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Calming your anxious dog

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Calming your anxious dog

Do you have an anxious dog? We do. Booker, Fran’s eight-year-old Boston Terrier is one. We love him to bits, but sometimes he’s annoying. 

We know he can’t help it. Booker is a really good boy and tries very hard. He has multiple titles in Obedience, Rally, and Agility competition. That may seem contradictory, but it’s actually the opposite. Having fun things to focus on has been a saving grace.

Comfort in routine

We have a routine that Booker relies on. Every day before work we have short training sessions with each of our dogs. We call them training, but it’s really an excuse to play with each of them individually, have fun with our dogs, and start each day with a little bit of joy.

Our little training area is in the basement. And every time the basement door opens, Booker tries to dash down the steps to start playing. He’s high-stress, not stupid. He knows that’s where we have fun. He knows what to expect, that he’s going to have fun, and he loves it.

Relief for anxiety

Familiarity and habit are keys to calming an anxious dog. Even in an unfamiliar, or stressful situation, you can bring elements of routine to help keep your dog calm. If, for example, you’re taking your dog to the veterinarian, bring along his/her favorite toy or chewie.

French Bulldog Torque carrying a toy for calming

Torque, Hope’s French Bulldog, gets a little nervous, so he carries his special toy around in new situations. We’ve discovered lots of benefits for the behavior. Some people are afraid of bulldogs, and seeing him carrying his pink toy relieves their fears. He also can’t bark when the toy is in his mouth. And it keeps him from being overly interested in what other people and dogs are doing.

Take it easy

For a seasonal example, during the winter many people tell us that their dogs won’t wear dog boots. Many actually won’t move at all when they try to put boots on. But the paw protection is necessary, especially in areas where road salt may be. 

Gradually is the best way to introduce anything new for anxious dogs. Inside at home, put one boot on one back paw. And while your dog is wearing it, do something fun. Play tug, or give the dog a chew toy. Or put the one boot on right before you give a meal. 

After a few minutes, put another boot on the opposite front paw. Your dog will still have two “naked” paws and should be used to the first one. Again, do something fun for a few minutes. 

Add the third and fourth boots using the same procedure. Most dogs will remember it’s no big deal – you only have to go through this once.

Surprises aren’t fun

The internet is full of videos of dogs who were subjected to all four boots at once. It may make for funny video, but it doesn’t get paws protected for walking in winter. 

Anxious dogs, allowed to adjust, can adapt. Familiarity and routine are the keys to calming anxious dogs.  

Dog tip! Keep your composure – and your distance!

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torqueandtedYesterday I took Teddy and Torque to the veterinarian for their annual heartworm test. I don’t like to give the preventative year round, so they have to be tested every spring.

Our vet doesn’t have much staff – it’s more like a clinic where you come in, sign in, and wait your turn. I could see, walking up the path to the door, that there was a dog in doorway. It was a medium-sized dog, but it was planted squarely in the entry. And the elderly woman on the other end of the leash had absolutely no control. It started barking the moment it saw my two, and the woman wasn’t strong enough to get it away from the doorway. Fortunately, the vet came to see what the fuss was about and took control, moving the other dog away and into the office, closing the door behind it.

I’m not saying that my two were angels of discipline. When the other dog started barking and and lunging at them, they didn’t react well. But I knew not to approach, got my dogs’ attention, and get them to focus on something else.

If you’re ever in a similar situation, turn your dog away from the cause of the upset. If the dog still won’t pay attention, increase the distance between the distraction and your dog. Keep increasing the distance until your dog “gets its head together.”

It’s not that the dog isn’t allowed to look. They can look. They just can’t bark, lunge, or misbehave. Teddy and Torque, given some distance, were able to glance at the dog and look back at me. And got rewarded with praise and treats for doing the right thing.

Take your cues from your dog. We can’t force them to calm down – it’s contradictory. We can help them regain their composure and adjust to situations. Next time, maybe we can be a little closer and calmer.

 

A different Independence Day tradition

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Our Ceilidh was always dancing

Our Ceilidh was always dancing

The Fourth of July holiday is an interesting blend for dog people – happy celebrations with friends, family, food, etc. And dread of nightfall and the noise it brings. Fireworks are terrifying to many dogs and we’ve read numerous tips in the last week about keeping dogs safe/happy/calm during the fireworks. We’ve also seen mentioned that this holiday is the worst for dogs escaping and getting lost.

We’re lucky in that our current pack doesn’t really care about the noise. We had a few inconsiderate, law-breaking neighbors who set off some disturbingly loud fireworks close to us and the dogs did all jump up and start barking. We jumped, too. And every car alarm in the neighborhood went off – so the dogs were justified in their alarm.

We did have a dog, our Boston Terrier girl Ceilidh, who was frightened by fireworks. She was kind of a special-needs girl – everything was new for her every single day. And most everything was frightening. She was also incredibly brave and, even though she was scared, she trusted us enough to always try to do what we asked, even training in obedience and agility. Ceilidh had two speeds – full and off. She was a sweet little girl, but it was no surprise when we lost her at only nine years old – our veterinarian commented that a spark as bright as our Ceilidh burned too fiercely to last.

In the years we were lucky enough to have Ceilidh, we developed a routine for the Fourth of July. We would be sure all the dogs were tired from play and training. (Making dogs use their brains for training is just as, if not more, exhausting than a long run or good fetch session.) Then we would hold a movie marathon – the loudest, most raucous movies we could think of. If it was a particularly noisy year, we would hold our marathon in the basement to muffle the noise even more. We made sure to take the dogs out to potty before sunset – and not again until we were sure all the local, scheduled fireworks shows were over.

We’re keeping the tradition – this year our stand-out movie selection was Independence Day. Fitting, don’t you think?