Dogs that experience fear and anxiety can be fearful of many different things. The symptoms can be short lasting, such as when a dog is scared of thunderstorms or fireworks but the fear passes after the storm moves on. It can also be more persistent and some dogs find themselves in fearful situations on a daily basis.
Whether short term or long, fear and anxiety can affect the quality of your dog's life. Fortunately, there are methods of relieving fear and anxiety and making your dog more comfortable.
Behavior Modification in Relieving Fear and Anxiety in Dogs
Behavior modification should always be part of treating your dog for fear and anxiety. Behavior modification involves retraining your dog to respond in a different fashion to the thing which frightens him.
Behavior modification is a long-term commitment. It takes time, patience and compassion to retrain a dog using behavior modification. But the results can be very successful and rewarding.
Training methods used in behavior modification should never involve punishment or correction. Only positive reinforcement should be used to train a fearful dog. After all, if you were frightened of flying in a plane, would having someone scold you about your fear make you any less frightened?
If your dog's fear and anxiety is severe, you may need additional help while employing the behavior modification techniques. Options include natural remedies and medications that are designed to relieve canine fear and anxiety. Helping your dog relax can make it much easier for him to learn the new behaviors you are attempting to teach him.
Natural Remedies to Relieve Your Dog's Fear and Anxiety
DAP® (dog appeasing pheromone) is a naturally occurring hormone that acts to calm dogs. It can be very effective for some dogs, especially in cases where the fear and anxiety is mild to moderate. If necessary, it can be combined with other anti-anxiety medications as well. DAP® is available as a spray, a diffuser or embedded into a collar.
There are a number of other holistic remedies that can be used to relieve anxiety and fear for dogs as well. Sleepytime Tonic® is a good example. It contains Bach Flower Essences and other plant extracts and is a "natural" cure for anxiety.
These types of remedies are generally free of undesired side effects and are considered to be safer than pharmaceutical products. However, when these products are unsuccessful or only partially successful, it may be necessary to use pharmaceuticals as well.
Short Acting Medications to Relieve Canine Fear and Anxiety
There are a number of drugs that can be used to relieve your dog's fear and anxiety that only last for a short period of time, perhaps a matter of a few hours depending on the drug and the dosage. These medications are good for treating fearful episodes that last only a short time, such as a thunderstorm phobia.
Short acting anti-anxiety medications include
- alprazolam (Xanax®)
- diazepam (Valium®)
- amitriptyline (Elavil®)
These medications can have side effects and label directions should be followed carefully. Use these medications only with the advice of your veterinarian.
One medication that should not be used to relieve your dog's fear and anxiety is acepromazine (PromAce®). Acepromazine is potent as a sedative for dogs but does not relieve fear and anxiety. When acepromazine is administered, your dog will appear sedate but will still be very frightened. This may even heighten your dog's fear in the future.
If your dog is frightened of thunderstorms, there are products such as the Thundershirt® that are designed to calm fears due specifically to this particular fear as well as specialized behavior modification techniques that can be used.
Long Acting Anti-Anxiety Medications for Dogs
For dogs that need relief on a daily basis, the longer acting alternatives are preferred to the shorter acting medications. These longer acting anti-anxiety medications include fluoxetine (Reconcile®, Prozac®) and clomipramine (Clomacalm®).
Remember that these medications still need to be used in conjunction with behavior modification training. They are not meant to be used a sole means of controlling anxiety and fear for your dog. The goal with these medications is to use them only until the behavior modification training has become effective enough to allow discontinuation of the medication.
If your dog is receiving fluoxetine or clomipramine, it is not recommended to stop giving the medication suddenly. The medication should be gradually discontinued to avoid the risk of withdrawal.
There are a number of options for handling canine fear and anxiety. With all the methods available, there is no reason your dog needs to suffer from fear or anxiety.
Join the Conversation