after they have had their regular sleep.
Excessive Urinating
Excessive urinating is a symptom of separation and fear anxiety. This often happens when dogs put themselves in so much work to get rid of the anxiety that they end up urinating in the place they are. If in the house, causing the unpleasant and awful smell in the house. Sometimes even damaging rugs and carpets.
Treatment for Dog Anxiety
The first step toward the treatment of dog anxiety is to talk to your vet. They can help you determine the type of dog anxiety your dog is having. Veterinarians can also help you identify the causes of dog anxiety, the triggers, and treatment. Furthermore, you will get the idea if the condition of your dog is alarming or not.
Your vet can provide you with treatment. They know dog anxiety is often caused by some external factors, so they can find and prescribe the best way to prevent dog anxiety. They will most probably tell you to train your dog and give medication as well.
Medication & CBD for dogs
There is dog anxiety medication available. But the best approach is to use Cannabidiol (CBD) which is derived from the Marijuana plant. CBD has been proven to show its result without any side effects*. The working of CBD is simple as it contains CB1 and CB2, vital elements present in its molecule which stimulate the Serotonin hormone. Serotonin hormone plays an important role in a dog's mood, sleep disorder, and behavior.
Some medication even involves massage therapy, and you can always do massage therapy on your dog to identify if there are any points triggering your dog's anxiety.
Training
Dog training is very helpful in the treatment of dog anxiety. In training like this, the dog is introduced to the source of the anxiety which triggers. But for short-term exposure. Then, as the dog adapts to the environment, the exposure is increased. Eventually, the dog is free and doesn't show any symptoms of the source of anxiety.
Prevention of Dog Anxiety
It is difficult to determine what causes your dog anxiety. But there are ways to prevent the issue from worsening.
Socialization
Socializing with your dog can help prevent your dog from having dog anxiety. Introduce your dog to new people and other dogs as this will help develop a positive attitude. It will also help avoid any incident when visiting a park with your dog.
Obedience Training
Obedience training is very important as it can help train and help in controlling dog anxiety. It's better to send your dog for training. As a result, trained dogs are better at socializing than untrained dogs. Moreover, after training, most dogs will be free from dog anxiety.
Body Language
To prevent dog anxiety, one of the best things you can do is to observe your dog's body language. This will help you a lot in identifying the causes of dog anxiety. You will know when your dog is aggressive and towards what source, and vice versa when the dog is sad. Understanding your dog's body language can help prevent developing dog anxiety.
Diet
Sometimes, feeding your dog with food containing some allergen or other ingredients which might stimulate their triggers towards dog anxiety. In addition, it is best to keep an eye on the food you are feeding your dog. This means you need to check the ingredients before feeding your dog. Moreover, you can check whether your dog is not feeding from other sources like garbage, as they might get infected by parasites that stimulate their anxiety.
Conclusion
In case your dog is suffering from anxiety issues. You can always get treatment and help prevent your dog from developing any type of dog anxiety. You can follow the above-mentioned prevention tips for triggering your dog's anxiety. In case of severe dog anxiety, you need to visit your vet as soon as possible.
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*The statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.