With more people choosing to keep pet dogs as companions in their home, it has become increasingly important to try and understand dogs better. One extremely confusing aspect is how to help dogs that suffer from extreme anxiety. However, to help your dog, you have first to understand what symptoms to look out for.
Below are some common signs that show your dog is suffering from anxiety and needs an immediate cure.
Destructive Behavior
If your dog is well trained, you might be used to having a well-behaved dog that causes minimal disturbances in your household. Though it can also be explained as excitement, destruction of household items when coupled with aggressive behaviors isn’t something you should ignore.
The destructive behavior can be the form of tearing up your couch, breaking vases, breaking windows and tearing up books. Additionally, be on the lookout for unexplained howling and growling and excessive panting even when it’s not hot.
Urinating
Setting and sticking to a routine in which your dogs does its toilet business outside or in a designated area is usually a priority for many pet owners.
However, dogs that are suffering from extreme anxiety tend to have accidents in and around the house. As expected, be on the lookout for a drastic change in behavior and bodily functions like diarrhea. Even though cleaning up after them can be infuriating, resist the urge to berating them to make them stop.
Instead, study their behavior and take note of any increase in the number of urination or defecating episodes in the house to better help them.
Depressive Episodes
When in pain or sad, dogs do whimper to communicate their displeasure instead of barking to get attention. However, if your dog gets sad for extended periods and seems depressed, that can be termed as anxiety symptoms. Be on the lookout for decreased physical activity and reduced excitement in your dog.
Additionally, consider if your dog keeps running away, increasingly digging around the yard, or cringing at the corners of your house for no explained reasons.
Excessive Barking
A well- adjusted dog will fall into the habit of communicating its displeasure with some limited barking when left on its own. Though barking is normal, be alert to an excessive increase in barking.
Worst-case scenarios are your dog might be alerting you to mistreatment, or they are increasingly becoming anxious. As dogs tend to suffer from separation anxiety, ensure that you reaffirm that you are coming back.
If they get aggressive at people they are left with and become increasingly clingy; then your dog is suffering from excessive anxiety and needs treatment.
Self-Harm
Be on the lookout for self-harm traits. When dogs are anxious over something, they tend to lick their upper lip continuously. Over time, this leads to tenderness and lesions when left unchecked. Self-harm may also come in the form of running in circles and tail chasing.
Usually, this behavior graduates to tail biting hence causing excruciating pains to themselves. As the fear of certain situations may lead them into flight mode, check if they tend to plan for escaping using any means necessary while disregarding any danger or injuries they may cause to themselves.
Conclusion
If your dog is suffering from a combination of any of the symptoms listed above, getting help before it gets worse is of utmost importance.
Fortunately, behavioral training, situation avoidance, and socialization usually work wonders in helping alleviate anxiety symptoms. Additionally, the use of CBD dog treats has proven effective in extreme cases hence help your dog calm down and better adjust to various situations.
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