Dogs get anxious for all kinds of reason and while some dogs are anxious naturally and always will need a lot of reassurance, other dogs will develop anxieties as a result of a bad experience or a major change in their life or situation.
Many dogs that come from a rescue are anxious dogs, both due to their experience of being dumped, or given up to a rescue and due to the difficult situation of a rescue, which is in general full of other scared dogs. (That is no criticism of rescue centres, because they do a good job, but exactly the way in which they explained it to me).
Sometimes dog anxiousness can be so intense that they'll quiver or run and hide at the mention of the word 'walk ', and thunderstorms and fireworks are classic times that will set a dogs anxiety off.
Now and again anxiety can be more of short term problem where for instance a dog that has got a health problem can suddenly become anxious as they feel more vulnerable. In some other cases the anxiousness will set in over time, such as when dogs age, especially if there are younger dogs around them.
What makes dogs anxious is not necessarily easy to understand as dogs can react badly to almost anything. I've heard dog owners say their dog is frightened of men, or beards, or anybody wearing a hat, or the sound of one individual newsreaders voice... The list is both unusual and unending.
How To Calm An Anxious Dog
If you take a look at the enormous range of things that can make your dog anxious, from being scared by nature, through bad experiences, to being afraid of loud noises and having unexplainable fears, it is perhaps not what they do that matters, but how you respond to their stress which will make a difference to your dog.
Definitely key to helping your dog calm down is to be very calm yourself. Dogs are highly sensitive and if you tense up when they get anxious or start worrying yourself, they will pick up on that and it will simply confirm that they have good reason to be anxious. Essentially, your dog will be thinking, if you are stressing out as well , there has to be something wrong and they were right to be anxious in the first place.
An anxious dog will also benefit enormously from you being very obviously the leader of the pack as in nature, the rest of the pack will take their lead from the what the Alpha dog does. This means that if the leader is calm and not anxious about what is going on they'll stay calm too.
Anxious dogs have often believed that they are leader of the pack and thus answerable for decision-making and the packs safety. This is a very tricky job for a dog in a human world as frequently they don't understand it, meaning anything from the postman, to someone on a cycle, or on the T. V. could be a threat that they react strongly too.
One of the most helpful things you can do for an anxious dog is find out how to show them you're the pack leader and in time they'll learn to trust you and your judgement, and that will automatically cut back their anxiety.
Many dogs that come from a rescue are anxious dogs, both due to their experience of being dumped, or given up to a rescue and due to the difficult situation of a rescue, which is in general full of other scared dogs. (That is no criticism of rescue centres, because they do a good job, but exactly the way in which they explained it to me).
Sometimes dog anxiousness can be so intense that they'll quiver or run and hide at the mention of the word 'walk ', and thunderstorms and fireworks are classic times that will set a dogs anxiety off.
Now and again anxiety can be more of short term problem where for instance a dog that has got a health problem can suddenly become anxious as they feel more vulnerable. In some other cases the anxiousness will set in over time, such as when dogs age, especially if there are younger dogs around them.
What makes dogs anxious is not necessarily easy to understand as dogs can react badly to almost anything. I've heard dog owners say their dog is frightened of men, or beards, or anybody wearing a hat, or the sound of one individual newsreaders voice... The list is both unusual and unending.
How To Calm An Anxious Dog
If you take a look at the enormous range of things that can make your dog anxious, from being scared by nature, through bad experiences, to being afraid of loud noises and having unexplainable fears, it is perhaps not what they do that matters, but how you respond to their stress which will make a difference to your dog.
Definitely key to helping your dog calm down is to be very calm yourself. Dogs are highly sensitive and if you tense up when they get anxious or start worrying yourself, they will pick up on that and it will simply confirm that they have good reason to be anxious. Essentially, your dog will be thinking, if you are stressing out as well , there has to be something wrong and they were right to be anxious in the first place.
An anxious dog will also benefit enormously from you being very obviously the leader of the pack as in nature, the rest of the pack will take their lead from the what the Alpha dog does. This means that if the leader is calm and not anxious about what is going on they'll stay calm too.
Anxious dogs have often believed that they are leader of the pack and thus answerable for decision-making and the packs safety. This is a very tricky job for a dog in a human world as frequently they don't understand it, meaning anything from the postman, to someone on a cycle, or on the T. V. could be a threat that they react strongly too.
One of the most helpful things you can do for an anxious dog is find out how to show them you're the pack leader and in time they'll learn to trust you and your judgement, and that will automatically cut back their anxiety.
About the Author:
You can learn more about dog anxiety and how to calm an anxious dog when you visit the authors blog, plus pick up a free report on the major symptoms of dog separation anxiety.