Tips, Tricks, and Anxiety Meds for Dog Anxiety Attacks
Calming Your Furry Friends’ Dog Anxiety Symptoms!
Hi, Noble T. Dog here for Mighty Pet! Those of you who know me, know I’m usually pretty chill, however, this time of year always makes me so nervous! Thunderstorms and 4th of July fireworks have me pacing, panting, and just looking for a place to hide! Since I don’t fit under the bed anymore, hiding is becoming more and more difficult!
I tell mom I can’t help my neurotic behavior, or as she calls it “being a spaz”. My behavior modification training has been helping, but thunderstorms and fireworks still make me have a panic attack! Pacing, panting and panicked behavior are dog anxiety symptoms or signs of a dog anxiety attack.
Thankfully Mighty Pet offers training and a variety of calming products to help ease my stress during fireworks, thunderstorms, and other events that cause loud noises. If the anxiety is severe enough, consult with your veterinarian. In some cases, anxiety medication may need to be prescribed. Here are a few behavior modifications you can try as well!
What Causes a Dog Anxiety Attack?
Many furry friends suffer from dog anxiety attacks. There are three main forms of dog anxiety attacks; attacks due to fear, attacks due to separation, and attacks due to aging.
Fear-related dog anxiety attacks can be caused by new places or people, new sights or sounds, and by new or specific situations. A combination of the three can play into your dog’s anxiety attack. For instance, meeting a new friend in an unfamiliar area, such as at their house or at a new park. This is never an issue for me! I love making new two-legged and four-legged friends!
Separation-related dog anxiety attacks can be seen when your canine is unable to be comforted when alone, which leads to a dog anxiety attack. This can occur when you leave for work, after-work activities, or for a vacation.
I go to work nearly every day and greet people at Mighty Pet and when my family goes on vacation, Aussie brother Deno and I get to stay at the Pet Lodge at Mighty Pet and play with all our friends at doggie day camp. It’s so much fun!
The trained staff at Mighty Pet doggie day camp are so nice and always are interacting with me and the other dogs. The best part is I get to work on my social skills! My mom likes it too because when she picks me up I’ve gotten all my exercise for the day! Mighty Pet also offers lodging for when my mom goes on vacation!
As a dog grows older it may start to see symptoms of cognitive dysfunction syndrome, or CDS. CDS can cause memory loss, a decline in awareness, and a decline in perception. The increased confusion can lead to dog anxiety attacks that are made worse by these declining capabilities.
What Can I Give My Dog For Anxiety?
Okay, so what does mom do when I’m anxious? She gives me an anxiety treat! It tastes good and helps me relax! Since different dogs respond to different kinds of calming supplements, Mighty Pet has a large variety of different anxiety meds for dogs.
When shopping for treats, make sure your family knows to look for natural treats, made from natural ingredients. Melatonin, hemp, valerian root, chamomile, and tryptophan are all safe and healthy options. Calming treats are best suited for dogs with mild dog anxiety symptoms, but won’t cure severe symptoms. From Melatonin to CBD dog treats for anxiety, Mighty Pet has a chew for you! I highly recommend the peanut butter ones!
A pressure garment may also be helpful. A pressure garment applies pressure to the midsection of a dog and can aid in soothing a dog’s anxiety attack. I have one of these and it’s like getting a hug from my favorite human. Mom says the pressure applied is similar to the sensation a crying child feels when being held. All I know is that it’s soooo comforting!
How To Help Dogs With Separation Anxiety
The last thing you want to come home to after a long day’s work is a mess or an accident caused by your dog. When we first got my furry brother Deno he was always getting in trouble for messing up the house when we were left alone, the bad part is he would try and blame it on me! Good thing mom knew how to help dogs with separation anxiety and here are her tips. First, you need to know what signs to look for.
A few of the most common signs of separation anxiety in dogs are; aggression, going to the bathroom in the house, excessive barking, panting, and destructive behavior. The most common being excessive barking and destructive behavior.
Give your pet white noise during the day, whether it be from the TV, radio, or a white noise machine. This can help your pet feel like someone else is home with them and put their dog’s anxiety symptoms at ease. Mom puts on 80’s music for Deno and me, we just love the Pet Shop Boys and Bow-Wow-Wow!
Dogs and Fireworks
Oftentimes, dogs and fireworks don’t seem to get along. I know I don’t like them at all! With the 4th of July getting closer, it is important to help calm your furry friend during the fireworks shows so that they are comfortable, and you can enjoy the holiday.
Fireworks may cause fear-related dog anxiety symptoms in your canine. To make sure that your pet feels safe, KEEP THEM INSIDE. Keeping your pet INSIDE will help to reduce the audio stimuli that may cause anxiety attacks.
While inside they will feel more secure and won’t be able to run far away to hide from the loud noises. It’s true, mom says the 4th of July is one of the number one days pets run away. We don’t mean to run away, but just want to get away from the noise, so if we are inside, we can’t go far!
Keep your furry friend in the center of your house or basement, away from windows and exterior doors. This will also help reduce the noises that may scare them. Calm your dogs and fireworks shows will be more enjoyable for both you and your pet. Since I don’t fit under the bed anymore, I like to go hide in the basement, it’s cooler and quieter down there.
Dogs and Thunderstorms
Just the same as dogs and fireworks not getting along, dogs and thunderstorms often don’t mix. The large eruption of noise can lead to dog thunderstorm anxiety with some of the same fear-related anxiety symptoms that fireworks lead to.
Is your dog panting during thunderstorms? Desensitize your dog to the audio stimuli of thunderstorms by softly playing thunderstorm noises or a relaxing thunderstorm soundtrack during the day. This will get them familiar with the sounds and audio stimuli and relieve the fear-related dog anxiety symptoms. Hmmm, I wonder if mom knows about this trick! Perhaps one of you can tell her?
Keep your dog inside and toward the center of your house where the noise from the storm is softened by the walls in your house.
Reward calm behavior. Trying to console a panicky dog only encourages the behavior. While you don’t want to scold the dog for panicking, rewarding panicky behavior will only make it worse. I am motivated by treats, so I know if I stay calm during a storm, I will get rewarded with a Mighty Treat, that really helps!
Calm on command is a training technique used to teach your dog to settle or remain calm when they are asked. Practicing calm on command when it’s not storming will help your dog know the routine during the next storm. I am getting better at this, but when the thunder shakes the entire house, I totally freak out!!! Can you blame me?
Help Calm the Storm… and the Fireworks Shows!
Take it from me, Noble T. Dog, alleviating common dog anxiety symptoms is no easy task. The best way to offer support to your canine companion is to work year-round with some of the tips above. Combining a training regiment with dog anxiety medication, such as CBD dog treats, can greatly help!
Continuously working on the calm on command, or desensitizing your companion to the sounds of storms with CDs or white noise machines, will pay dividends when the 4th of July or the next big storm comes around. Don’t wait, start alleviating your dog’s anxiety symptoms today with the help of my friends at Mighty Pet! Tell them Noble sent ya!
Helping calm your dog’s anxiety symptoms can be difficult, let Mighty Pet help out with our large selection of dog calming treats and remedies. Training can also play a large part in alleviating anxiety symptoms in dogs. Let Mighty Pet help out with our training guide, or enroll in one of our training courses.
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