There is help for dog anxiety, it can often be cured or curbed. In this introductory article we are going to look at dog anxiety through a unique lens that will help us understand it and address it.
Dog anxiety can arise in response to many triggers but most of the time it is seen in one of the following categories:
- Environmental Triggers
- Social Trigger
- Sensory Triggers
- Separation Triggers
Most puppies need to be appropriately exposed to new experiences from all four of the above categories at manageable doses to build resilience. But sometimes this does not happen and adult anxiety can arise. Additionally, some dogs have a genetic predisposition toward anxiety. Lastly, a bad experience can occur which results in chronic anxiety.
Today, we are going to discuss anxiety as a dis-regulation of the nervous system.
The autonomic nervous system manages bodily functions that are not within our conscious control such as blood pressure, heart rate, digestion, blood flow, and more. This autonomic nervous system has a sympathetic branch (often referred to as the fight, flight, freeze response) and a parasympathetic branch (often referred to as the rest and digest response).
Typically these two branches work reciprocal of each other. For instance, you are having a relaxing drive home from an enjoyable trip to the beach with friends. Suddenly someone cuts you off in traffic and you slam on the brakes to avoid a collision. Now all of your muscles are tense, your heart is racing, and you are experiencing a mixture of panic and anger. Eventually you make it home and sit down to relax again.
This is how a healthy nervous system works; you get to enjoy a relaxing day with friends (rest and digest) until you experience a threatening situation and you quickly respond to save yourself (fight, flight, freeze) and then when the situation is over you calm down and relax again (rest and digest).
Anxiety is an unhealthy nervous system where the two branches are not working as they should. For instance; the fight, flight, freeze response is activated even when there is no actual danger and maybe during everyday occurrences. Or the rest and digest response never fully kicks.
There are two ways to observe the state of your dog’s nervous system. One is by observing the body (breathing, heart rate, tension, etc.) And another is by observing emotions through behaviors such as acting out or shutting down. During chronic anxiety oftentimes the body and mind are in a feedback loop where negative emotions create tension in the body, and the tension in the body create stronger negative emotions.
As a dog trainer, this means that I can help your dog learn to regulate his own nervous system by letting him “borrow” from my healthy and regulated nervous system.
One of the most important concepts to understand as a dog trainer and owner is co-regulation of nervous systems. When a human infant is being cared for by his mother, the state of her nervous system sends signals to the infant’s nervous system. Research shows that an infant needs to co-regulate with his mother in order to learn how to self regulate his own nervous system; and without a connection with a caretaker (who has a healthy nervous system) then this learning gets stunted and an unhealthy nervous system results. Research also has recently proven that there is co-regulation of nervous systems between humans and dogs. As a dog trainer, this means that I can help your dog learn to regulate his own nervous system by letting him “borrow” from my healthy nervous system.
Let me give you some examples. Have you ever had the experience where someone walks into the room and immediately you feel “on edge?” Or your partner comes home and immediately you can tell he or she is upset? Here is another example, have you ever had a special friend who always made you feel better when you were upset? This is the co-regulation of nervous systems. It can go both directions where either the fight, flight, freeze response gets activated or the rest and digest response gets activated simply by observing the activation of either branch in someone else. It usually occurs without conscious awareness; but if we make it conscious when working with dogs, we can help them regulate their nervous system.
When working with dog anxiety, I often observe an addiction to anxiety or a reluctance to relax. And not because the dog is incapable but because a habit and feedback loop have been created. Somewhere along the line there may have been good reason to experience anxiety, but this is no longer the case. With this dog, it is simply necessary to disrupt the habit or loop and retrain the nervous system. I don’t mean to make this sound simple, but the solution is available.
I have also observed that many anxiety behaviors such as hiding, acting out, or aggression actually help your dog find relief in the negative physical and emotional state of anxiety. Sometimes an alternative behavior can be taught that can replace the unwanted behaviors. This is especially successful when the alternative behavior works more efficiently at bringing the nervous system into balance.
When I am working with an owner and their dog who is experiencing anxiety the approach is often intuitive. I observe my own inner state and despite how the dog and owner are feeling, I remain calm and relaxed. Then I determine the triggers of the anxiety. Intuitively, I can tell if the dog is in a feedback loop, has a genetic predisposition for anxiety, or if there may have been a trauma (or maybe all three). Finally, I try different things to see how we can co-regulate, interrupt the feedback loop, and teach new behaviors that help regulate the nervous system.
I will expand on this topic in the future, so feel free to follow or subscribe. In the meantime, please reach out if you need help addressing your dog’s anxiety, reactivity, aggression, or behavioral problems.