Natural Pet Care for Calming Pet Anxiety
Alternative Medicine for Dogs

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Question on pet health care and healing: My dog howls and chews on things when I leave him alone for very long. I have to go to work so what can I do? I don't want to have to crate him all day...surely there's a better way to deal with pet anxiety?

Healing Facilitator's response: First of all, I must preface this answer with a disclaimer. I am not a veterinarian. My goal at Ask A Healer is education, not diagnosis or treatment. However, pet anxiety is a common problem in animals, just as it is in people and there are helpful tips that may reduce the stress of being alone for your pet, as well as alternative medicine for dogs that may prove helpful in managing separation anxiety in your pet.

I am a huge animal lover myself and cannot stand the thought of my own pets being unhappy so I have unwittingly done things to appease them that, I realize now, were not really the best thing. In researching this question, I also helped myself understand the issue better so thanks.

What causes pet anxiety? Anxiety that exhibits in destructive behaviors from your pet can occur when pets are isolated, frightened, bored, and anxious as a result of being alone. Although certain animals do have a more nervous temperament than others, traumatic events or exposure to particular stressors can make even a normally calm animal stressed.

Symptoms of pet anxiety:

Whining

Excessive Barking

Licking or Chewing on their skin

Tearing up house items

Pacing

Soiling the home in your absense

Trying to escape by chewing on window or door frames

Your stress is their stress:
Someone did a fascinating experiment once, where they had a camera inside the home of a pet-owner. They watched the pet, in this case a dog, when their master was at work.

Amazingly, when the pet-owner got ready to leave his work, the dog went to the door and sat there til his master got home.....how did the dog know?

You can say the dog was conditioned to know when the master got home but how did the dog know the very moment his master put on his coat and headed out the door? Surely, that doesn't happen at the same precise time every day?

There is a remarkable, almost psychic bond between pet and pet owner. Pets are also very attuned to their owner's stress levels If you are anxious and stressed, this will impact your pet. How can this reflect on the pet's state of mind? Well, if you do what I used to do, and grab them up fretting over them and dreading leaving them, they can feel that!

So.....calm yourself and you will be helping to calm your pet as well. Avoid hovering over them before leaving, and fretting over them out of your own concern for their being ok while you are gone.

Natural pet care offers specific alternative medicines for dogs that can effectively address pet separation anxiety. Reduce anxiety and stress in your highly strung or chronically anxious pets naturally and safely just as you treat your own anxiety naturally. Recommended for pet anxiety: PetCalm

Tips for handling pet anxiety:

My natural tendency, and probably that of any animal lover faced with evidence of an anxious pet, is to scoop them up and shower them with loving attention. Yet, experts say this approach may only make pet anxiety worse.

Neither is it helpful to be harsh with the animal because they are not doing these things out of a mean Spirit or anger, but out of fear so punishing them for chewing up the door frame or biting on their own paws is also considered counter-productive.

So what can you do? According to the Calgary Humane Society, effectively handling pet anxiety issues can be quite challenging. They suggest hiring a pet sitter, having a neighbor or friend check on your pet during the day, or taking them to work. Another option is to hire a qualified animal behavorist who can retrain the pet away from an over-anxious state.

When preparing to leave for a trip, try playing rigorously with your pet for a period of time. Then, for the last half-hour before leaving, minimize attention, ignoring them. Increasing the time you are away to gradually longer times is also helpful. Long-lasting treats, given just before leaving, may distract some dogs too.

Alternative Medicine for Dogs and Cats


Pet Care Disclaimer: If your animal friend is exhibiting destructive behaviors, your first course of action should be to consult an animal expert such as your veterinarian or an animal behaviorist. The suggestions for dealing with separation anxiety in animals that is presented here is not intended to take the place of veterinarian care that may be needed for your pet. The good news is that there are a lot of good suggestions available, via the online resource we provided, that may help you more effectively deal with pet anxiety. Please consult with your veterinarian on matters relating to animal health, preventative pet health care and wellness. Alternative Medicine is a natural pet health approach to supporting animal wellness and alterlative medicine for dogs or cats is not suggested as replacement for needed veterinarian attention.