3 ways to calm an anxious pet

Why do pets get anxious?

Have you noticed that some pets get anxious or nervous when faced with new situations, new people or new animals in their environment and others don’t. The reasons vary. The good news is that there are many ways to ease their suffering and discomfort.

Of course, each case is different and unique because each animal is different. It’s important to look at what triggers them, so you can either change the situation or help them change their response to it. That being said, their are some common issues that cause anxiety in our pets. They can get nervous when in new situation or when new people or animals are in their environment. Some have separation anxiety and get upset when their owners leave them home alone. Anxiety can also be triggered by loud noises or fear of attack or just being in an uncomfortable situation e.g. if children are playing roughly with them. Those are just a few examples. I’m sure you’ve all seen a dog on a walk that is anxious when meeting other dogs, pets that react to newcomers in their home and those that get very frightened by fireworks.

What are the signs?

Some of the signs of anxiety that our pets display are quite obvious. Both dogs and cats may become vocal. Dogs may cower, back away or have their shackles up. Cats may hide under furniture, their fur may bristle or they may hiss.

There are also less obvious signs such as dogs yawning, submissive behaviour such as rolling over or ‘distraction’ behaviour such as over grooming. These are worth being aware of, especially in dogs, so you know when to intervene e.g. if children are playing with the dog and it’s showing those less ‘obvious’ signs of anxiety. Here’s a useful article for more information about that. It pays to be aware of their body language e.g. a cat with their ears flattened or their tail down back. Anxious dogs may look away have raised shoulders and a lowered tail.

What can we do to ease their anxiety?

Even when the reasons for anxiety are different for different pets and situations (and please do explore that to best know how to help your pet), there are some ‘universal’ methods and techniques that can help alleviate their distress. Today I’ll look at three options that I use with my pets and with client’s pets worldwide.

Flower essences

Flower essences (infusions of flowers in water) can be used very effectively with pets to calm any agitation or anxiety. One or two drops of a treatment bottle of flower essences can be put in a large bowl of water for your pet to drink or even massaged into your pet’s fur.  In fact, the well known Bach Flower ‘Rescue Remedy’ used for stressful situations now has an alcohol free version specifically for pets. (Pets are sensitive to alcohol, which is the usual preservative for flower essences, yet the dosage is so small that there is minimal risk, even with infusions in alcohlol). I have used the Findhorn Flower essence ‘daisy‘ to help calm pets on many occasions and there are many options and choices available e.g. a solution called ETS+ for pets.

The beauty of flower essences is that you can take them alongside your pet, so you’re calm too (especially useful in situations where you are stressed or anxious too). I will talk more about using Flower Essences with pets in the future (I am a qualified Flower Essence Practitioner) and I may run an online course on that topic. If that interests you please sign up for updates below to be the first to know about it.

Be a calming influence

If your pet is anxious, it’s really important that you remain calm. By being a calming presence you can help them to return to a state of calmness. On the other hand if you are upset, annoyed or anxious (and that can happen when our pets ‘act out’ or show odd behaviour – it can be upsetting for us) your pet will pick that up and resonate with that.

So, find a way to feel calm and to radiate that feeling outwards. Then re-assure your pet. This can be with words, the tone of your voice, even just with your intention. You can also give physical re-assurance, but as I mention in the video, let them come to you, don’t try and force the interaction as it could heighten their anxiety.

Even sitting quietly near your pet and focusing on being calm will benefit them. They will certainly pick up on it and get the message.

EFT tapping

In part of this week’s video I very briefly demonstrate a technique called EFT tapping. It’s an amazing way to calm yourself and your pets. When my dog Sally started to display signs of CCDS (Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome) I used the tapping to first calm myself and then her (see this post for details). Her symptoms quickly dissipated. I also have a free video series demonstrating how to use the EFT tapping technique with your pets here.

Video

End notes

There are of course other ways to help relieve your pet’s anxieties, I’ve focused on the ones that I know best and that work for me and my clients.

There are also products such as thunder-shirts to help dogs to travel with less anxiety (also see my blog post on helping your pet to travel with ease), there are DAP devices that release pheromones (DAP stands for Dog Appeasing Pheromones) and a variety of training and behavioural techniques available. Explore the options and see what works best for you.

Let me know in the comments section below how you help your pets to stay calm, what’s worked for you and what hasn’t? When do your pets get anxious?

Thanks for reading this. Please do share it with others who can benefit from it.

Many thanks,

Ferris.

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