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Many dogs deal with some kind of anxiety. This can arise from thunderstorms, fireworks, separation from their owners, vet or groomer visits, car rides, and many more reasons. While there is no cure for anxious dogs, there are proven ways to help reduce your dog’s anxiety, especially if you know a stressful situation for them is approaching. Here are some common tips to help you calm your anxious dog.
#1) Thundershirt
Any loud noises from outside your home, like thunder and fireworks, are a common source of anxiety for many dogs. Thundershirt is a brand name for an anxiety vest that works like weighted blankets do on humans. It applies gentle but constant pressure over their torso, like a hug. It can have a calming effect on dogs in anxious situations, though some pet owners report that they didn’t see the same results as others.
#2) Sound Therapy
Another common treatment for dogs that get anxious around loud noises is to drown it out with sound. You can turn on a radio or the TV, or use something like a white noise machine. The white noise machine is good because it specifically drowns out other sound frequencies, making it more effective for things like thunder and fireworks. Music has been shown to help calm anxious dogs in other situations as well, like separation anxiety or car rides.
#3) Supplements
There are numerous health supplements that have a calming effect on dogs. The best way to use them is to give them to your dog shortly before you know they may be more anxious, whether it’s a thunderstorm, fireworks, or an impending visit to the vet. The best supplements for these situations include melatonin, thiamin, chamomile, ginger, but the best may be CBD for dogs, such as at shop.joyorganics.com.
#4) Adaptil
Adaptil is the name of a product line that uses aromatherapy for dogs. Specifically, it uses pheromones that are known to have a calming effect on dogs, similar to the pheromones that a mother gives off to newborn puppies when they’re nursing. You can get Adaptil collars so they have a frequent source of the pheromones around them, and they last around a month, or you can get a plug-in diffuser for the room they stay in.
#5) Exercise
Much like humans, one of the best ways to treat anxiety in dogs is with exercise. It’s free, natural, and it has many benefits, such as helping you bond with your dog, and improving their overall physical health. You can do something as simple as taking them to an off-leash dog park to run around for a while, but it’s also good to mentally engage them as well. Teach them tricks, like running an obstacle course or teaching them to fetch or catch a frisbee.
These five tips are by no means the only ways that can relieve anxiety in your dog, but they are some of the most effective. If your dog has more severe anxiety, you may want to take them to the vet for a prescription medication or to a dog behavioral therapist that can give you special training tips to help them manage their anxiety.
