How to calm an anxious dog; signs of anxiety in dogs
The first step to understanding how to calm an anxious dog is to know the signs. There are many signs that your dog might give that tell you they are feeling anxious. Although there are some more obvious signs such as cowering or hiding away, there are some other signs that might be more subtle:
- Lip licking
- Yawning
- Holding ears back
- Showing the whites of the eyes
- Muscle tension – standing still, tension in the face/wrinkling of the face, walking in slow motion
- Moving very quickly
- Leaning their weight away or turning away
- Pacing
- Panting
- Drooling
- Disinterest in food/play/fuss when they would normally be
- Whining/howling
How to stop anxiety in the moment
Below, we’ll go into ways to reduce anxiety long term. But what do you do if your dog is anxious right now? How do you calm an anxious dog when they are already worrying?
- If you can, remove or stop doing the thing that is causing the anxiety. This might mean removing your dog from a situation.
- Practice either in your head or at home what you’ll say or do if the situation arises that something spooks your dog. For example if they are worried by people saying hello to them. Come up with a phrase that you will politely but firmly say to people who look like they might try to give your dog attention.
- Try to distract your dog with fun training they like, or a favourite game.
- Activities where they can succeed easily such as doing their favourite tricks for treats can work well.
- Sniffing, for example, just scatter some treats for them to snuffle for, roll treats across the floor to chase.
- Long lasting chews such as pizzles, or stuffed Kongs can be great distractions.
- Talk to your dog in a calm and reassuring way, and offer calm fuss if your dog enjoys or requests it. (Don’t worry, you won’t reinforce or reward the fear, that’s a myth!).
- Give your dog access to a chosen safe space; some dogs find comfort lying on their owner’s bed, hiding in the bathroom or behind the sofa. If your dog doesn’t have a safe space, provide one, but don’t force it’s use.
- Some dogs respond well to calming sprays such as Pet Remedy, or a calming supplement from your vet. For more severe anxiety your dog may benefit from a prescribed medication to reduce anxious feelings quickly.
How to stop a dog feeling anxious
In the long run, we want to look at ways to help our dogs to feel calmer and more secure. Think of some “quick wins” you can implement to make things easier for your dog straight away. Reducing overall stress, and increasing overall positivity, will go a long way to your dog coping better with their specific (or general) anxiety.
| Reducing Anxiety/Stress | Increase Positive Feelings |
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| Close curtains or put up window frosting to prevent visual access to passersby.
Have background music or sounds to help mask external sounds like people walking by, or sudden loud noises. If deliveries are difficult, installing an external post box can reduce this. Avoid places that your dog may find overwhelming. Meeting lots of new dogs and people can become stressful, even for sociable dog. Keep things simple and go for sniffy, low key walks.
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Think about things your dog enjoys, that aren’t going to hype them up too much, and do more of that! Sniffing, grooming, trick training, edible chews etc.
Check out the blogs and videos of enrichment ideas for confidence building. Some dogs respond well to stress reducing sprays/plugins or supplements, so speak to your vet about the options. Implement longer term strategies for associating the trigger with something different, or teach an alternative behaviour or coping strategy.
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For noise related anxieties Dog’s Trust have a free resource for training steps which you can find here.
Getting support and a tailored approach
Treating anxiety can be a long road, and the techniques used will vary from dog to dog, from family to family, and from trigger to trigger. Over-doing the training can actually end up increasing anxiety rather than reducing it. Getting a tailored plan, with support throughout for questions and tweaks to the programme can be a worthy investment towards a much happier pooch!
I am a Clinical Animal Behaviourist based in the Worcestershire area. However, with the success of online training you can be anywhere in the world as long as you have your dog and a device with an internet connection!