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11/03/2025
Muscular and myofascial pain can also contribute to feelings of anxiety and low mood state.
Is Your Dog Anxious? Here's How to Help During Companion Animal Anxiety Awareness Month!
This month is Companion Animal Anxiety Awareness Month, a perfect time to talk about an often-overlooked issue: anxiety in our canine companions. Anxiety isn’t just a human experience—it affects our dogs, too. When left untreated, it can significantly impact a dog's well-being, as well as the guardian’s well-being and the human-canine bond.
Anxiety vs. Fear: What’s the Difference?
The terms fear and anxiety are often used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Understanding the difference is helpful in effectively supporting our dogs who may experience anxiety.
🔸Fear is an emotional response to a present or perceived immediate threat. It is usually short-lived and is triggered by a specific situation or stimulus, such as a loud noise or a stranger approaching. Dogs experiencing fear may exhibit a strong urge to escape or defend themselves.
🔸Anxiety, on the other hand, is the anticipation of a future threat. It is a prolonged state of unease, often with no clear or immediate danger. Anxiety creates a persistent, unpleasant feeling that something bad might happen, leading to heightened vigilance and stress.
Anxiety can negatively affect a dog's well-being. It is often a common underlying factor in many canine behaviour problems and can be chronically stressful for dogs. Anxiety often increases a dog's sense of uncertainty, leading to hypervigilance and heightened arousal, which can contribute to behavioural issues.
Anxiety is also often a contributing factor to several behavioral and health-related issues, including:
• Noise aversion (e.g., fear of fireworks or thunderstorms)
• Separation-related disorders
• Repetitive behaviours (e.g., tail chasing or excessive licking)
• Urination and defecation problems
• Aggressive behaviour
• Gastrointestinal health issues (e.g., changes in eating or toileting habits)
One study suggested that 72.5% of dogs exhibited some form of anxiety-like behaviours (Sacoor et al., 2024), highlighting how widespread this problem can be among our canine companions.
Signs of Anxiety
Anxious dogs may exhibit a range of behavioural and physiological signs, including:
• Increased vigilance and scanning their surroundings
• Excessive attention-seeking behaviour
• Restlessness, pacing, or circling
• Withdrawal, hiding, or attempts to escape
• Insomnia or disturbed sleep patterns
• Vocalisations such as whining or barking
• Physical signs like trembling, panting, or drooling
• Offensive aggression or defensive reactions
• Displacement behaviours, such as out-of-context yawning, scratching, or lip licking
• Changes in heart rate
• Gastrointestinal disturbances
• Muscle tension
(Overall, 2013, Denenberg, 2021& Landsbeg et al. 2023)
How to Help a Dog with Anxiety
If your dog shows signs of anxiety, there are several steps you can take to help support them:
✅Veterinary health check
✅ Create a safe space
✅ Opportunity to enjoy enrichment activities
✅ ACE-Free Work
✅ Opportunities to make Cchoices
✅ Wherever possible, eliminate stressors
✅ Seek Professional Support
✅ Identifying Your Dog’s "Candles" (which ones can you s***f out, and which ones can you reduce the heat of?)
Taking the right steps can make a big difference in improving your dog's well-being. If you are concerned about your dog's anxiety, don't hesitate to seek professional help. You can find an ICB certified and experienced canine behaviourist near you by visiting this link – https://www.icbdogs.com
