The biggest obstacle to a healthy relationship between your dog and you, tension is rank top-most. Most dogs suffer from anxiety for various reasons, either situational or based on personality. Also, stress is exhibited through strange fears or phobias and is shown through behaviors like constant barking, destroying furniture, or being aggressive. So to effectively treat the condition, you have to understand the source of the anxiety.
Below are some remedies to cure your anxious dog.
1. Medication and supplements
Calming biscuits or prescribed medication can help reduce severe cases of anxiety. These remedies are designed to help your dog relax. With that said, getting the best medicine for your dog can be a challenge, luckily, oil for dogs stocks assorted types of supplements to calm your dog’s anxiety.
However, if you don’t understand how supplements work, seek the help of a qualified handler. They will help you pick or prescribe to you the best oil combination for excellent results.
2. Proper training and socialization
If scolding is not an effective way of improving your dog’s behavior, what’s the way out? An excellent method of dealing with anxiety is to establish effective communication with your pup. This can be through body language or uttered words. By so doing, your pet will master how to ask for permission in everything. However, all this can be acchied through proper training.
Socialization is an excellent way of dealing with dog anxiety. Dogs are social animals by nature. They love being close to people to feel safe. So, whenever you realize your dog suffering from anxiety, change the way you handle it and take time to play with him or her around.
3. Distraction
If your dog is nervous due to situation like fireworks, thunderstorms, or being in a crowd, then distraction works wonders. Engaging the dog’s brain will aid it to focus on you or what it knows rather than the unknown. However, it’s not a time to commence new training but an excellent period to practice some of the tricks your dog understands. So, reward the dog for mere commands like stand, lie down sit, roll over, or shake.
For separation anxiety, the best way to begin is by a little confusion! Dogs love and rely on schedule; they wake up, feed, potty, and rest at regular intervals. However, you don’t want anxiety to be part of that schedule.
So, begin by letting them know when you’re leaving. You can start with little things that are associated with leaving; for instance, putting on your coat or the jingle of keys. Practice this intermittently during the day, and once the dog gets used to these practices move on to leaving periods.
Additionally, you can begin the separation lessons by leaving for short periods and coming back. This will assist your dog in associating going(leaving) with returning(coming back).
In this way, they will feel secure in your absence. Later, progress to leaving for longer to help the dog understand that no matter how long you’re gone, you’ll still come back.
4. Exercise
Exercise relieves stress for both humans and dogs. Exercising accomplishes various things while assisting your dog in calming its anxiety. Also, exercise boosts production of serotonin; a feel-good hormone that humans also release when hiking or working out.
Moreover, exercising aids in getting rid of pent-up energy and tension. Thus, favorite activities like biking, hiking, or running can go a long way in dealing with your dog’s anxiety.
5. Adequate nutrition
Behavior is sometimes impacted by what your dog eats. Some dog diets can lead to stress due to chemical preservatives that react negatively to the dog’s system. So, it’s through proper nutrition that you can cure such conditions. Therefore, when you feed the dog improperly, have plans to counter the diet reactions.
Take home
To effectively cure dog anxiety, handle the dog professionally. Avoid punishing the pet for this triggers more stress. Also, adequate nutrition, exercise, distraction, and supplements are all excellent ways of saying goodbye to anxiety.