by Melanie Schlaginhaufen & Allison Long

                                              It is impossible to thoroughly cover all of the causes and treatments for fear and anxiety related behaviors in dogs in a simple article, but this information is provided in hopes of giving you some tips to help you better understand how to work with your dog if he or she has anxiety issues.

Common Causes of Canine Anxiety

1.   Lack of socialization during critical puppy stages (ages 3-16 weeks).  In order for pups to develop confidence later in life, they must be exposed to numerous novel situations and circumstances (including objects, places and people) during this time period.  When a pup hasn’t had these experiences, then he is typically fearful of these things when encountered later in life.

2. Genetic pre-disposition.  Many pure breeds are genetically ‘programmed’ to be extremely sensitive, and dogs that are a breed ‘mixture’ can inherit an overly sensitive breed trait from one of the breeds in its mix.  Some dogs simply acquire this trait through parents with shy or fearful tendencies.)

3. A bad experience that is “imprinted” upon the pup at a young age.  Many times we assume this is the cause of anxiety in rescued dogs…we believe the dog encountered a terrifying experience, that caused the dog to feel fearful later in life. More often however, the root of the issue is lack of socialization (see item 1 above),

4. Medical conditions.  Hormonal imbalances, neurological conditions, and even pain from conditions such as ear infections are possible causes.

5.  Adolescence.  Going through the second ‘fear imprint’ stage, when hormones are fluctuating, usually happens around the age of 7-9 months, but can appear anytime between 5-14 months.

6. Onset of Senior Years. Many dogs develop separation anxiety and thunderstorm phobias around the age of 7 or 8, perhaps because their bodies become more sensitive to things like barometric pressure, similar to a human senior citizen who can sense a storm approaching because his bones start aching.

Effective Treatments

1. The first step is considering a thorough medical evaluation by a veterinarian.  Doing so rules out any physical causes, such as a thyroid imbalance, ear infection or other issues.

2.  Next step is a behavioral consultation with either a trainer who specializes in solving behavior problems, or a canine behaviorist.  A consultation provides you with a personalized plan for a comprehensive behavior modification program, training and relationship building.  After this assessment, the program recommendations you receive can be directly applied to your work with a trainer to help your dog feel more secure.

3. Behavioral medication or calming nutritional supplements may also be necessary.  Keep in mind that many dogs exhibit both fearful and aggressive behaviors at the same time.  Anti-anxiety medications are mandatory when treating conditions such as severe separation anxiety and serious thunderstorms phobias.  They can also be helpful in treating general anxiety disorders.  But if your dog’s behavior involves aggressive displays and fear is an element, then we do not recommend medication as the first line of defense. When we see dominance related behaviors, even in the fearful dog, we often advise clients not to consider medication initially, because lowering this dog’s fear level can cause the aggressive behaviors to increase.   Although a complete physical work-up at your vet, and a behavioral consultation with a good trainer may seem like an expensive investment, if taking these steps helps you avoid the legal liability of your dog biting someone down the road, then your investment will be well worth it!

4.  Changing the dog’s diet and exercise routine can be helpful in lowering the dog’s reactivity level.  Make sure your dog is taught how to play properly so he has proper bite inhibition, and teach fun exercises to help expend excess energy, like whistle and directional commands for retrievers, simple tricks like ‘touch’ and roll-over or agility for breeds whose structure lends itself to this type of exercise.

The Good News 

The good news is that anxiety issues are normally very responsive to a comprehensive behavior management and training program, provided the owner is dedicated to program compliance.  Treatment requires an owner’s commitment to a well-rounded program of exercise, good nutrition, and confidence building programs through desensitization exercises and leadership techniques.  And making sure the dog knows you are a trustworthy leader, and teaching the dog it doesn’t have to “handle” situations on its own, goes a long way towards eliminating fearful and aggressive behavior. 

Listed below are specific things you can do to help a fearful or under-socialized foster dog:

1. Many dogs are fearful even in a ‘regular’ home environment when they first arrive.  If a dog has never known anything other living circumstances other than a crate, kennel run or rabbit hutch (in the case of many puppy mill dogs), then going into a house and hearing the TV, vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, etc, can be quite frightening.  Just the fact that there are wide open spaces can be terrifying to a dog that has always been confined.  Many are even afraid of grass when first taken outside.  Keep the dog tethered to you on a 6 feet leash, inside and outside, and don’t allow a dog that isn’t bonded to you to run loose even in a fenced yard, because you may have trouble catching it.  The bonding process is more important at first than increased exercise.  See the article, the love languages of dogs on www.knowingdogs.com for help in determining how your particular dog perceives affection, so that you can best bond with him.  Keep in mind that your particular bonding preference, such as petting, may not be the dog’s preference.  Some dogs, just like some people, do not particularly like to be touched, but they may enjoy playing with you instead, or just sitting near you.
    
2. Do not overwhelm the dog by forcing it to accept strangers before it is ready.  The goal is to set your dog up for positive experiences, so until the dog is comfortable in its new surroundings, do not force anything on the dog that might cause it to engage in an aggressive display.  Each time the dog ‘practices‘ growling or snapping at someone, this behavior is more likely to happen again.  Set the dog up for success.  It is helpful to keep young children away from the dog initially since children often move in ways that dogs find confusing.
    
3. Use soft treats that can be broken into tiny pieces to reward your dog for good behavior (ex. Pup-A-Roni™ sticks).  Regardless of whether a dog is small or large, they only need a small treat to have a positive association attached to good behavior—and by using small treats, you’re able to give more treats during training, without fear of tummy upset. 
    
4. When someone new approaches your dog, ask them not to look directly at the dog, and not to approach ‘head on’.  Ideally, if the person will crouch down, sideways to the dog, and cast their eyes downward, while talking sweetly and perhaps even gently toss a treat towards the dog before they reach their hand out with a treat, the dog will see them as less threatening.  If the dog shows extreme fear, ask them to simply leave a treat on the floor, then back away, sit down, and ignore the dog.
    
5. For safety reasons, keep the dog on leash during all interactions, so the dog cannot bite anyone and cannot dart away.  The “connection” of the leash to you also helps dogs feel more secure.  Use a martingale style collar, which tightens but does not choke, or a Gentle Leader ™ head-halter to keep your dog from slipping out of their regular buckle collar.  Walking a fearful dog on a regular buckle collar is dangerous, because when frightened, many dogs back out of their collars.
    
6. If your dog does not wish to approach someone, simply do your regular training exercises at a distance where the dog feels comfortable.  For example, walk away from the new person and ask your dog to sit and “watch” you.  Reward the dog for this behavior.  Movement exercises such as heeling with their attention focused on you, or standing and playing a ‘touch’ game where you put out your hand as a target to be touched are very helpful.  When a dog is just sitting, it often is thinking too much about what is frightening it, so it may sit and tremble.  But if you get it moving, oftentimes you can switch the dog’s mind over to a more positive association.  Remember, any time you are trying to get rid of a ‘problem behavior’ (like growling at strangers), you need a ‘replacement behavior’ (something different for the dog to do instead).  Teaching a dog tricks, as well as regular obedience exercises, is very helpful.  The obedience exercises help make your dog more secure, as they begin to look to you as their leader who can protect them, and the tricks (if taught positively with reward markers such as “yes!” said immediately before the treat, or with clicker training where the dog hears the click before the treat) will be great positive replacement behaviors for your dog to do when you need him to think about something other than his anxiety.
    
7. As your dog bonds to you and learns to walk on leash, starts retrieving toys and comes to you in spacious areas, then exercise can be very beneficial.  Exercise increases the natural endorphins in the body and causes dogs to be calmer overall.  A good collar to use when walking a fearful dog is a Gentle Leader™, because the dog will learn how to stay close to you, without pulling in front or behind you.  Work with a trainer who understands the use of these collars or purchase the Gentle Leader ™ video.  They are not difficult to use, but if you do not understand how to re-direct the dog when he is bothered by the collar, then you will be unsuccessful in getting him to accept it.
    
8. A Comfort Zone™ DAP plug-in can be extremely helpful for fearful dogs or dogs that have separation anxiety when you are gone.  DAP stands for ‘Dog Appeasing Pheromone’.  You simply plug the device into an electrical outlet in the room your dog is confined to, and it releases a substance into the air that mimics the natural comforting pheromones given off by mother dogs to their pups, so it helps comfort dogs in stressful situations.  The DAP pheromone is also available in a spray, so it can be used in the car or other areas outside of the home.   You can purchase these at pet supply stores or order through wholesale pet catalogs.  You can also find more information on the manufacturer’s website, www.petcomfortzone.com.
    
9. There are many supplements marketed for calming dogs, but we have found that many fearful dogs also have allergies, so we rarely recommend herbal supplements (because herbs are plants and allergic dogs are often sensitive to plant based substances).  Some rescue groups have had success with flower essences like Rescue Remedy™  but we have not personally had this success.  However, we have seen positive results with a combination of certain B vitamins and tryoptophan supplements. 

If you would like to schedule a consultation to discuss our recommendations, including supplements, management techniques and how to train the suggested replacement behaviors (ex. “touch” exercise), please e-mail us to set an appointment.