Anxiety Series Part 1

Anxiety in dogs is one the the most challenging behaviour rehabilitations because it requires us humans to set our own emotions aside and to prioritize the tough work that best serves the dog’s mental health… even when it’s hard for us and we want to give in!

Dogs who are anxious usually have a few things in common such as:

They aren’t properly crate trained and aren’t on a consistent daily crating routine to maintain the skill set for independence from humans/other dogs and being calm and content when alone.

They have free reign of the house, yard, furniture, toys, privileges, etc. without limitations or boundaries and they feel entitled to all these things rather than waiting on permission for access to them and guidance about their use from the human.

They don’t respect the personal space of humans or boundaries and feel entitled to lean on, sit on, push on, etc. people and don’t know that they should only enter someone’s personal space upon an invitation and likewise they feel worried when they aren’t invading someone’s personal space… this is like an unhealthy codependent.

Their anxious moments are reinforced and further enabled through affection, food, lack of structure and permissiveness rather than learning healthier coping skills like the structure of holding commands and learning how to relax while also being alone. There is an old saying that goes ‘you get what you pet’ which means if you are petting, soothing, feeding, etc. (these are all forms of reinforcement) a dog while he’s feeling anxious then you are reinforcing anxiety, not diminishing it.

So it becomes extremely difficult to excavate anxiety from a dogs repertoire of habits once it’s been developed and reinforced which is why I never talk about anxiety in terms or ‘fixing’ it or ‘extinguishing’ it but rather in terms of getting it under control, putting it into remission and then keeping it there by always giving the anxious dog the consistent structure, rules, boundaries and accountability that he needs to have a healthy mindset ❤️

Stay tuned for Part 2!