Roger was our beautiful Golden Retriever that loved life and everyone that he encountered. He would greet you with his big brown eyes, wagging tail, and a stuffed toy in his mouth whenever one was available. Roger loved the beach, swimming, squirrels, and spending time with his family. He passed away way too early, and he is dearly missed. Marks's Happy Pets (www.markshappypets.com) blogs are dedicated to Roger, and they are written in his voice. Please enjoy.
Anxiety in dogs (part 2)
I mentioned in my last blog that my brothers Hank and Charlie, and many of my doggy friends have anxiety sometimes. And even though I am a very happy and playful boy, I also get anxious every now and then (particularly when puppies are biting my bum).
So, I am working to spread the word about doggy anxiety since it is such a common problem. The good news is that there are great ways to help reduce doggy anxiety and make life as happy and carefree as possible for me, Hank, Charlie, and all my doggy friends!
Reducing anxiety when walking on a leash
When I am on a walk I love to sniff, look for squirrels, roll in the grass, and try to get humans to pet me by looking up at them, wagging my tail, and showing them my beautiful tongue. But Charlie and a lot of my doggy friends get very anxious whenever they are walking on a leash and see other dogs or a bike nearby. When this happens, many of them will bark and lunge at the dog or bike, which I tell them is not a good thing to do. My human dad trained Charlie to be less anxious on the leash by giving him a treat whenever they passed a dog or bike. In the beginning Charlie needed a lot of space when passing, but now he can usually walk right on past without much of a worry. Charlie said that the treats taught him to feel positive (and not as anxious) about passing a dog or bike, and now he only seems to need treats sometimes. With Charlie being more relaxed on our walks we could focus on looking for squirrels! We didn’t have squirrels in Australia (that is where I am from) which is too bad because they are so much fun to play with.
Physical and mental stimulation help make a happy dog
Speaking of playing with squirrels, one thing that all my doggy friends agree on is that we feel much happier and less anxious when our humans get us out of the house for a good run or sniff adventure. And I always hear my humans say that a tired dog is a good dog. I know from personal experience that when I get to go to the beach (I love the beach as much as I love squirrels) for a run and a swim I am too tired to even think of causing any trouble. I don’t always get to go to the beach though. But that is ok because even on short walks my humans let me do a lot of sniffing. Some of my friends say that their humans don’t even give them much time to sniff because they just want to walk as quickly as possible. If they only knew that us dogs usually just want to enjoy the journey and don’t think much about the destination - well, unless we happen to know that the destination involves fetching or swimming! And did you know that sniffing is great mental stimulation that causes the release of the “feel good” brain neurotransmitter dopamine! Doggy school never taught me anything about neurotransmitters, but I do know that sniffing always makes me happy. And my brother Charlie told me that 20 minutes of sniffing is like taking a 1 hour walk without sniffing! I bet my humans wish that they could get such great exercise just by sniffing around.
I still have a lot to say about doggy anxiety, but Charlie just told me that he spotted a squirrel in the back yard! So, thanks for reading and please visit again soon to hear more stories about how to make your doggy’s life feel like a run on the beach with their favorite squirrel!
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