Emilee Brewer
Have you ever noticed your dog gets super nervous around new people or new dogs? Do they get destructive when you’re out of their eyesight? Just like people, dogs can suffer from anxiety! While small amounts of anxiety is totally normal, if their anxiety levels remain disproportionately high, it can cause behavioral issues and even negatively affect their health.
What causes anxiety? It can be several things, but according to Merck Veterinary Manual, the most common causes of anxiety are fear, separation, and aging.
Fear-related anxiety is from external stimuli such as loud noises, new people and animals, or new environments like the vet’s office or even their first day of daycare. Typically, a dog realizes there’s nothing to fear pretty quickly, but if a dog has anxiety, it’s going to affect the animal more.
From the AKC, around 14% of dogs suffer from separation anxiety. This form of anxiety occurs when the animal is unable to comfort themselves when they’re left alone or separated from their family. When my dog goes to the vet, I have to walk him to the back for his exam, or else he will rag-doll, and the vet techs have to drag him. He hates being away from me. With separation anxiety, you often see undesirable behaviors like destroying furniture, excessive barking, or even urinating or defecating in the house.
Age-related anxiety is exactly as the name implies: the dog becomes anxious as it gets older. This usually happens when the animal is in cognitive decline. They may experience memory loss, lose their sense of perception, and become less aware of their surroundings as a whole. They could also be going blind or deaf, and they’re scared of such a major change. This leads to confusion and fear in senior dogs.
Each individual animal is going to display anxiety symptoms differently, but there are warning signs you can watch for. A frightened dog or even a cat will use body language to show their fear. From VCA, “they may pace, fidget, freeze, or attempt to hide or flee. Subtle communications exhibited by fearful dogs and cats may include avoiding eye contact, looking away, lowering their head or body, tucking their tail, pinning back their ears, licking their lips, and yawning”. Sometimes, a scared animal will react with aggression; they’re attempting to create distance between themselves and the threat. Anxiety also manifests itself in more subtle ways that we may not be able to perceive like an increased heart rate, excessive panting, dilated pupils, and releasing secretions from the anal sacs. You ever randomly smelled something fishy? Well, it’s from your dog’s ass and they’re probably scared (there are other reasons your dog may be secreting gnarly smells from their butt, so check in with your vet to be safe!).
Excessive fear can cause a lot of problems for your pooch. It can lead to chronic stress, which takes a toll on their heart. It can also cause aggression. If your dog is suddenly lashing out, they may just be scared. However, there is a difference between anxiety and a general phobia. According to VCA, “a phobia is a persistent, exaggerated fear response that may be so extreme it is debilitating,” whereas anxiety is an emotion that is triggered by the anticipation of a fear-inducing stimulus. So a phobia could be a loud noise or riding in the car, while anxiety may be situation-based, like being at the vet, or it could be generalized and manifest in any situation. Phobia and anxiety-based behavior present the same physiological symptoms, but anxiety can appear even when the trigger isn’t present. As always, if your dog suddenly becomes fearful, take them to a professional to assess them and their emotional well-being.
You can try to prevent anxiety through early socialization. Any socialization should be done slowly and in a safe environment so it doesn’t evoke fear. Exposure therapy helps them realize new situations aren’t so scary after all. Pair the stimuli with a treat so they associate it with something good. If they become overwhelmed, remove the animal from the situation and allow them to calm down before trying again. If they remain amped up after being removed, do not expose them and consult with a professional.
If exposure therapy isn’t helping and their reaction to the trigger is disproportionate, they may need a combination of behavioral modification and medication. Avoid their triggers until you’re able to control the environment better and introduce them to low-level triggers. This will help desensitize them. Make sure you always remain calm to help them through the fear. There are natural remedies to dealing with fears, like CBD oil, or there is anti-anxiety medication available, like trazodone.
Just like people, dogs will experience fear and anxiety at some point in their lives. It’s our responsibility as their parents to make sure they are well taken care of during their triggers, and we do everything we can to ease their fear. If your pooch is experiencing high levels of fear, consult your vet to see what they recommend. Stick to a routine as much as you can, and have a plan in place if they unexpectedly face a trigger.