If people have different kinds of personalities, so are our furry companions. Most of the time, personalities develop due to genes and environment. Separation anxiety, aggressiveness, resource guarding, excessive barking, and destruction are common dog behavioral issues often connected to fear, stress, or a lack of exposure to what scares them. If you’ve been observing these behaviors in your pet, you might be looking for ways to improve their lives by helping them overcome what makes them anxious.
Thankfully, the simple guidelines we’ll discuss should help them conquer their fears and alleviate your worries.
How to Help Anxious Dogs Conquer Their Fears
If you are a fur parent concerned about your dog’s quality of life, you’ll do everything possible to eliminate their anxiety, fear, pain, and stress.
However, if you struggle to help your pet overcome their fears, here are five effective tips to help them regain their confidence and conquer themselves.
1. Socialize Them
Socializing your pet is a great way to eliminate fears that might arise early on. Socialization is crucial in pet dogs at all stages of their life. However, you must ensure your pet has completed their vaccines and has at least one booster shot if you’re socializing them at a young age. This can protect them from deadly viral diseases they might contract when mingling with their fellows. Are you looking for a vet center to have your pet vaccinated? You may search for “cat shots near me” to see accurate results.
You can raise a confident dog by taking them for regular walks or to local dog parks to play and meet new friends. Regular and gradual exposure is key to developing your dog’s socialization skills. When training your pet to interact socially, there’s no need to rush the process. Letting them lead the way while they’re on the leash is also an excellent idea to accustom themselves to the new environment when you take them to new trails or parks.
Raising a sociable dog can also mean raising a friendly and well-behaved canine citizen. When you take them to the veterinarian to be examined or leave them in a dog boarding center, you’re confident they won’t cause trouble with their fellows and other people. If you’re looking for facilities that offer pet boarding services, you may search for “cat boarding near me” for specific results.
2. Have Patience
Canines can pick up human emotions, so your pet may only get more anxious and resistant if you’re too annoyed or pushy. Patience is vital to help your pet understand that what you’re doing for them can help them overcome their fears at a rate they can stay up to date with.
For example, your pet has grooming anxiety. Taking them to a professional groomer despite knowing their fear might only intensify the situation. You can eliminate your pet’s fear of professional grooming by observing patience and taking baby steps.
Below are a few best practices you can follow to help your pet conquer their grooming anxiety:
- Ensure your dog is used to getting handled in the muzzle, paws, ears, groin, rear, and tail.
- Slowly introduce any type of pet brush to them.
- Familiarize them with common pet grooming equipment.
- Use treats to reward them each time they show positive behavior while grooming them in your home.
- Do training visits to a pet grooming center.
You may check websites like www.grenadavets.com for more details about pet grooming services.
3. Avoid Punishment
While we may think punishment is the best way to curb a dog’s unwanted habits, it’s the other way around. Punishment can only produce more fear and cause dogs to lose trust in their pet parents. Avoiding punishment and using a still, gentle voice to speak to your pet and correct their unwanted behavior helps them feel safer.
4. Visit the Veterinarian
An important step to identify if health issues are causing your pet’s fearfulness is through a medical examination. Canines in pain usually get more fearful of anything that intensifies their pain. Older dogs undergoing physical changes, including cognitive deterioration and loss of hearing or sight, may also develop phobias and fears. Underlying medical conditions contributing to your pet’s fearfulness can be resolved and identified when you take them to the vet for a checkup.
Final Thoughts
Making your dog feel safe is more than just giving them a comfortable bed, a home, and yummy treats. It also means doing simple things that keep them physically and mentally stable. By practicing consistency and patience while following the pointers we’ve enumerated, your canine should show improvement. If they do not respond positively to your efforts, the vet might suggest tailored treatments and therapies to address your pet’s fearfulness. In some cases, your veterinarian may link you to a dog trainer to oversee and correct your pet’s condition.
