Can dog training help with anxiety

Short answer is yes, but the road to easing a dog’s anxiety is different for each case. 

I am far too familiar with helping anxious dogs, not only from working with our client pups, but mostly because my first dog was an anxious wreck. His name was Riley. Riley was a super mutt who looked mostly like a hyena. He was slender, dark brindle, and had these adorable tufts of fur that stuck out at the base of his upturned ears. He was my first dog and one of the greatest loves of my life, but boy did he make my life hell for a while. Until Riley was 10 and Corey waltzed into my life. I was blown away by the difference in Riley’s behavior after implementing the strategies Corey taught me. Keep in mind too, this was about 8 years ago and we have learned even more since then! So let’s dive in! 

Identifying Anxiety in Dogs 

Different dogs will express their anxiety in different ways. Riley was an extrovert, so his signs were very loud. He barked, marked, and destroyed things. He would pace and had a hard time settling until I invited him on the couch next to me. The second I got up though, he was on the move. We’ve worked with plenty of dogs, though, who express their anxiety on the opposite end of the spectrum. Introverted dogs tend to freeze when their anxiety strikes. Typically with introverted anxious pups, you’ll see a hunched body posture, a tucked tail, body shakes, glassy unblinking eyes, lip licks, and/or heavy panting. These signals in and of themselves can mean a lot of different things, so it is important to chat with a professional to be sure that it is indeed anxiety that is ailing your pup. 

First Steps

In order to help ease anxiety, first we need to try to figure out why they’re anxious. We believe Riley’s anxiety partially stemmed from chemical imbalances in his brain, but it was exacerbated by our lifestyle. He needed much stronger structure than what I was giving him in the first 5 years I had him. I was unintentionally telling him that he had more responsibilities than he actually had. When I met Corey, he recommended some simple lifestyle changes that helped Riley immensely. 

Lifestyle changes to ease canine anxiety

What did we change you ask! I’ll tell ya! 

• Changed his feeding routine. Riley was always super picky. He would leave his food sometimes for days and I was constantly stressed about his weight. I tried adding various toppers, soaking his kibble in water, different types of kibble, and lord only knows what else. These things would work for a bit, but he always ended up turning his nose up. Mind you, this was before the whole raw/real food craze too, so the options that were out there were even more expensive than they are now and I certainly couldn’t afford that. So! What Corey taught me to do was super simple. I would put Riley’s food bowl down and plan to give him 15 minutes to eat. If he sniffed it and walked away, (which he did often), I picked it up right away. If he took a couple kibbles out and put them in another room, I’d pick those kibbles up and put them back in the bag. If he ate some, but not all, that got picked up too. He quickly realized that when the food goes down, he has to eat. It took about a week, but after that he would eat without fuss! His weight was up and consistent for the next couple years until it was time to send him over the rainbow bridge. Now, Corey had also recommended that I feed Riley in his crate, but I didn’t do that and honestly regret it. Live and learn I suppose. Which leads nicely into the next change! 

• More crate time. Riley HATED being in a crate. He would drool and bark and break out if he could. It was bad. We ended up needing to get him an Impact crate because he broke out of every crate I put him in… But if I could go back, I would have used it more and sooner. The reason being that he very much had the association that crate = mom is leaving. If I had been strict about feeding him in his crate and having him in there for short bursts throughout the day, he would have gotten over his crate phobia much sooner… but my human emotions got in the way… 
• Added more challenging training practices to give him a better outlet for all of his energy. I had created a super athlete and that was a huge problem. I walked/played/ran him for 2+ hours every day and if he got any less than that he was a mess. Corey showed me how adding basic obedience practice challenges dogs’ minds which is a much more efficient way to burn through all of that excess energy. Dogs do need physical exercise, but they are also endurance animals. The more physical exercise they get, the fitter they will become and eventually they will outpace us every time. The other huge benefit for training anxious dogs is that it gives them little puzzles to focus on in the present so they can’t focus on spinning out in their minds. Bonus benefit! Training basic obedience is something that your dog is doing with you! Not only does it help them feel better, it helps them recognize that following your lead and working with you brings all the good things! 

When to talk to your vet and add medication 

Now, most dogs just need lifestyle changes and more productive activities to do. Just like with humans, some dogs are just wired differently and need medication to thrive. Medication isn’t a magic bullet though! We always recommend making these simple lifestyle changes to see how your dog responds. If you’re not seeing a difference, seeking out in person help with a trainer would be the next step. There’s a lot of nuance to these changes, so before going down the medication route, having a pro trainer help to make sure you’re not missing anything is best. After all of that, if you’re not seeing a change, that’s when we’d say it’s time to find that perfect med cocktail. The reason why we recommend training and lifestyle changes first is that many meds out there (at least at the time this was posted) tend to sap the dog’s energy overall rather than just the anxiety itself. It’s like they’re living in a fog. They’re slow and don’t learn as well which is extremely problematic when attempting to teach them new skills and coping mechanisms.  

There is one exception however!!! If your dog is such a mess that they are causing themselves harm, finding a medication to help calm them down while you start the training process would be a better route. Once your lifestyle changes and training activities are in play, you can then start to wean off the meds if you think that’ll be the best for your dog. 

That’s a wrap

Helping your anxious dog can be a stressful and downright awful experience, but you don’t have to go through all of this alone! Working with a trainer who understands and has experience with anxious dogs makes all the difference. We have both virtual and in person programs to support you and your dog! Click here to start your journey to a more relaxed fulfilling life with your pupper. 

Happy training! 

-Kate Welch