How to avoid anxiety in my dog

How to avoid anxiety in my dog is a review of several situations that many dogs face on a daily basis, and that are totally our responsibility, as a human part of the couple, and that we often overlook very easily, since we take for granted certain questions about certain aspects of our relationship with them, humanizing them in the process in a way that is tremendously negative for them.

In today's article, I will face you in situations where you will recognize yourself perfectly and I hope it helps you to change certain behaviors a bit, which will ultimately lead to an improvement in the lives of your animals. I leave you with the entrance; How to avoid anxiety in my dog. I hope you like it and find it useful.

First of all

In the normal day to day of someone who works with dogs and their owners like me, I face a problem that, for me, is the root of many of the problems that affect the bond we have with our dogs, and of which We have no idea or when we have it, it is totally wrong ...And it is that many times without wanting to and sometimes wanting, we humanize our animals to the point of subjecting them to tensions for which they are not prepared, creating episodes of stress that on many occasions turn into situations on the verge of the most total and absolute lack of control, which lead us to even doubt if we are capable or are made to have a dog.

And that feeling is normal. Knowing how to avoid anxiety in my dog ​​is not easy. In a previous post Educating on an emotional level: The Stress that humans cause and in Educating on an emotional level: The Stress that humans cause II, I talk about that topic in a bit more depth.

Humanizing the animal

Something more than treating them like humans

When I speak of humanizing, I do not mean that we simply treat them as human, but many, many times, we transfer our stress and our problems, which, after all, are a person's problems and for them are incomprehensible, and many times incompatible with your needs.
First of all, I want to point out that a dog has basic needs just like us, and that despite the fact that for us, these needs may not have the same importance in our scale of values, either because they are very basic or because that we do not share them, for them they are the basis of the same happiness, and one thing I know for sure: the vast majority of people who have a dog want to see him happy.

Established paradigm

That is why I want to focus this article, towards trying to change a bit the paradigm that we have established in terms of the relationship with our dog, writing about how there are situations that are common in life that we have in common with our pet, and yet they affect us in a very different way.

I think we will agree that all the needs of our dog have to be covered in one way or another by us, and by this I mean that if our dog eats, it is because we feed him, if our dog drinks, it is because we give him a drink, if our dog plays, it is because we play with him or we provide him with toys or playmates. You have to be very aware of this: Everything you have and need comes from us. And this is a great responsibility, as Peter Parker would say.

A great responsibility

This responsibility is a source of happiness, and yet also a great source of problems if we do not know how to face it in a correct and logical way. The way for me to understand to approach it is to know, that Every decision we make about our life or the life of our dog affects it, sometimes so deeply and intensely, that it becomes an inexhaustible and eternal source of stress if we are not aware of it, and most of the time, we are not.

We make decisions lightly, which greatly affect the quality of life of our animal, and then we ask ourselves what could have happened, what could have gone wrong, when our dog friend brings up the problem, and then move on to deposit all responsibility in the poor dog, when we do not know or do not want to see that the solution to the problem is on our side, since the poor solution can be given by the animal if we are the ones who make all the decisions for him, or if taking them is not within the reach of your cognition or your intelligence.

For this reason, there are situations that are negative for the dog and that we do on a daily basis, and that end up leading to a source of stress for him. And I'm going to give you several examples of this to make sure it's clear to you.

Needs and motivation

Satisfy a need

A dog needs to drink every day, that is clear to us. The dog needs to have fresh water available all day. I have seen houses where there was a dog, where the water container was clearly not enough to hold enough water for the dog to be satiated for a day.

This causes the dog a certain uncertainty, since it is logically that when he drinks it he will run out, and there will be no water until the person responsible for it fills it up, which in this case is its owner, his human friend. When I normally comment on this topic to the owner of the animal, I almost always find the same answer: I fill it in from time to time. From time to time ... the same phrase denotes that there will be times when the container is empty, and what will the dog do at that time if he is thirsty? If that situation also becomes habitual, something so normal with drinking, it can become a source of stress for the poor animal.

Basic motivations

Another example that I do not like to see: taking the dog out. Every day I face families who have a habit of not giving enough importance to their pet's outings abroad. It is also typical to find those who believe that because they have a large outdoor patio, the dog no longer needs to go outside. That's a big mistake. And it is a mistake that he pays dearly.

A dog that does not go out, is a dog that does not relate to its environment, that does not communicate from basic aspects with the other individuals of its species, that are close to him, will make him unable to play with other dogs or that he cannot do one of the most relaxing activities for a dog, walking.

I give you an example that surely sounds familiar to you; We get home tired and we have to take out our friend, who has been waiting for us for about 5 hours and wants to go out to urinate, defecate, play and ultimately relax a little and we want to sit down or lie down to rest. Well, there are people who come from work, to study or from a party, who place the dog's needs below their own, and take it out to relieve itself and then immediately introduce it back between the four walls of the house. How does that affect the animal? Well, it limits him to being at the expense of your desires or your needs, generating stress and anxiety by not having basic needs for him such as relating, playing, walking, smelling, or alleviating his curiosity.

All these activities are what help him to manage in an efficient and positive way for him, the stress that his life generates in human society, where he has to spend hours and hours locked up without doing anything or going tied up in order to travel. Doing nothing does not have the same implications for us as it does for him.

A dog that is locked up inactive all day, without any type of stimulation, is more predisposed to develop any type of pathology, be it mental or physical, than dogs that have a medium or high activity during the day. Dogs need a certain daily activity that covers their play and exercise needs, as well as the curiosity of being able to interact with new individuals, whether of their species or another, or with new environments, or to investigate new objects, etc.
This need can become a problem if it is not solved correctly, since it will become a motivation that has to be covered in order to satisfy it. And I'm going to set the example with food.

Stress and food

A clear example of humanization, which in my opinion is one of the biggest sources of stress for a dog, is the diet we give it, and I don't mean to give it the leftovers of our food, which would be very acceptable, I mean diet based on industrial feed. These feeds are made mostly with cereals and give a carbohydrate contribution much higher than what is advisable for a carnivore. As a carnivore, the dog does not generate the enzyme amylase in saliva to properly metabolize carbohydrates. However, most of us think that feeding our dog bread, rice or large amounts of cereals, as well as us who are omnivores, is beneficial for their health. And it is not like that at all. This for me is a clear example of humanization that occurs with the complicity of feed brands, since for them it is easier and generates more benefits, having products whose main ingredient is cereals, to product lines whose ingredient main is protein of animal origin. However, this is another issue.

Ignoring your needs

Returning to the question at hand, most of the time, we feed the dog with feed for two reasons: The first is comfort, and the second because it is supposed to be a complete food, since it is what the manufacturer tells you and what your vet tells you.
The reason for convenience is very recurrent because it is much more convenient and faster to administer industrial feed directly from the container, And then there is the issue of how the vet recommends it. However, what the vet says goes against the most basic logic, since a carnivore eats and must eat meat and not cereals. However, the training that veterinarians obtain in canine nutrition, in the 3 years that the career lasts, is practically nil. It is for a matter of time. It does not give them to learn that they should eat amphibians, birds and equines.

So they usually get this training from the nutrition conferences and seminars that feed brands organize. And of course, it is logical to think that no brand is going to organize a food congress to speak ill of its own brand. It is logical.

In this way, veterinarians obtain, apart from the information, contacts on how to sell these brands in their future Veterinary Clinic, where they will be filled with dogs with skin, heart, stomach problems ... it is a good sales system, however this is another issue. Let's get to the heart of the matter.

The bottom line

Many people ask me, Antonio, how can I avoid anxiety in my dog ​​?, and I always answer them: stop giving the poor animal feed. When feeding a dog with industrial feed based on cereals, either for whatever reason, comfort or on the recommendation of our veterinarians, we are denying it in its diet, a variety of nutrients, which are essential, I repeat it to be clear, ESSENTIAL, for the life of the animal.

Dogs need 22 essential amino acids for their life. He himself, through his liver, is capable of producing 12 of these amino acids, however, 10 of them must be obtained from his diet. And not those amino acids, such as taurine, lysine, arginine or threonine, are not found in the amino acid chains of plant proteins. Therefore, here we see clearly that our dog needs meat, fish or eggs to obtain what it needs to live.
From the book of the great Carlos Alberto Gutierrez The Veterinarian-Nutritionist, The Scandalous Truths About Your Dog's Food:

In general, there are 22 different amino acids required by the dog. Of the 22 amino acids, 12 can be produced by the dog (Internally, in the liver) The other 10 cannot be produced and therefore must come from an external source: food. These amino acids are known under the term "essential":

1. NON-ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS - these amino acids can be created by the body. Since the body can produce them, no they need to be present in the diet.                                                           
2. ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS - these are not can be produced by the body and
   they must come from food. Check out this short description of each of these 10 essential amino acids. That is why the importance of providing quality animal protein:

• ARGININE: stimulates the immune system, induces the release of growth hormone and
  supports the liver in the purification of ammonia.
• HISTIDINE: releases histamine, is associated with pain control and widens vessels
  small blood vessels to stimulate the secretion of gastric juice from the stomach.
• ISOLEUCINE: and LEUCINE: see VALINA.
• LYSINE: promotes bone growth in puppies and stimulates the secretion of gastric juices.
• METHIONINE: assists the gallbladder in its functions, helps prevent fatty deposits in the liver, balances the pH of the urinary tract and gives input to taurine.
• PHENYLALANINE: is related to control of appetite, increased pressure in case of hypotension, together with minerals acts on hair pigmentation and the skin produces adrenaline and noradrenaline.
• TREONINE: regulates the release of energy, acts positively on mood or depression, produces adrenaline, and is a precursor thyroid hormone.
• TRYPTOPHAN: produces serotonin, a sleep promoter.

Food is vital

The dog is a carnivorous animal, which despite being fully integrated into human society, is not omnivorous like us. This makes diets based on industrial feed obtained from poor quality raw materials (so bad that you would not eat it), suppose an inexhaustible source of problems for our pets, from physical diseases, to accumulating stress around food, giving as a result, a dog with a multitude of compulsive attitudes and behaviors that we neither understand nor are capable of solving.
The dog gets everything in this life from us. If he goes out, it is because we take him out, if he drinks it is because we give him water, and if he eats it is because we feed him. If there is a deficiency in his diet, we are the ones who have the responsibility to correct it, since he cannot. However, he is the one who suffers it.

Ultimately

Avoiding anxiety in my dog ​​is easy

We must try to be aware of the limitations that our dog has, and not believe that because we give him something to eat, some water and we take it out for 20 minutes a day, he must be happy. That is not having your needs met. Let's look at him from the side from which he lives things, and so we can stop humanizing an animal that ultimately, what it should be living life as such. And you have the right to fail.

Many times, we take away the right to be wrong, to fail, and that is a right that we all have. If your dog destroys things when you leave home and leave him alone, he will not do it out of revenge towards you and your person, but he will be expressing a need, and you as his friend and human guide must be aware enough of the situation.

You also have to be aware of their needs, so that they do not become a source of stress and anxiety. This is how anxiety is avoided in the dog.

If we have a dog locked up 23 hours a day in a house, eating cheap feed, without being related to other individuals of its species, without gambling, going out tied up and wearing a muzzle, we cannot and should not expect it to be happy. I tell you from here dear humans, that is something impossible.

Googbye and closing

The way, how to avoid anxiety in my dog ​​is easy; meets your needs. Analyze what your dog needs and give it to him. There is no greater synonym for love.

Without further ado, I hope these lines help you to reflect.

Greetings and if you have any questions or concerns, leave it in the comments of this post. And take care of your dogs