Elevated energy and tension can trigger anxiety in your dog, but there are some simple ways through which you can counter such development naturally. Anxiety may stop your dog from enjoying her normal routine, knowing how to calm her naturally can help ease off such issues.
There are two main types of anxiety triggers in dogs, these are; behavioral and situational anxieties. Anxiety over separation from you is an example of behavioral anxiety. Experts believe that behavioral anxiety is more common and roughly 14% of dogs suffer from such. Abuse and post-trauma issues can trigger behavioral anxiety.
Situational anxiety is exhibited when your dog is afraid of something. Examples of triggers of situational anxiety in dogs include; loud noises, thunder, and lightning, storms. The commonest symptoms of anxieties in dogs include; Barking, chewing, restlessness, pacing, excessive licking, loss of appetite, trembling, aggression, and panting excessively.
Natural Ways to Get Rid of Anxiety in Dogs
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Apply CBD oil
Cannabinoids generally can help in dealing with anxiety in dogs naturally. CBD treats, for instance, have been found to be highly helpful. Though the dog’s body releases endo-cannabinoid chemicals internally, it may not be enough to counter anxiety. Giving your dog CBD treats or adding a few drops of Cannabinoid oil in her water or food will stimulate the anti-anxiety hormones- Serotonin.
Cannabinoid oil will soothe the dog’s nerves and make her calmer. If anxiety in your dog is triggered by certain infections, application of CBD oil may be helpful. Banixx hot spot treatment, for instance, has been found to be very effective in speeding up the healing of hot spots.
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Distraction
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to get rid of anxiety is to distract the door when anxiety is triggered. In cases of situational anxiety such as when your dog is anxious because of loud noises from the storm, lightning, fireworks, and thunder, distracting the dog will make her focus on other things.
You may want to distract your dog with a new toy, simply command the dog and throw the treat away for her to catch it. Do this trick until the end of the duration of the anxiety trigger. If you enjoy the Piano, you may want to play with the musical instrument in situations like storm or rain to distract the animal.
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Play A Dog-calming Music
Humans are not the only species that gets calmed with soothing music, even some animals are quite sensitive to music. Many dog owners do try to leave the radio or TV on when they leave home- this could help your dog to get rid of anxiety. You need to do a good job in determining the songs that your dog positively react to. High-tempo music such as jazz and metal may do more harm than good to your dog, hence you must avoid such genres of music.
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Apply the dog calming scents
Dog scents are some of the earliest traditional dog-calming natural substance. Some of the natural scents that most dogs have been found to react positively to include; Chamomile, John’s Wort, and Valerian. Humans drink a mixture of these natural substances to calm their nervous systems. You may want to add the right portion to your dog’s water or food to calm her stomach, and to promote physical and mental relaxation. Make sure you do not apply too much to prevent any form of negative side effects such as diarrhea. A tincture of any of these natural remedies in the dog’s food or water is enough.
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Give Her a Relaxation Massage
Every human loves a good massage and perhaps it can work for dogs too. Application of those long and slow strokes with your soft palm on your dog can restore calmness within. The circular movement of your fingers and hand all over your dog’s body can also do the magic of eliminating anxiety from your dog, naturally. It is believed that circular movement of the fingers during a massage can activate the movements of the body cells, and also re-awaken the dog’s cellular intelligence. Generally, petting your dog in the midst of anxiety can help calm and reassure her of her safety.
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Make Use of the Thunder Shirt
Thunder-Shirt has become a very popular natural solution for anxious dogs. It can simply be described as a tight-fitting garment that can be wrapped around the dog. The idea behind the application of Thunder-shirt is that feeling of continuous pressure around the neck and back of the body can help calm down.
Though many users of this natural method can swear that it works to calm down their dogs, its success may depend on when it is used, how it is used and the type of dog that used it. The personality of the dog will largely determine how efficient the thunder shirt it. The thunder shirt as a natural remedy for anxiety that has been found to be more effective for indoor dog breeds and not outdoor-friendly breeds like border collies.
Conclusion
When it comes to helping your dog to deal with the anxiety of any kind, experts believe that trying to avoid the triggers wouldn’t work. Instead of trying to avoid triggers of anxiety in a dog, you should learn to help the dog cope with the situation, through the natural methods explained above.
It is also important to mention that dog owners must be careful in the application of natural anxiety remedies such as essential oils and Cannabinoids. Essential oils must be applied in low concentration, to avoid likely side effects. The potency of certain essential oils can be very high, hence ingesting them in the body can cause sudden illnesses.
Finally, it is important to have a consultation with a professional veterinary doctor about any likely natural remedy you plan to use to get rid of anxiety. Only a veterinary doctor will be able to guide you on ways to handle challenges and response of your dog to any natural remedy you plan to use.