Does your dog crouch at every noise, cabinet slam, car pulling in the driveway, or even just the kids screaming? Your dog could be suffering from intense anxiety or irrational fears. Usually, these come hand-in-hand while other times they have experienced one thing alone, that was traumatic to them. Even if your dog just suffered through its first severe thunderstorm when moving into a new house, it can be very hard on them. There are ways to recover your dog’s sense of well-being, and helping them feel confident in themselves so they can live a healthy life.
Your dog may have always had anxiety or fears that they lived with through early age, which is just now presenting themselves in adulthood. Though there is a possibility of preexisting reasons that your dog has fears, but was just amplified with time. Dogs are emotional creatures and do have strong personalities and feelings, just like humans. If your dog experienced something frightening, like a jackhammer outside the window, or a bad experience out at the dog park; all of these are causes of a heightened response to regular stimuli.
Dogs can be on edge for some reasons, typically those that are abused or mistreated have the hardest time trusting again. If you adopted your dog, or if they had any previous owners you don’t know what physical or emotional stress they may have endured. Proper training and consistency of your discipline with the animal will help them regain their self-esteem and be an outgoing, sociable dog. Always be stern and patient with your dog when working on the recovery of irrational fears and stress. Show your dog leadership in facing their fears and how to react in an urgent situation when it’s vital. Dogs follow the leader of the pack, and being an example of consistent positive reinforcement will allow your dog to flourish.
