Calming Therapies for Dogs
Somehow in the past couple of years I ended up on an email list for veterinarians. I have no idea how that happened, because I sure am not a doctor, but I get some really wonderful news about what’s new in veterinary medicine. Things that keep popping are new devices, supplies and medications to help calm dogs. Everywhere on the internet and through any animal retailers are devices, hormones, homeopathics, essential oils, flower essences, medications, and behavior modification techniques to help dogs cope with their anxiety and anxiety producing aggression.
While it is wonderful to see that the pet industry is addressing a very serious problem, I can’t help but ask myself why is there so much anxiety for dogs in the first place? When I was a kid, no one ever had a dog that had such severe anxiety that the dog had to be medicated. The only thing my Brittany Spaniel did not like was her bath!
In the same pet supplier ads, there are photos of dogs with pony tail ears, clothing for every occasion, nail polish, tutus, beds shaped like human beds and sofas. Every dog on the planet now sleeps in our bed or on every piece of furniture. We call our dogs “fur babies” or “fur kids” to express just how important our dog is in our family.
While I am not here to say dogs should not be so important to us in our lives, I will say that canine anxiety usually comes from two places; 1.) Genetics or lack of careful breeding and; 2.) Being treated like humans instead of dogs or “anthropomorphism.”
Somehow our society has learned to appreciate dogs in our lives and begun to see how important dogs are for our mental health, physical health and in our protection (detection dogs, police dogs, and military dogs and service dogs to name a few), but forgotten that dogs should be HONORED as dogs. Dogs are a blissfully wonderful species that should be respected for who they are.
When we treat dogs as dogs and understand their hereditary and social make-ups, then we begin to put less pressure on them to be social with EVERY dog they meet. We also begin to understand their need to work and please, not live as couch potatoes or even be spoiled with lack of structure and no rules. We must begin understand the importance that genetics makes in the sound temperament of any dog. Studies are now showing just exactly how important genetics are in any dog – mixed breed or pure bred.
How does this relate to anxiety and all the advertised quick fixes mentioned above? I contend that many of the problems we face today with our dogs can be contributed to by the lack of leadership or anthropomorphism which seems to go hand in hand. While we love our dogs madly, we must remember and cherish them for being DOGS; another incredible species. They are not furry humans. We need understand that many times poor or unknown breeding can contribute to genetically poor temperaments that do not change quickly or not at all. While many dogs can make huge strides forward in overcoming anxiety, we need to accept that sometimes they cannot.
It is my contention that dogs need to be respected for who they are and not necessarily what we, as humans, expect or want them to be. Patience and behavior knowledge is critically important in bringing and keeping mentally healthy dogs into our lives.
Caption for photo: My rescue, Hattie was severely neglected and left in the backyard when her owners moved away. Even though she lacked socialization, training, and love, Hattie was confident and capable of doing pet therapy, search and rescue, and competition obedience and agility, proving that even a neglected dog can still have a great temperament. That’s genetics.
