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 3)
This is my last blog about doggy anxiety, and I hope that my other blogs have helped you with any anxious feelings that your doggy may have. Being anxious is no fun at all, but there certainly are a lot of great ways to help doggies so they aren’t so scared!
Separation anxiety
Me and my brothers Hank, Charlie, and Pickles (he is my cat brother) really like being with our humans, and we sometimes get a bit anxious when they leave us. Charlie even misbehaves a little when our humans leave. I have seen him eat pens, tissue boxes, cookies, candy, loaves of bread, and almost anything that his snout can reach. I would never do what Charlie does because I am not nearly as anxious as him when our humans leave, but sometimes he pulls things off the countertop that look very tasty and I can’t help but try a little. Some of my dog friends told me that they get so anxious when their humans leave them that they just keep barking or they chew on the furniture. Some of my friends even poo and pee in the house because they get so upset.
Me and my brothers agree that we feel a bit better when our humans give us something to play with when they leave- like these rubber things that are filled with treats and peanut butter! Or sometimes they give us a towel that is all rolled up and stuffed with treats. We are pretty proud of ourselves when we figure out how to get the treats out, and it can take a lot of sniffing and brainpower to accomplish our mission. Getting a fun thing like a treat puzzle to keep us busy when our humans leave makes us feel excited and we don’t think too much about being anxious. I heard my humans call it counter conditioning, but this is a very big word that they never taught me in doggy school.
As happy as I am getting treat puzzles, I still prefer to be around nice people rather than be alone. Each morning I would stare at my human dad with my big, brown eyes, and I am pretty sure that he knew what I wanted because I often got to go to work with him. It was great because I got to see lots of people, and boy did I get a lot of great pats and treats! I can’t tell you how excited I was to go to work every day. And I have a lot of friends that have a special human come to their house every day just to give them a walk and to play with them when their own humans are busy- this makes them very happy.
One of my doggy friends always got very upset when his humans left him alone in the house for even a short time, and treat puzzles didn’t really help him. And when they tried putting him in a crate he would get even more upset. So he ended up seeing a doggy trainer who worked with him and his humans. Now he is doing much better and I think that they celebrated by buying a new couch to replace the one that my friend chewed up.
Medication for treating anxiety
My brother Hank is really, really old and he doesn’t hear or see very well anymore. This is probably why he is such an anxious boy. Something that makes Hank very scared is thunder. He gets so scared that his whole body starts to shake and he runs around trying to hide somewhere quiet. The vet gave our humans some pills that Hank can take to make him not so scared when the thunder is making loud noises. And they work really well because Hank doesn’t look anxious at all after taking his pill. But he isn’t much fun either because all he wants to do is sleep.
One of Hank’s senior friends, Wilson, told him that he was anxious and in a lot of pain, and that he sometimes couldn’t help peeing inside his house. Fortunately, Wilson’s humans took him to the vet and discovered that he had a medical problem that was probably causing his pain, anxiety, and peeing. Now Wilson is taking some pills that make him feel a lot better and he isn’t in pain or peeing inside much anymore.
It seems important that our humans take us to a vet when we are really anxious so that they can make sure we are healthy. Once I had a pricker in my paw and I told my humans about it by lifting my paw and staring up at them. But sometimes it is harder for our humans to know that we are in pain, and a vet can help them figure out what is wrong.
My brothers and doggy friends have all shown me that anxiety is a big problem for lots of dogs, and I guess that it makes me feel better knowing that I am not alone. And it is great having loving humans that help me and my brothers with our anxious feelings. I think it really helps that they are always taking us to exercise, experience new places, and to meet new people and other dogs. They even took me from Australia to the US where I got to meet squirrels! And I love all the fetching, sniffing, and playing that I get to do with my family, and I am sure that this is why I am usually feeling so happy. But even when our anxiety makes us do something that isn’t very nice (like eating a roll of paper towels), our humans don’t punish me or my brothers because they know that speaking meanly to us won’t help and may only make us more anxious.
Thanks for reading what I have learned about doggy anxiety. There are certainly a lot of things that can make us doggies anxious and scared. And I hope that your doggy isn’t very anxious .But if they are it is good to know that there are great ways to help them.
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