Benefits of Dog Training for Your Anxious Dog

Did you know that your dog can suffer from anxiety too? In recent years, there’s been a lot of focus on human anxiety, but K9 anxiety can be just as pervasive. 

As a loving dog owner, you don’t want your pup suffering from anxiety. You know how hard it must be on them. Furthermore, it also makes it more difficult to go about the life you imagined when you decided to get a pup. 

So how do you recognize the signs that your dog may be suffering from anxiety and what do you do when you come to this realization? 

Let’s dive in.

Signs that you have an anxious dog

Anxiety in a dog doesn’t always present itself in the obvious ways. Anxiety doesn’t just take the form of cowering and shaking in a dog. In fact, you definitely want to recognize the signs of anxiety before they reach that stage. 

Earlier signs of anxiety in a dog may take any of the following forms: yawning, panting, disinterest, sniffing the ground to distract themselves, or lunging.1 Your pup also may be licking their lips or have their ears pulled back.2 These are just a few common examples. 

It’s important to realize though that just because your dog is exhibiting these behaviors doesn’t necessarily mean that they are suffering from anxiety. If they are panting, for example, they could also just be cooling themselves down. 

Furthermore, these behaviors could be a sign of a different underlying issue. It’s important to recognize context and to consult with your veterinarian to get an accurate diagnosis of what is bothering your dog. 

It’s also important to understand that there can be various causes of anxiety in a dog. Just because your dog hasn’t lived through a traumatic event doesn’t mean that they can’t have anxiety. Anxiety can come from trauma, but it can also come from genetics, their environment, changes in their routine, etc.3

If you suspect your dog may have anxiety, consult with your veterinarian and seek the input of a professional dog trainer. 

So how can you help an anxious dog?

How dog training for anxious dogs works

One of the most important ways that you can help your anxious dog is through dog training. Training isn’t just for obedience in dogs. It plays an important overall role in the development of each dog. Working with a professional dog trainer for dog anxiety treatment is crucial. 

So how does it work?

• Confidence - Dog training helps to build confidence in your dog. This confidence builds by developing a routine that allows your dog to feel like they have control over their situation, which helps them to overcome fears.1

• Counterconditioning - Counterconditioning helps your dog to associate the fearful stimulus with a positive experience rather than a negative experience.4 This comes through various forms of positive reinforcement or distraction when encountering the trigger.

• Desensitization - Desensitization helps to gradually expose your dog to the thing or event that stimulates their anxiety. It is critical that you engage an expert dog trainer for this process so as to not make the situation worse.4

One example of how this might work is that the trainer may start the dog off with some basic obedience training. The dog learns what is expected of them and is able to execute upon these expectations, which helps them to build confidence. Then the trainer might progress to counterconditioning, which may simply involve a fun distraction and related rewards when the stimuli pops up in your dog’s environment. The final step by the dog trainer would be desensitization, where your pup slowly gets exposure to the trigger until they eventually become comfortable.3

Keys to Training an Anxious Dog

Dog training for anxious dogs cannot just be approached with brute force to quickly resolve the issue. There is a lot that goes into overcoming this anxiety.

As you can imagine, patience is a key component to the training process. Without patience, the dog is likely to not be receptive to or listen to what you are trying to teach them.1

Relatedly, dogs will generally shut down in their state of anxiety. This prevents them from making the positive connections that you would typically expect them to make during training.1 When I train dogs with anxiety, my first form of positive reinforcement is praise and affection. Providing them with food or toys in their anxious headspace will not effectively create positive reinforcement. 

The key is to make the dog feel safe and comfortable throughout their training through praise, affection, and patience before moving on to other types of rewards and training techniques. 

See it in action

As you can see, training your dog to help with their anxiety is a delicate balance. It is important to work with a professional dog trainer to help treat your anxious dog in order to not risk making the condition worse. 

I recently had a four-year-old pup named Kit come in for training to help with his anxiety and reactivity. At the beginning of our training, his signs of anxiety were quite evident even as we worked on basic obedience, such as learning the sit command. 

After just one day of working on the sit command, Kit was so much more relaxed and at ease during the training process. 

On our second day, we worked on the down command. Before working on learning that command, we started with a refresher on the sit command. Unlike the first day, Kit was sitting down right by my side on command with more ease and certainty than the day before. That built his confidence up to start to learn a new command, which he eventually mastered as well. 

After three weeks in my board and train program, Kit progressed so much with his anxiety and reactivity because of the structure of the training that he was able to go on outdoor walks with me on a long lead! 

Prior to his training, Kit would be triggered by dogs and even sometimes by people. By the end of his three weeks, he was able to be outside with ease, even in the area outside my training facility where there were many noises like whistles and lots of noise from outdoor activities. 

The transformation in Kit is not unique. Dog training can truly make such a big difference for dogs who are struggling with anxiety or reactivity. And Kit is a prime example that a dog is never too old to start the training to address these concerns. 

If you have an anxious dog and want to learn more about their condition or the programs that I offer, give me a call at 847-409-1363 to learn more. 

1 “How to Train Your Fearful Dog”, American Kennel Club, https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/how-to-train-fearful-dog/ 

2 “Expert Tips to Help Soothe Your Dog’s Anxiety”, American Kennel Club, https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/soothe-dog-anxiety/

3 “How to manage your dog’s anxiety”, Many Pets, https://manypets.com/us/blog/anxious-dog-training/

4 “Changing Your Dog’s Behavior With Desensitization and Counterconditioning”, American Kennel Club, https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/training/changing-your-dogs-behavior-with-desensitization-and-counter-conditioning/