How to Reduce Anxiety in Dogs

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Calming Coats

Another way you can try to ease your dog’s anxiety is with a calming coat, such as the Thundershirt. These coats are designed to apply gentle, constant pressure to help calm all types of anxiety including noise, travel, separation, and stranger anxiety. It provides a similar effect to swaddling an infant or providing a comforting hug.

The Thundershirt is recommended by veterinarians and trainers and is a medication-free way to try and help ease anxiety. There is also no training required.

Give Your Dog a Massage

Sometimes when we’re feeling particularly anxious or stressed, a deep massage can help ease these feelings. It turns out, the same goes for your furry friend. The CCSPCA explains, “anxiety often causes tensing of the muscles and massage therapy is one way to alleviate tension.”

The source says to start at their neck and work downward using long strokes. Place one hand on your dog while the other massages. If you do this often enough, you may eventually be able to identify where your dog holds their stress. If you can identify it, work in that particular area.

Music Therapy

One way to tune out persistent worry or fear is to listen to music. Your pooch may find it just as relaxing as you do too. Listening to music can help your furry best friend feel calm when you’re away from home, traveling in the car, or during a stressful situation such as fireworks.

The Preventive Vet says recent studies “have shown that playing music reduces stress in dogs at animal shelters, with less barking, lower respiratory rates, and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.”

So which music should you play for your dog? The source says reggae and soft rock are the most relaxing genres for dogs in shelters, but classical music can also calm an anxious dog. The source notes, your dog can get used to the same kind of music after 7-days and then may begin to show more signs of stress. With this in mind, be sure to switch up your playlists.

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