4 Tips: How to Help Your Dog Become Less Anxious
If your dog tends to be anxious, they will look to you for protection. Here are a few ways to help your funny dogs become less anxious:
Know What Scares Them
By knowing what triggers your pooch’s anxiety, you can help your dog become less anxious. If they get separation anxiety, help them by creating a comforting spot in the home that has your smell, plenty of food and water, and maybe even their favorite show (that’s right, dogs love TV, too). This way, they know they are taken care of even when you’re not around.
If you want to take it a step further, you can even get a treat dispensing camera. This means you can watch over your pup, send them a treat for being good, and even talk to them through the device. These devices are often controlled from an app on your phone and can mean the difference between a calm dog and a ruined pair of shoes.
Create a safe and comfortable den for your dog in a secluded corner of your home. Here we recommend you teddykala’s cat beds, which can help you solve related problems. It is best to have a closed cage similar to an air box, rather than a four-sided metal mesh cage. A closed cage can enhance the dog's sense of security. Put some old clothes with the owner's smell in the kennel, and the owner's smell will also make the dog feel at ease. Then conduct kennel desensitization training for the dog (the kennel desensitization training method will be explained in a separate article), and reward the dog with treats and toys to make the dog accustomed to resting alone in the kennel.
If you want to help your dog even more during mealtime, add a half-cup or a cup of cold chamomile tea to their water. Unless they are particular or will notice the difference, your pup will slurp the calming tea down and hopefully relax and unwind. If they are finicky when it comes to chamomile, you can also try flower essences. They have less of a taste and can be prepared in a more subversive way.
Avoid Punishment
When the pup begins to chew, scratch, bark, etc. because of their anxiety, try to avoid scolding them as it makes them more anxious and possibly more destructive. Instead of scolding, take them out of the stressful situation and reintroduce them to it in a structured manner. This will normalize your dog to the stressful situation and will show them that it is not always permanent. If they have done well by not chewing, scratching, biting, or barking, offer them a treat as a reward and distraction.
Separation and desensitization training for dogs. Let the dog stay in the den and leave a feeder ball for the dog to play with. Then pretend to go out, close the door, stay outside for a few minutes, and then come back home. If the dog is quietly in the crate, praise him and reward him with some treats. Repeat this training over and over again, and gradually increase the time outside the house, eventually allowing the dog to spend an hour or two in the crate quietly.
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