how to make diy a dog calming spay for dog with anxinety

[chickenmama109]

find a small t shirt, a toddler size is probably good, depending on how big you dog is. (used is great) Experiment with that before buying anything. You'll know if it's a good approach for your dog pretty quick, just get it snug, like a super hug.

thanks i will try that out

 

[Duckstail]

You should probably address the underlining issue or else you're going to have this problem for the rest of your dog's life.

Why does your dog have anxiety that's the real question? If you don't know why think about why do humans get anxiety

Your dog is herding breed. Do you heard your dog? do you exercise it? I bet if you take it for a several mile run in the morning there will be no anxiety.

You have a very complex question but not much color as far as what the situation is and there's not going to be any one word answer that's going to solve it... if a lavender calming sprays would work every dog owner would be using it. Unfortunately life is not so simple.

If you're truly have problems and you're still having a tough time direct message me and I'll give you more advice not going to post it here because everybody's going to have an opinion about a subject they know nothing about.

 

[chickenmama109]

You should probably address the underlining issue or else you're going to have this problem for the rest of your dog's life.

Why does your dog have anxiety that's the real question? If you don't know why think about why do humans get anxiety

Your dog is herding breed. Do you heard your dog? do you exercise it? I bet if you take it for a several mile run in the morning there will be no anxiety.

You have a very complex question but not much color as far as what the situation is and there's not going to be any one word answer that's going to solve it... if a lavender calming sprays would work every dog owner would be using it. Unfortunately life is not so simple.

If you're truly have problems and you're still having a tough time direct message me and I'll give you more advice not going to post it here because everybody's going to have an opinion about a subject they know nothing about.

thanks she is a rescue and she was treated very badly has a puppy shes had anxiety when we got her.

 

[Duckstail]

thanks she is a rescue and she was treated very badly has a puppy shes had anxiety when we got her.

Don't make leaving your house a big deal make it that she doesn't even know you're going to leave.
You might not like the way that sounds but if you get her friend dog it's really going to help.

Imagine if you were stuck on a alien planet all by yourself with a bunch of friendly aliens how would you feel? Then they gave you another human to hang out with wouldn't that make you feel much better?

My dog's life changed when I got him his own puppy..

Obviously this is assuming you don't have any other pets that dog can play with and socialize with.

 

[chickenmama109]

Don't make leaving your house a big deal make it that she doesn't even know you're going to leave.
You might not like the way that sounds but if you get her friend dog it's really going to help.

Imagine if you were stuck on a alien planet all by yourself with a bunch of friendly aliens how would you feel? Then they gave you another human to hang out with wouldn't that make you feel much better?

My dog's life changed when I got him his own puppy..

Obviously this is assuming you don't have any other pets that dog can play with and socialize with.

thanks for your help. i do have two other dogs that she is with all day ever day she always wants to be with them every time they go outside to use the bath room she will follow she loves them so much and cant leave there side for very long but thats alright with me i just wanted to find ways to help her calm down and relax for a little while she is always going around checking on people and never really just sits down to relax thanks for your help.

 

[Duckstail]

thanks for your help. i do have two other dogs that she is with all day ever day she always wants to be with them every time they go outside to use the bath room she will follow she loves them so much and cant leave there side for very long but thats alright with me i just wanted to find ways to help her calm down and relax for a little while she is always going around checking on people and never really just sits down to relax thanks for your help.

U tried crate training?

 

[chickenmama109]

U tried crate training?

no we dont put them in crates they are so scared of them all of them are rescues and i think they were forced in a crate when they got picked up to go to the pound once we took my german sheperd to petsmart to get groomed and thy put her in a crate and she started to freak out and they called us and we had to come pick her up she does not like crates at all. how would a crate help her thanks for your help

 

[Duckstail]

no we dont put them in crates they are so scared of them all of them are rescues and i think they were forced in a crate when they got picked up to go to the pound once we took my german sheperd to petsmart to get groomed and thy put her in a crate and she started to freak out and they called us and we had to come pick her up she does not like crates at all would a crate help her anxiety.

Just like a dog and a baby if they cry and then you attention them they are just going to continue to cry knowing that you'll let him out. There are very smart.

Crate training is extremely popular method and should be used for all puppies.

You actually giving the dog a sense of security the crate is their lil home they can relax in it when they want and they will be protected in it..

My dog's much older now sometimes at night so just get up from the bed and go sleep in her cage because that's her bedroom that's her bed.

Don't think of a dog as oh my poor dog is crying all I don't want my poor dog to be lonely because that's just going to cause more problems...

It's like disciplining your kid no kid wants to do homework or go to school but you got to force your kid or else they're going to be an idiot for the rest of their lives! Same thing with dogs you got to show them a little bit of tough love but eventually your dogs will be free ranging with all your animals and be happy well-balanced creature.

Have you noticed how some dog owners simply cannot cut their dogs nails because the dog won't let them... the reason this happens is because whenever they started to cut their nail the dog would put up a fight and the owner what Stop So eventually the dog realized if I put up a fight I'm not going to get my nails cut.

But if you persist and force ur dog oh no it has no option and then eventually just let you start cutting its nails without a peep

 

[chickenmama109]

yes they are like that but i just cant force them in a crate with how much they hate them the way they try too get out of a crate they could hurt there self they just really dont like them i ive only tryed to put my german sheperd in a crate once and that was at the groomers she really freaks when she gets put in a crate. thanks for your help

 

[ShrekDawg]

You don't have to, and should not, phyically shove or force them in the crate, lock the door, and walk away. But what you should do is slowly condition them to it and get them used to it. Duckstail has a point that it can be like their safe space and they can learn to love it. But I don't think they're advocating forcing her in and letting her hurt herself.

First of all, the crate has to be big enough and that Petsmart one likely was not. She needs to be able to stand up fully, turn around, and sit, and imo preferably stretch out but at least those three.

Secondly, you SLOWLY condition them and make it a positive experience. There are actually crate games you can play with the dogs and make it a fun thing. You can find those on Google, just type crate games.

But even without it, changing their response to and association of the crate from a negative one to a positive one is fairly easy.

First step, do NOT force her inside it. That will only set you back. You want her to go in willingly. So you can do that fairly easily by tossing treats or a toy inside. Make it a good treat. She should go in but if she doesn't right away or is just scared of the crate itself, you can start even smaller such as by rewarding her for even sniffing, approaching, or checking out the crate. This is where I think clicker training would be extremely useful for this training but in general for her anxiety too. More on that in a second but you can Google clicker training or get some books. Anyway, I think that even just getting rewarded for being around the crate, checking it out, etc. Will be a huge help and that alone might change the association.

But then you gotta get her to go inside after you do that. Try tossing a really good, high value treat in there, like meat or something. She should go in.

Now, here's the key, DO NOT lock her in at first.

That's key because if she feels forced or trapped it will set back all your progress.

Those first few repetitions and sessions you want her to feel free and comfortable so aka she should be able to walk in and be allowed to come right back out immediately.

And you may, again, need to start even slower here. If she is still afraid to go fully inside, you can try rewarding her for putting her head in, a paw in, two paws in, etc., whatever you can think of, until she willingly goes all the way in, which might be a few sessions.

Once she is comfortable with that and reliably going in and doesn't seem too scared, you can try shutting the door on her.

Now, if she freaks out, go back a step and continue conditioning the crate.

If she seems okay, you can try just shutting the door for just a few seconds then letting her out. We are NOT talking 5, 10, 20 minutes immediately or even 1 minute. Start with a few seconds and build up. And be sure to reward her for this too.

But only let her out when she is calm and quiet, perhaps even sitting, because like was mentioned, if you let her out when she is freaking out then you are subconsciously rewarding that behavior. So only calm behavior gets rewarded. And at first, there might only be a split second of calm behavior before she gets upset again, reward that second or 3 seconds or whatever and let her out.

But there is a very fine line between just being a little bit scared or bratty and going ballistic to the point of hurting themselves and only you can judge that.

If the conditioning training seems to be working and helping her and you are able to get a few seconds of calm when you start trying to shut the crate door, then that's great! Keep working on it until you get longer and longer time periods, rewarding when she's calm. But if she's still absolutely terrified and you think she is going to hurt herself, then there is nothing wrong with going back a step or two and working more on the conditioning aspect.

Eventually, she should be able to stay in there for longer.

But when she is, don't just lock her in with nothing. You can try giving her a Kong toy to chew on, even better if you can fill it with something, which should help distract her from the fact that she's in the crate or that you're gone or whatever. And you can, and should, put a comfy bed or blanket or favorite toy in there (unless she is going to destroy and eat it). And also you should leave the door open throughout the day. A lot of dogs go in there willingly, on there own, and think of it as a safe secure den.

But with her being so scared of them, I think you are going to need to do all the conditioning steps first. Also, another thing, NEVER use the crate as punishment or else they won't want to go in there. And don't bother them then they're in there. It should be their own safe space.

As for clicker training, I find it highly beneficial and I think it may even help boost her confidence. You can try trick training and/or even just regular obedience training and I think the positivity and fun might boost her confidence and reduce the anxiety. Another fun thing is the box game as well as scent work/nose work. The box game you basically just get a box and reward for any interaction with the box but it has to be a new interaction every time, no rewarding the same two things. It's an easy, cheap, fun game but really useful and helps gets dogs thinking, especially ones trained traditionally or abused or whatever, and not used to thinking for themselves/offering behaviors. It can also help with the rest of clicker training and is a good foundation because like I said, it gets the dog to offer new behaviors which is important. I think it also helps build confidence and maybe reduce anxiety cause it's just fun and not stressful.

Scent work and games is similar to what it sounds like. There is an actual canine sport called Nosework but you can also do nose games at home. You can get boxes or cups and hide food or a scent under them and have her find the right one. You can also hide food all around the house and have her find the food. Fun for the other dogs too. But that one you somewhat have to train. You can put the food in front of her and give her the command. I use find it but you can use seek or whatever else. Then you put it further away, out of sight, multiple treata, etc. Till she can search a room and find them. Basically make it progressively harder. But very easy to teach. You can also have her find toys once she's good at finding food or have her find people. Though I think that one you should use a different command for people versus food or objects. But same basic training premise of start with the toy or person right in front of her where she can see it them further away, out of sight, etc. Hide and seek is very fun and dogs love it. Dogs love finding objects too.

You can also take Nosework classes which are very fun, good for all ages of dogs from puppies to seniors, and helps boost confidence even in shy dogs because it's so easy to get right and just fun.

Amd also, you can take that search training and apply it anything. You could start having her find various toys or even bring them to you (though thay requires different training. Tons of info on it though), find the right object in a pile, find the other dogs or cat or chickens if you have any, etc.

You can also teach them to find your car. I learned about this from a service dog team I follow on Instagram and YouTube and it is very useful for service dogs to know if their handler, for example, dissociates or something, BUT it can also be a fun and easy exercise for any dog. I've been teaching it to my dog.

And if you do decide to do Nosework, they have competitions you can do if you find you like it.

But dogs LOVE using their noses and are really scent driven, more so than other senses, and have a really powerful nose, so your dogs should love this stuff and it should naturally be easy for them as well as fun for all of you and confidence building.

It would also potentially give her a job to do which I think would be a huge help for her, especially being a working dog like a German Shepherd. Even if that job is just doing dumb tricks or training sessions or finding stuff for you, it's still a job.

I also think that she, as well as all your dogs, would benefit from more exercise.

I don't know how much exercise they get now but dogs, especially GSDs, need A LOT of exercise. And not just a walk around the block. They should be running. Does she play fetch? If not, easy to teach and great exercise.

I think more exercise will help the anxiety a lot too.

BUT.

That said, MENTAL exercise is just as, if not more, important than physical exercise especially for an intelligent breed like the GSD.

This is another benefit of all the training I mentioned. Teaching her things is mental exercise and will vastly help her I think. Figuring out new things and learning what you want is exhausting but also fun.

They also sell puzzle toys for dogs that require them to think to figure out how to get the food out of it which might also help her and is also good mental exercise. You can also make homemade ones if you can't afford to buy some. There's lots of info on both the best kinds to buy and on making your own.

Even something as simple as buying a slow bowl or putting the food on the floor instead of a bowl is mental exercise and simulates foraging for food.

I think that rather than just trying sprays or a shirt or something, you really need to find the core of the problem and I think doing even just some of the things I suggested will hopefully be a big help to her and to you.

Mental and physical exercise is EXTREMELY important and I think her anxiety might disappear with more of both.

If not, a trip to the vet might be in order or a thundershirt might help.

But try this stuff first on all your dogs.

Oh and agility training is another fun thing to try as well as another confidence booster and great exercise. They have classes for that too or you can buy or make some equipment.

Also even something as simple as putting a backpack on when you go on walks can make her feel like she has a job to do and might help her. Idk why but it works haha don't put anything in it at first but then eventually you can start with small light things such as poop bags or some kibble or the clicker or something. Then eventually you can put bottles of water in it. But nothing too heavy. And make sure you put even weight on both sides. Physical and mental exercise.

She seems like needs more interaction and exercise and might be bored possibly