Dog Stress

Dog Stress: How do you recognize that your dog is
stressed out or behaving strangely? As the world
around us changes our dogs have to adapt to an
ever-changing human orientated society and this
in turn can cause extra stress for our dogs.

We forget that this new world of ours is
becoming increasingly alien to our four legged
friends and we expect them to adapt straight
away. How many dog owners ever think that their
dog will suffer from stress brought on by the
environment that is around them?

Because dogs act and think like dogs we have to
get inside their head to see what makes them
tick.

First how much sleep does a normal dog require
compared to we humans?

How much exercise does a normal dog require
each day?

How often do they need feeding compared to we
humans and what foods can we eat that they
cannot?

Do you know that leaving a dog alone for long
periods can bring on stress?

Loud and unusual noises coming from the
television or radio can even cause additional
stress in certain breeds of dogs.

The pleasant experience like a wild chase in
the park with a ball or stick or even playing
games is different from the everyday stress that
our environment brings.

When we suffer from stress something has to
give and shows itself in the form of either
physical illness or nervous breakdown. So dogs
have the same problem the only thing is they
cannot tell us how they feel.

Dogs are very sensitive animals and prone to
more stressful situations than we give them
credit for. Dogs spend most of their free time
sleeping and if they are not allowed to do so,
then they're going to suffer from a form of
sleep deprivation.

So what can cause your dog to become stressed?
For one thing life style changes and interfering
in its routine habits caused by you.

Expecting too much of your dog by taking too
long walks or too much exercise.

Just a simple mixing with noisy excitable
children can induce a stressful situation in a
dog, which could cause a stress-related problem
if the dog is not allowed to rest afterwards.

Like we humans' different dog breeds have
varied levels of stress and also certain foods
can have an adverse affect on the excitement
level of a canine.

Here are a few tips that may be help to
alleviate stress and your dog.

When your dog is being subjected to too unusual
noises that cause unusual behavior you have to
remove this kind of situation or keep them away
from similar irritants.

Remember your dog is not super dog so try not
to over exercise him. Yes too much can cause
stress.

Keep them out of the hot sun and do not walk
them in hot weather to prevent heat stress.

Some dogs react to fireworks and thunder, use
soundproof rooms or drugs or electric plugins.
All these have some use dependent on the
severity of the symptoms.

Note his stress levels after exercise, is he
uncomfortable and clearly overly tired. Many
dogs have short bursts of energy and then like
to rest.

The problem is that many dog owners think they
should keep walking, keep running, and keep
exercising in an effort to tire the dog out.

Dogs like regular meals at the same time
everyday along with plenty of rest and gentle
exercise.

Do not forget, dependent on the type of dog,
that some exercises will be too vigorous for
your particular breed of dog and you may end up
with a physical stress strain.

When out walking try and avoid conflicting
situations, such as aggressive dogs' excessive
noise or crowds.

With most active dogs when exercise feeding and
playing they require at least 18 hours of sleep a
day, which only leaves 6 hours of activity and
feeding. Unfortunately most dogs never achieve
this ideal state of affairs.

Remember a dog acts like a dog, thinks like a
dog, eats like a dog, and has the mind of a dog.
Just let them be dogs and do not expect them to
be like us. They are animals that will give you
untold pleasure and friendship if you remember
this simple fact.


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Ian Nicholson has been passionate about dogs for
over fifty years and you can find out more about
dog stress at http://www.choosebestdogbreed.com
where you can also download a free e-book on
older dog care.


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