How do I calm my dog down when she's having panic attacks?
by sinela on Monday, May 31st, 2010 | 4 Comments
She has panic attacks a lot. I want her to be a bit more relaxed… plz help me.
She has them because of little things like clapping, thunder, crashing, cameras etc.
She shakes and hides.
My dog does the same thing. All you have to do is pick her up and walk her into the next room away from everything. This should help!
Try puting her in a crate that is covered with a blanket. Give her a stuffed toy and turn on the radio.
No crate? Let her get under a table. You sit at the table and behave normal.
Have you had any blood test and other medical exams to rule out hormonal and other imbalances? You should definitely do this. Spaying your animal could also help. I have also heard that there are "happy pills" for dogs that help with anxiety and depression (my friends dog used this). You should also examine your dogs diet. An imbalance in the diet (e.g. don’t feed the dog chocolate, pasta, grapes, candy etc) or an ingestion of poisons such as lead can cause neurological problems.
When you say panic attacks what behavior or response do you mean? Also do they only occur in specific situations (such as walking outside) or are they random? If its a specific situation you could try conditioning the dog. That is to say give it treats and praise in the situation that usually freaks her out. You could also try distracting the dog in scary situations. Get the dog to focus on you with treats or playing games.
Another option is doggie acupuncture or massage (slowly and gently massage the dogs legs and back several times a day until she is completely relaxed). A part from that like humans, exercise is wonderful to cure anxiety. Try to walk the dog 3-5 times a day.
Hope this helps
Try Peteaze. It’s an herbal calming agent…mostly Camomile…and is fairly inexpensive at most pet supply stores. I have a dog that gets very worked up for baths…I give her one about 30 minutes before I bathe her and it seems to help tremendously.