Are you aware that pets like cats, dogs, or even parrots can experience anxiety? It’s commonly observed that dogs suffer from anxiety more frequently due to their adeptness at recognizing and mirroring human emotional states. Similarly, to their ability to display empathy, they can also feel anxious.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know that your dog has anxiety and are wondering what can you give a dog for anxiety? We’re going to be finding the answer to this and taking a closer look at why dogs get anxiety in the first place.
Common Signs That Your Dog Has Anxiety
The first thing you need to pay attention to are signs that your dog is displaying related to anxiety. These are usually divided into the following two parts:
Symptoms of Mild Anxiety in Dogs
In mild anxiety, the dog is feeling a little bit scared. In this case, they will display the following:
- Gentle whining
- Frequent lip or nose licking
- Not making eye contact
- Whites of the eyes are visible
- Laid back ears and tail tucked between legs
- Actively looking for a hiding place
Symptoms of Severe Anxiety in Dogs
In this case, the dog is unable to deal with the anxiety and will display some or all of the following behaviors:
- Howling or barking
- Pacing and panting even if it is not a hot day
- Shivering
- Digging on the flooring
- Destroying and chewing up things
- Excessive chewing of nails
- Licking paws to the point of causing sores
- Urinating frequently anywhere
- Inability to calm down or settle in one place
- Hyper activity, including running around, chasing their tail
- Aggression towards other pets or strangers
- Aggression related to food or toy sharing
If your dog is exhibiting any of these behaviors, they might have anxiety. Unfortunately, anxiety in dogs does not go away on its own. You will have to find the root of the problem and work with the dog to help it feel more safe and secure.
If left unchecked, anxiety can worsen, causing more severe behavior problems. This is a reason why a large number of dogs are rehomed or given up. Their anxieties are left unchecked and the owner does not realize what the issue at hand really is.
The Different Types of Anxiety Your Dog Can Have
If you’re ready to work with your dog to help it overcome the anxiety it has, you have to identify what is causing this behavior. For dogs, anxiety usually stems from three major sources and falls into the following categories:
Fear-Based Anxiety
This is caused by loud noises like fireworks or thunderstorms, strange people, new animals, odd visual stimuli like umbrellas or hats or even different floor textures like walking on grass or wood. While some dogs are able to become used to such things, some dogs can face anxiety from these. Loud noises can be a huge source of anxiety for dogs and be a life-long problem for them to overcome.
Separation Anxiety
Around 14% of dogs experience separation anxiety. These dogs don’t like being left alone and will exhibit destructive and undesirable behaviors, especially when they don’t have their family near them. The anxiety can mean that dog will urinate in the house, chew on the sofa or even the rug and flooring. Luckily, this can be fixed through behavioral training by using dog crates for dogs with anxiety.
Age-Based Anxiety
Anxiety in older dogs is common as they lose motor function and in many cases, their sense of smell, sight and sound also diminishes. Many older dogs also develop cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS), which leads to a loss in memory, perception and awareness that contributes to anxiety in older dogs.
How to Fix the Cause of Anxiety
The best way to fix anxiety is to discuss it with your vet. If your dog has mild anxiety, you may be able to fix it on your own but in many cases; you may have to work with the vet to develop a behavioral treatment plan.
This plan will revolve around helping the dog unlearn their reactions to anxiety-causing situations and learn a more positive response. A good idea is to also work with a dog behavior trainer, especially for dealing with separation anxiety in dogs.
Products You Can Use for Dog Anxiety
You can also use some products for dog anxiety. These can be great for mild anxiety but we strongly recommend that you see a vet in cases where your dog is unable to function properly and their behavior is greatly impacting the quality of your life.
Our Recommendation – Thundershirt Classic Dog Anxiety Jacket
This weighted jacket uses light compression to help calm a dog’s anxiety much like when swaddling a child. It is easy to slip on, made from durable materials and is available for different dog sizes. It helps with fear related anxiety, particularly due to thunderstorms and fireworks. It is also said to help with separation anxiety and travel anxiety.
Our Recommendation – VetriScience Laboratories- Composure Calming Behavior Support Supplement for Dogs
These chews are scientifically made from colostrum, thiamine, and l-theanine. The Composure supplements work within 30 minutes to calm a dog down and results last for 4 hours. These are chicken liver flavored, which makes dogs think they’re getting tasty treat. These can be used every day or just for specific scenarios without any worries.
Our Recommendation – Life Stages LS-1630 Single Door Folding Crate
If you’re looking for the best dog crate for separation anxiety, then you can’t go wrong with the Life Stages single door folding crate. It’s lightweight, heavy duty and comes with divider panel as well. With a plastic bottom and rounded corners, the design is meant to be aesthetically pleasing and functional. The crates is perfect for growing puppies and can be adjusted as needed to crate train them properly.
With the help of these, you can easily tackle anxiety issues in your dog and make sure that they are happier and healthier with you.
