04/15/2025
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If I had to name the most common state of mind I see in both our client’s dogs as well as the dogs I see in everyday life, it would simply be… anxious.
Almost every dog I see is struggling with anxiety. Often, debilitating levels of the stuff.
It typically manifests in: manic walks filled with pulling, lunging, zig-zagging, barking; frenzied interior life filled with crazed door rushing and window checking, hyper-sensitivity and reaction (barking) to any change in the environment, destruction, obsessive behavior; ear and peace destroying car rides filled with incessant barking, window-to-window dashing, growling at anyone close enough to be a “threat”, drooling and panting and general upset; and many more.
Sadly, most owners view this stuff as just normal canine behavior — stuff that one just has to deal with because it’s “what they do”. Typically because they’ve never seen anything else.
The reality is, when we get dogs in like this, which is almost every dog we work with, we start a massive anxiety-reboot program of rules, structure, and accountability. We slow them down, we control movement, we demand calm; we correct over-arousal, reactivity, and any obsessive behavior. We set a high standard for calm, relaxed, healthy behavior in the car, in the house, on the walks, and anywhere else.
And strangely, these messy, uncomfortable, struggling, unhappy dogs… begin to relax. The initial intense degree of rules, structure, accountability isn’t some tyrannical power move — it’s actually an effort-intensive gift of taking the pressure and overwhelm off the dog (by us taking on the sizable responsibility for guiding them) and giving them the chance to finally relax into our guidance — enabling them to decompress and detox from their wildly busy/noisy/uncomfortable brains and bodies.
What are we doing? The same thing you do for yourself when things become too much, but which our dogs are unable to do on their own: we simplify, narrow, and quiet.
And if your dog fits the anxiety-addled description above, try doing the same and see what you get.
PS, yes I know many will say they exercise to deal with stress and anxiety. Cool. But if you don’t find a way to simplify, narrow, and quiet in an ongoing daily-life fashion, you’ll be fighting (and losing) a never-ending battle of your own creation… and so will your dog.