Have you ever left for a
vacation and upon your return a very unhappy dog greeted
you? You took every precaution to make sure your dog was in
the loving care of a friend, family member, or reputable
kennel, but when you pick him up, he may give you the cold
shoulder and remain cold and distant for days after your
home coming. On the other hand he may appear pleased to see
you, but won’t touch his food when you are at home. He may
even suffer from anxiety when you just go outside with the
trash can. A varied form of dog anxiety may be observed
after the death of a loved one either animal or human.
Perhaps he has stopped eating and is only drinking a little
bit of water occasionally, and the prospect of a walk is
leaving him cold. In some cases, your dog may actually whine
silently yet persistently. It is hard to deal with a
mourning dog, but there are some things you can do to ease
your friends suffering.
Before you do anything else, make sure that there is no
physical ailment that is causing your dog’s change in
behavior. If a dog stops eating, for example, you will need
t make sure that there is no illness from which he is
suffering. The veterinarian should be able to perform some
simple tests to rule out any physiological cause for the
dog’s change in behavior.
If your dog is healthy but sad, you may want to think about
the things he enjoys most. Perhaps he always likes to walk
at the special dog beach? Or maybe his favorite pastime is a
ride in the car with the windows rolled down and his ears
flopping in the breeze? Now is a good time to take him to do
these things he enjoys. Additionally, you will also want to
increase his activity level and take him out more. Exercise
can work wonders in a pet suffering from dog anxiety, and he
may bounce back quickly. Of course, none of these are
cure-alls and it is still possible that none of these ideas
will work.
At that point you want to make sure you shower your dog with
love and understanding. Do not discipline him for his
behavior and do not yell at him in your own frustration. It
is easy to just tell him to snap out of it, but if you will
remember your own times of the blues, someone telling you to
snap out of it does precious little good. As a matter of
fact, it only makes things worse, because if the dog senses
your irritation with him, he may quite possibly begin to
avoid you.
If your dog is missing another dog, perhaps you had another
dog living with you who has since passed on, or because of
the split in a household the other dog moved away, you could
try to make play dates with other dog owners and have the
dogs interact. Additionally, you may wish to consider adding
another dog to your household.
If all else fails, there is the mode of medication. Believe
it or not, but there are antidepressant for doggies and your
veterinarian will be able to prescribe something that will
most likely work for your pooch. While these medications are
not a cure-all, they do provide some help in alleviating the
chemical imbalances in the dog’s brain that cause the
behaviors. If you wish to eschew medication as long as
possible, you could also get a referral to an animal
behaviorist who will be able to ascertain the exact causes
of your dog’s depression and work with you on a behavior
modification plan to readjust him.
As you can see, dog anxiety is a real form of depression and
depression is a very real illness that can affect your
canine companion. Probably the worst thing you can do is to
ignore it and leave him be. He will not get any better, and
a poor intake of food may lead to a whole host of other
health related issues that will need to be addressed. The
very best thing to do is to get him checked out by a vet
immediately to rule out any physical ailments.
