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Anxiety Disorder Dogs

ANXIETY DISORDER - DOGS
By Tess Thompson

Undesirable and destructive behavior from your dog can get extremely irritating. It is especially peeving if you have made sure that he is trained adequately right from the time that he was a puppy. After you are sure that your dog is fully trained, bad behavior does become difficult to tolerate and cope with.

However, it is important to understand that there are many reasons why your dog can relapse into untrained, destructive or extremely submissive behavior even after years of training. It is common for perfectly restrained dogs to go berserk at times with no apparent reason.

One of the reasons why some dogs can forget all that they have learnt is anxiety. Even though dogs are intelligent animals, they are incapable of controlling stress and anxiety that they may feel due to various reasons.

Anxiety brings out the worst in a dog. There can be various reasons for anxiety but the one that is most common is separation anxiety in dogs. Dogs are known to spoil furniture, urinate in the house, break objects and indulge in excessive barking when their owner leaves them. Such destructive behavior should not be construed as revenge (since dogs are almost incapable of that emotion).

It is merely an expression of extreme displeasure at being left alone. Since dogs are pack animals and have an inherent aversion to isolation, they feel anxious at being left alone and wonder whether the owner will ever come back or not.

Anxiety disorders can be induced by other situations too. Some dogs reacts unpleasantly when there are too many people around. They are not used to crowds and jostling and tend to break out. The reaction that such situations cause can vary from dog to dog. Some may fight and others might run away from the scene. In some dogs visitors at home can spark off undesirable behavior.

Loud noises can also cause anxiety. It can start as fear from a particular kind of a loud noise, like a thunderstorm. If not corrected, this anxiety about loud noises can extend to other noises like gunshots, engine rumble or any loud bang. The most common reaction to noise related anxiety is to cower or shudder. Many dogs take shelter under a bed or a sofa. But some aggressive dogs react with excessive barking, as if they were trying to out-shout the loud noise.

If your dog associates a trip to the veterinarian with a car ride, chances are that he will get anxious even if you try and take him to a park. Fear and anxiety about any trip can occur if the association is strong and if his trips to the vet have almost always been unpleasant.

Anxiety disorders are a direct outcome of some sort of stress that your pet feels. One needs to understand the cause behind the anxious behavior and address the specific object or situation that is causing stress. Relieving stress in pets requires patient and consistent training. You need to use the technique of desensitizing to be able to relieve your pet of the stress. Some useful tips for handling anxiety disorders can always prove to be handy.

Separation Anxiety - Use confidence building measures to convey to your dog that you will return whenever you leave him.

Car Trips - Lure your dog into the car rather than pushing and forcing him in. Patience and rewards will help

Social Anxiety - Increase exposure to humans slowly and gradually.

Noise Anxiety - Keen observation is a key for handling this anxiety disorder. Anticipate and be ready with dog treats and try to associate noise with rewards.


References:
http://dogs.about.com/cs/behaviorissues/a/bltip003.htm http://dogs.about.com/cs/behaviorissues/a/anxiety_noise.htm http://dogs.about.com/cs/behaviorissues/p/sep_anxiety.htm http://dogs.about.com/cs/disableddogs/a/anxiety_three.htm