Anxious Dog: Discover the Factors for Dog Anxiety

That’s why it’s very important for you to know how to identify the main causes of anxiety in dogs , to avoid them through proper care.

See, below, the main factors that can make a dog anxious and get your doubts cleared!

What are the factors that can lead to dog anxiety?

A first point that you need to know refers to the factors that can make your dog anxious and, therefore, make sure they don’t happen. Let’s get to know the main ones below.

lack of jokes

Dogs need to play in everyday life. Even if it’s not with tutors, they need to have a moment to let off steam and have fun.

Animals that do not play on a daily basis tend to be more nervous and, consequently, more anxious. But this can also happen because there is no interaction with their owners.

To feel safe they need the attention of tutors. Therefore, withdrawal can make them feel more anxious and fearful. That way, it’s important to always set aside time for playtime .

History of aggression and trauma

This is a delicate point and can be one of the most difficult to deal with when we talk about anxious dogs: animals that have been through some kind of aggression or trauma. This can happen in cases of abuse or abandonment.

As the animal is emotionally shaken by situations like these, several triggers can remind him of these negative emotions. For example, if he has been abandoned, being alone can send him back to the traumatic event and make him anxious.

separation anxiety

Separation anxiety is a problem that happens when your dog is alone for a long time. That’s because, in addition to these trauma issues, some dogs that have never gone through this can also have the problem.

This usually happens with animals that spend a lot of time without tutors and do not have an enriched environment to provide greater entertainment. With this, he starts to get nervous and stressed, which causes anxious behavior.

To alleviate this anxiety, it is very important that owners take a little time a day to be with their dogs and give them affection and support. And know that other problems can arise from this — depression is one of them.

Day-to-day changes

Dogs are animals that need to maintain their routines. When there are changes in this sense, they feel threatened and, consequently, afraid – one of the emotions that most triggers anxiety.

And many situations can also trigger a type of trigger in dogs, such as:

• moving house or apartment without adequate adaptation;
• adoption of a new pet (especially if it is of another species) without adapting to socializing;
• arrival of a baby in the family without making an emotional preparation with the pet;
• death of one of the family members with whom the animal had contact;
• instability in everyday life;
• aggressive behaviors of tutors – when they start fighting and yelling at the animals, unloading the day-to-day stress on their pets.

Physical problems

Some diseases can increase the chances of you having an anxious dog. Some of them are:

• chronic endocrine diseases;
• respiratory diseases;
• use of medications that can cause anxiety.

What are the main characteristics of an anxious dog?

But after all, what are the main symptoms of an anxious dog? Check out, below, what are the behaviors he starts to have with this condition.

ears back

Dogs communicate very well with their bodies, so it is important that you pay attention to this. When they are anxious, they tend to stick their ears back.

Excessive fear

Anxiety is closely linked to fear. Therefore, anxious dogs tend to be fearful. It is possible to see that the pet is experiencing this problem when it presents this type of behavior even in activities that it used to perform normally. An example of this is being afraid to leave the house.

Excessive barking

Your dog starts to bark more often and often without any apparent cause, or is bothered by the sounds and presence of neighbors. It is common, for example, that he barks too much when he hears someone passing near the house.

Lack of appetite

The stressed animal tends to reduce the amount of food it consumes or, still, may not be interested in snacks that it liked before.

Licking the paw frequently

Constant paw licking is a classic sign of stress in an anxious dog, and it’s also important to be aware of this. Licking the paw can cause sores at the site, which occurs very often.

Hyperactivity

As the dog is very agitated, he tends to have greater hyperactivity in everyday life. You see that he can’t stay still, sleeps less and is always demanding physical activities . One of the great signs is the dog chasing its own tail .

How to alleviate anxiety in dogs?

To ease your pet’s anxiety, you can take some measures in everyday life, such as:

• enrich the environment — offer toys and make changes to the environment to make the place more interesting and creative;
• play with your pet daily — this helps him to vent his energy and be calmer;
• count on aromatherapy ;
• take care not to reinforce the dog’s anxious behaviors – if the pet tends to get anxious when you yell at him, avoid fighting by raising your voice, or this could exacerbate the problem.

If the dog’s anxiety is still not relieved, it may be interesting to count on a trainer, a behaviorist veterinarian or, even, with the joint work of these professionals.