Help for dogs with anxiety problems

Some of our sanctuary dogs are so laid back that nothing fazes them. Fireworks – big yawn. Thunderstorms – wake me up when it’s over. The vacuum cleaner – over here, you’ve missed a bit. Other dogs are bundles of nerves, jumping at their own shadow, cowering round corners and having panic attacks at any noise louder than a whisper.

It’s totally disrupting to have a dog like this but don’t despair there is a lot you can do to help your pet. If you know the reason that is a big help but so often there doesn’t seem to be anything obvious. Dogs that come in to us in this state generally have every justification – they’ve been beat up, ill-treated or traumatised by their surroundings.

Sometimes the nervousness has a physical cause – poor pet nutrition can cause a chronic anxiety state. If your dog was the smallest in the litter and mum wasn’t fed properly there can be a nutritional deficiency that is affecting his mental health. In our experience, poor feeding is the most common cause of both hyperactivity and nervousness.

A calm and stable environment with a sensible routine is essential for a dog suffering from a nervous disposition. Forget the intensive training and behavoural classes for a while and concentrate on making life happy for your pet. See everything from his point of view and give lots of hugs, treats and rewards. Building confidence can be a slow process.

Comfort is a big help, make sure your dog has a soft bed to rest his bony elbows and knees on. In the wild he would tread grass or leaves into a nest and be really snug. Those plastic basket pet beds are alright but can you imagine curling up in one? Hard and uncomfortable is my guess. We give our dogs a thick pad for a mattress, then a duvet and then a fleece on top. They love it and can stretch right out.

Here at the sanctuary we get many dogs in who are a bundle of nerves or fear-aggressive. We can alter the dog’s anxiety state within a matter of weeks, just by changing their diet. It’s like dealing with hyped up children, change their food from ready meals to home cooked and organic and their behaviour is better.

If you have a dog who is suffering from anxiety only the best natural and pure ingredients will do and meat should be the main one. A dog is a carnivore although you might forget this if you read the label on most dog foods! Buy the cheapest cuts and feed either raw or stewed. Pop a few veg in the pan – carrots, a potatoe or two, peas, a leaf of cabbage, clove of garlic if liked, a spoonful of pearl barley etc. Meat is the main thing though. Toast some wholegrain brown bread (organic if poss) and cut up into cubes for dog biscuits, they can have some of these sprinkled with gravy along with their meat. This is a good main meal.

For breakfast offer some porridge oats and goat’s milk (not cows milk which is indigestible for dogs and most other animals except calves. We can never fathom out why humans are so obsessed with it!) Some of our sanctuary dogs like oats just as they are, we put a handful dry in a dish. They have their milk on the side. Others like proper porridge – and no, we don’t have the time to stir it lovingly in a pan – soak the oats with boiling water and then add cold goat’s milk for an instant breakfast. A spoonful of goat’s milk yoghurt on either the porridge or the main meat meal is a very good additive and keeps the tummy healthy.

We often give a pig’s ear or meat strip or plain Bonio for a lunch treat, but never coloured pre-shaped manufactured full of additives – yummies or scumpies or …… whatever is the latest name. Dog good should be plain and natural and simple.

We find that oats help anxious dogs to calm down. If your dog doesn’t like the oat breakfast try adding a spoonful of raw oats to the main meat meal. It’s very rare to find a dog who doesn’t eat them. Add some cod liver oil (either capsules or from the bottle according to directions for size of dog). A slightly more ‘stodgy’ diet will help a nervous dog to settle – just as it does with us humans – you are not so likely to feel anxious when you are feeling full and very comfortable!

One of our most reliable remedies for nervous dogs are Dorwest Herbs and we’ve been using these for over 30 years. Nolene, one of our Jack Russell residents, used to be a little fizz-bomb, she was so nervy and quick and agitated, that she used to lose weight and upset herself over almost anything at all. The vacuum cleaner would set her off, anyone coming to the door, seeing a stranger, a loud bang would send her hurtling to hide in a corner. This was one of the reasons she was brought in to the sanctuary. If you saw this sedate little lady dog going out for a walk now, you wouldn’t recognise her.

We provided Miss Nolene with a companion, Jack Spratt, to give her friendship and confidence. We remedied her physical health problems, we cosied her up with a cuddle-coat, which is another good way to make an insecure dog feel better. Make a snug fleece slipover for your anxiety ridden dog to wear and you will soon see the difference. For a small dog use the sleeve from a cut up jumper, for a larger dog buy a child’s ribbed sweater and cut leg holes to suit. No need to go to the expense of buying anything special.

Put a cuddle jumper on your dog whenever he or she needs a boost of extra confidence such as when you have to leave him for a while or after an op or around bonfire night. The Dorwest Herb remedy to use is Skullcap and Valerian – dosage is on the bottle. You can use this long term and it is essential treatment. We gave Nolene the full dosage for over a year, then dropped it off to occasional use. We still give her the capsules for a month or two around November and New Year or if we think she is feeling stressed.

Also, it’s good to supplement the diet with Keeper’s Mix (again from Dorwest Herbs) and Mixed Vegetable capsules, these improve general health and aid in well-being. You can get the full range of Dorwest Herbs from us – either online and we can post out to you – or call in to the sanctuary. We use them ourselves in the sanctuary – they are wonderfully beneficial and keeping your dog in peak condition saves on vet bills. If you have any anxieties about your pet’s health we do recommend that you seek veterinary advice.

If you’ve found our advice useful you may like to help us to keep the website up and running with a small donation which would be most gratefully received. If you have any behavioural or general queries please get in touch and we’ll help if we can.