Like humans, dogs experience fear and anxiety. They can fear actual things such as vacuum cleaners, lawnmowers, bicycles, garbage cans, and even deep-voiced men. Anxiety can affect all breeds, and if left unchecked, a dog can develop an anxiety disorder. This can result in behavioral issues and physical illness. It’s difficult to tell if your dog is having a bad day or nervous.
Why is my Golden Retriever so nervous? or skittish?
One reason why your Golden Retriever is nervous or skittish is due to separation anxiety. Separation anxiety in dogs is usually triggered when they become upset. This is due to separation from the people they’re attached to. It’s common for Golden Retrievers and dogs with separation anxiety to attempt escapes leading to self-injury.
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Other Reasons Why My Golden Retriever Is Anxious
Mistreatment is another reason why your Golden Retriever is anxious and nervous. Animal abuse or cruelty to dogs encompasses a range of harmful behaviors. It can include neglect, yelling, and even intentional cruelty. This is where someone deprives a dog, food, water, socialization, and shelter.
Signs of mistreatment include poor body condition and abnormal animal behavior.
Being in a new home can make your dog nervous. If you move your Golden Retriever into a new home, it will likely feel stressed and insecure. Since your pet dog is unsure of the new environment, it will exhibit symptoms of anxiety. Symptoms of anxiety or fear include whining, indoor accidents, howling, and bad chewing behavior.
Injury or illness can cause anxiety. Has your pet dog started to display signs of fear or anxiety? Have you noticed any signs of injury or illness such as fatigue, limping, or vomiting? Well then, your dog is nervous or ill. The best course of action is to take it to a vet.
If there is an issue with the dog’s diet, it will start behaving differently. The diet issue could be that your dog is not eating enough, or it could be overeating. On the other hand, the diet may not contain nutrients or things your dog should be having.
Dogs need to exercise daily. When your Golden Retriever does not get enough exercise, it can behave abnormally. To confirm this is not the cause, take your Golden Retriever for a walk at the park or around the neighborhood. If it behaves better, the issue was lack of exercise, but if it does, it could be one of the reasons above.
How Can I Calm My Anxious Golden Retriever?
Like other unhealthy behaviors such as biting, chewing, and barking, anxiety can also be totally cured. Here are ways to calm your nervous Golden Retriever.
Massage
Research shows that massage is an effective treatment for reducing muscle tension, pain, and reducing stress in humans. Some studies have discovered that massage is also helpful for digestive disorders and anxiety.
When your dog is anxious, the muscles become tense, and stress levels increase. As such, your Golden Retriever may start displaying bad behavior such as barking and howling. To ensure your dog is calm and relaxed, massage your pet dog.
How do you massage your Golden Retriever? First, make sure that your dog is calm. If you start massaging your dog when it’s fearful or anxious, you may reinforce the anxious state. To calm your dog, start with a long walk.
Second, pet your dog gently. While doing so, talk to your dog softly. This will keep him or her calm and relaxed. Start massaging the neck. Make circular motions and remember to keep the pressure gentle.
Third, massage from the neck towards the shoulders. Take a little extra time around this area. Next, move to the chest and front legs. It’s important to note that not all dogs are comfortable massaging their legs. If this happens, move to a different part of the body.
If your Golden Retriever loves it, massage the front legs and the paws. Be careful with the pads.
Lastly, massage your dog’s back using circular motions and long strokes. Keep massaging gently and end with the back legs. If you follow the steps above, your dog should be stress-free and relaxed.
Isolate in a Safe, Quiet Place
In most cases, when your Golden Retriever is anxious, it can help to calm your dog by isolating it in a safe, quiet place. By doing so, you can calm your dog’s frayed nerves. For time outs, we recommend a ZenCrate.
Designed to help dogs with various behavioral issues, the ZenCrate is a standard crate. It provides noise cancellation, vibration isolation, comfort, and security. The crate has proximity sensors that can turn on a gentle fan immediately after your dog enters.
As the key to helping your Golden Retriever manage its anxiety while away from home, your dog can take control by entering and exiting the crate when they require. The sensors also turn on/off the motion-activated fan.
This fan helps to generate white noise that blocks noise from outdoors while providing cool air. Users can re-program the ZenCrate with your dog’s favorite music. Research shows that the best time to control anxiety is during thunderstorms.
The ZenCrate has a battery backup. In case of power loss, it will continue to operate, and once the power is back, the ZenCrate will recharge the battery.
Music Therapy Never Fails
Most people always ask, does music help dogs with anxiety? Of course, it does. Turning on some music helps to relieve their stress.
Several studies show that playing music to your dog reduces stress. In fact, researchers noted that after listening to music, dogs barked less. They also discovered they had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
What music do dogs enjoy? According to a University of Glasgow study, dogs prefer soft rock and reggae. Researchers from the University played a variety of music to dogs at a center in Dumbarton. As the music played, the researchers assessed the behavioral and physiological changes in the dogs.
The researchers noted that the dogs expressed positive behavioral changes when they listened to soft rock and reggae. Besides these two genres, you can play pop, classical, and Motown. On social media platforms like YouTube, you can find:
- Music composed specifically for anxious dogs.
- Music for dogs with separation anxiety and fear of thunder.
You can also buy music that calms your Golden Retriever from Amazon. A good example is Through A Dog’s Ear Calm Your Canine Series. This is a 3CD box-set with more than 80% success rate.
Cuddling or a Long Petting Session
Let’s face it. Work and other commitments can make you lose track of time. In fact, you can forget what matters most. Between chores at home, stress at work, and other social obligations, you may not find time to hug or cuddle your Golden Retriever.
Research shows that when you deprive your Golden Retriever your physical touch, it can result in anxiety. To calm your dog, you need to cuddle and pet him or her for long sessions. There are science-backed reasons why quality cuddle time with your furry friend is crucial.
First, it improves your dog’s physical health. When you hug your dog, it stimulates the brain to produce Oxytocin. This is a love hormone associated with feelings of a strong bond, empathy, and trust. This hormone also inhibits cortisol, a stress hormone.
Second, cuddling and petting relieve anxiety and depression. Research shows that cuddling stimulates the brain to release serotonin and dopamine. These are good feel hormones. They help to ease depression and make your dog happy. Thanks to the calming effect, your dog will maintain a positive mental balance.
Lastly, hugging and cuddling your Golden Retriever makes him feel secure and loved. Dogs are pack animals, and giving them plenty of affection makes them feel safe and loved. Lack of affection from their owners can make your dog withdrawn and inactive.
Exercise
If your dog is anxious, stressed, or has separation anxiety, the only way to ease its mind is exercise. Anxiety causes an excess of energy, and if your dog is inactive, it will begin acting up. Taking your dog out to play ball or for a long walk will relieve the anxiety and stress.
How you may ask. Dogs, like other animals, need to do things to release all the built-up energy. Back in the day, dogs would go hunting for prey and just plain surviving. As domesticated pets, they don’t have this freedom.
When you play with your dog, you provide the appropriate outlet for energy. If you do not play with your dog, they’ll find harmful ways to play. Long walks keep your dog engaged and stimulate its brain.
When you take your dog for long walks, he does dog stuff such as exploring the world and sniffing. He also gets to meet other dogs. As you probably know, dogs are social animals. If they don’t socialize, they will display bad behavior.
Playtime is also educational. As the owner, you can use this time to reinforce certain commands. For example, stay and sit. It’s also an excellent opportunity to teach your dog new tricks. Remember, carry some treats.
Exercise is a time to bond. A recent study revealed that gazing into your dog’s eyes triggers a bond. Besides gazing into your dog’s eyes, playtime and exercise can improve your bond.
Are Supplements Helpful for Dogs With Anxiety?
Supplements can play an essential role in decreasing your Golden Retriever’s anxiety, stress, and depression. Most vets discovered that supplements are beneficial in milder cases or early stages of anxiety.
When it comes to severe or long-term anxiety cases, use supplements together with behavior modification. Supplements for dogs include tablets, pills, powders, drops, and flavored chews.
These supplements contain minerals, vitamins, amino acids, herbs, and other ingredients. All these ingredients help to maintain the emotional balance of your Golden Retriever. You may discover some supplements have CBD.
CBD contains anti-inflammatory properties and helps relieve pain in dogs. While there are no completed studies of CBD oil alleviating anxiety and stress, there is evidence it can help with pain and anxiety.
A 2018 study sought to find out the efficacy of cannabidiol treatment in osteoarthritic dogs. The researchers gave the dogs two treatments. One treatment was CBD oil, while the other was a placebo oil.
The treatments got administered every 12 hours. This study lasted four weeks with a two week washout period. What they discovered is that CBD oil alleviates pain in dogs. You need to know that THC is poisonous to dogs. Always go for hemp-related products rich in cannabinoids.
Final Thoughts
The methods above have proven successful numerous times. In some cases, the treatments above may not relieve anxiety, stress, and separation anxiety in your dog. If this happens, consult your veterinarian. By consulting a vet, you’ll receive professional advice for your Golden Retriever.
Best of luck!