Animal Planet Hub: Why Is My Dog Always Nervous?

Like people, dogs can get nervous. The professional term for dog nervousness is anxiety. Anxiety in dogs is different than in humans. Dogs experience anxiety when their fight/flight/freeze reaction occurs in anticipation of something that isn’t an actual threat.

The fight/flight/freeze reaction is a survival tool that dogs use when threatened. For example, when another dog is menacing them, a dog will either fight, run away or freeze in the hopes that the other dog won’t see him as a threat.

When this response occurs to something non-threatening like thunder, your dog doesn’t know what to do and becomes anxious. Their body is telling them they need to fight, run away or freeze but they have no actual threat to confront.

Reasons for Dog’s Anxiety

Dogs can develop anxiety for a variety of reasons. It could stem from issues with their socialization as puppies, a traumatic experience, genetics or an age-related illness such as dementia.

Separation Anxiety

The most common type of stress your dog may go through is separation anxiety. Separation anxiety usually results in dogs who have been rehomed, have a history of abandonment, or who have spent time in shelters.

This situation is most often triggered when your dog is left alone for any period of time. It can also be triggered by a change in routine and people leaving or joining the household.

Past Trauma

Sometimes, in a previous incident such as accidents, a threat can leave a negative impact on the dog’s mind. They will become nervous again when they face similar situations again if not trained to get over with it.

Genetic Dispositions

Not all dogs become nervous in similar ways. Some breeds are more prone to anxiety than others. Usually, intelligent and high energy dogs show more propensity to anxiety. Dog breeds that are prone to anxiety are German Shepherds, Dalmatians, Siberian Huskies, Basset Hounds, Bernese Mountain Dogs, etc.

Socialization of The Puppy

How often your dog will become nervous depends on how he was socialized as a puppy. If you make them deprived of social and environmental experiences after he was born, he will naturally become fearful.

Also, puppies taken away from their mothers just after their birth can develop anxiety. It’s because they will not learn how to behave in front of other animals.

Medical Issues

Anxiety may occur as a symptom of some medical issues in dogs. If your dog has some of the issues such as encephalitis, hearing loss, thyrotoxicosis, and pre-diabetes, there’s a high possibility that he will develop anxiety. Check these teddy dog breeds which have fewer anxiety issues.

Ways to Treat Anxiety in Dogs

Dealing with a nervous dog is quite challenging and may leave you frustrated sometimes. However, instead of giving up on them, you can actually take some steps to make them calm. There are several ways to treat anxiety in dogs.

Calming Chews for Anxiety

Calming chews for anxiety are a non-medicinal remedy that helps soothe the symptoms of anxiety. Calming chews use herbs and vitamins such as tryptophan and melatonin to provide your dog with a sense of calm. The amino acid L-Theanine is also sometimes used in order to increase your dog’s serotonin and dopamine levels.

Many calming chews also contain probiotics to support a positive mental state and promote digestive health. They are particularly useful for dogs who get diarrhea when stressed.

Exercise

Exercise is another non-medicinal remedy for anxiety. Exercise works to ease the symptoms of anxiety in dogs by stimulating the production of serotonin. Serotonin is the chemical in the brain that produces positive feelings. Exercise also burns off pent-up tension and energy that can heighten anxiety.

Distraction

When in an anxiety-causing situation, a good way to immediately calm your dog is to distract them. By engaging their brain in something other than the stressor you can depress the fight/flight/freeze response. For instance, you can go through the tricks your dog knows.

Reward him for performing each trick and soon he’ll forget all about his stressor. This also helps your dog to associate his stressors with rewards so that they become less frightening and more tolerable.

Massage

Like humans, dogs love a good massage. A long, slow, stroking massaging can soothe your dog’s nerves. In fact, Linda Tellington-Jones has developed a dog massage called TTouch that has been shown to be particularly effective.

The Touch prescribes a circular finger and hand movements all over the body. This is meant to activate cellular intelligence which ultimately calms your dog.

Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP)

Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP) is a scent that’s based on the hormone that is produced by lactating female dogs. When secreted by a mother dog, her bond with her puppies is increased and their mood is calmed. DAP comes as a plug-in diffuser and the smell is undetectable to humans.

It has been proven effective for puppies but there remain questions about its efficacy with adult dogs. It is, however, a good option to try among other methods for reducing your dog’s anxiety.

Medication

As with humans, antidepressants and SSRIs can be prescribed to dogs to reduce their anxiety. Antidepressants and SSRIs are best for dogs who are extremely reactive. When a dog is extremely reactive it becomes hard to use any of the methods listed above.

This is because the dog becomes so physiologically aroused that their fight and flight response goes into overdrive and they react quickly. This can result in extreme avoidance, aggression or panic. Combining medication with the above suggestions will provide better results.

Final Thoughts

If your dog remains nervous for a long time can have adverse effects on their physical health as well. Some dogs even stop eating due to anxiety, which eventually makes them sick.

However, anxiety is quite common in dogs and can be treated if you take certain steps. With your love and proper care, your puppy will start trusting you and slowly get rid of nervousness.

If you notice that your dog is anxious or easily stressed, you should always consult a veterinarian first. The vet will be able to go over your options and guide you in how best to proceed.