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- Remove the stressor or remove your dog. If something (fireworks, bicycle, crowded sidewalks, hot air balloons) causes your dog acute stress, either remove the thing or remove your dog. We’re not talking permanent avoidance; you’ll want to plan some training to help your pup in the long-term. This is just short-term management to help your dog get through the moment.
Provide comfort. Recently someone Golden Retriever Farm told me she doesn’t want to “coddle” her dog when she’s hiding from fear. Imagine saying something like that about a baby or child. No one would ever dream of saying something like, “Oh, your kid’s terrified of lightning? Well, you should never comfort a frightened child! It’ll just reinforce her fear!” If your dog, your friend, your partner, your child, whoever, feels scared, provide comfort. The end.
- Implement interventions. For daily anxiety management, we give Coop a dose of CBD. We’ve been using Veritas Farms for a while and are still happy with it. (Here’s the original post I wrote, though I think the discount has expired?) For stressors that are unexpected or particularly acute–fireworks, thunderstorms, company visiting, whatever it is for your dog–other options include the Thundershirt and hormone diffusers like ADAPTIL. For stressors you can plan for–vacuuming, company visiting–you can organize a bunch of interventions, like combining a CBD dose with a Thundershirt or removing your dog to a cozy corner with a Kong stuffed full of his favorite things or a snuffle mat to take his mind off his nerves.
None of those are a substitute for training, of course, but for dogs who are wired for stress, training simply can’t mitigate all the stress your pup will ever experience. For instance, Cooper is trained not to attack the vacuum, but it still stresses him out when I run it. So, I use a ton of interventions. And it took us AGES to get there.
Do you know your dog’s signs of stress?
What works to help calm your dog in stressful moments? Do you notice a correlation between your stress levels and your dog’s?
Read more: What I Wish You Knew about My Reactive Dog
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