Stress Management for Anxious and Reactive Dogs

There are several things we need we need to consider when we are working through a rehabilitation plan with an anxious or reactive dog. How we handle the main event is actually only one part of it. So, in this blog I’m going to talk you through the stages of stress management for anxious and reactive dogs so we can help them more effectively. We’ll minimise reactions to triggers, and make rehabilitation much, much easier on the dog, and you too!

Handling The Trigger

First of all, lets talk about what makes a frightening situation stressful. There are three main factors that determine how our dogs will respond to stressful situations. If all three factors are present then the stress element is at it’s maximum, and so will their response be. But when we know what the three elements are we can work on eliminating one, or more, of them to lessen the impact. Hopefully, when you finish this section you’ll see why using a clicker and running away from triggers can be very powerful indeed!

First, Do I have Control?

The Illusion of control is the first factor in reducing the impact of stress in our dogs, it is also the one we have the most influence over in that moment. Learning to communicate and be heard is a big part of reactive behaviour management plans.

Top Tip: If you never have, I suggest making a video of your dogs reactive behaviour.

For this, start recording before your dog even notices their trigger and keep the camera on until he starts to calm down (however long that is). Once you have your video, slow it down and watch out for some early behaviour changes. You might notice your dog making themselves stiff and tall, starring, slowing down, looking at you, lip licking, whining, yawning, pausing on the spot, and even pulling away. These are all signs that your dog is transitioning into their emergency response mode. They are also signs that your dogs preferred reaction is flight or freeze, and not fight!

You’ll be forgiven for thinking your dog always chooses to fight when he encounters his trigger, because it escalates so quickly, so you’ll have to watch carefully. As these early behaviours become less and less useful they dwindle away until it looks like your dog has switched into fight mode in an instant.

Managing controlled avoidance helps reactive dogs feel in control, and heard. So instead of waiting for the big behaviours you are used to seeing, make a list of all potential triggers and every time your dog spots one (even in the far distance), you turn and move quickly away. Avoidance is the option every frightened dog would wish to choose (so would you, I’ll bet) so doing it this way gives back the element of control and makes him feel he is communicating effectively again.

Second, Do I Know What’s Coming next?

Knowing the trigger is about to happen massively lessons the stress response. As part of their training, a group of soldiers were woken at night and forced into survival situations. When they did it on random days and times the soldiers stress levels were much higher than when they did it at the same time, every night.

For our dogs, knowing that something is coming, or isn’t coming, creates this element of predictability and reduces the impact of stress. Things like clicker training, creating behaviour sequences, and counting down, can really help.

We can see from the soldiers that creating a predictable routine can make a big difference when it comes to increasing predictability. If your dog finds going for walks stressful and refuses to leave the house, attempting to go for the same walk, at the exact same time of day, every day, can really help.

In separation anxiety rehabilitation; creating a safe sequence and repeating it at set times each day is another way to use routine to reduce the impact of stress. In fact, any kind of repetition is beneficial.

Doing nothing adds an element of predictability too. Anxious dogs will often settle when an unknown visitor is still and settled in their chair. But as soon as they get up, or even cough or laugh, the dog loses the element of predictability and becomes anxious again. It’s easy to confuse this with simply getting used to the trigger. But we can see in this case, the dog did not simply get used to the new person. They found them predictable, if only for a short while.

Finally, Is There An Outlet?

If there is an outlet for the stress and anxiety, then the stress is able to escape, lessoning the impact. Humans often find activities like going for a run, punching a pillow, swearing or snapping, and even frantic cleaning, can allow stress to release. Your dog is no different, although I doubt we can convince him to clean your house.

We might be able to convince him to shake a tuggy, tear up a soft toy, dig, lick, scratch, or run and play, instead. Note that redirecting, barking, and lunging will also release this stress. So don’t worry if your dog is doing that (use a muzzle though for safety). Just let this behaviour come to it’s natural end. Not allowing it, might make it look like things are getting better, but actually it will cut off that outlet and make the situation worse in the long run. A silent, but stressed out dog will bite “without warning.” Explosive and over-reactive behaviour is often a result of this stress energy bursting out.

What else can we do?

So, we have talked abut ways to minimise stress for our anxious and reactive dogs in the moment. But, mild daily stress will build up during the day, and that also takes it’s toll. So we also need to find ways to release that daily stress, and prevent the build up, so that when our dog meets something that scares them, they are better able to cope.

Think of a bucket that is catching drips from a leaky pipe (this represents minor stress), if we empty it regularly, the bucket never overflows. But, if the bucket get’s too full then even silly things can cause an anxiety attack or trigger reactive behaviour. When there simply isn’t room for any more stress, it bursts. We just talked about the benefit of releasing stress via an outlet. A dog that unexpectantly snaps when a kid surprises them at the park, leaving his embarrassed owner pleading that “he never does that”; he had a very full stress bucket at the time.

To make things worse, constant exposure to stress (chronic stress), even mild stress, leads to an inability to produce a normal stress response. When it becomes chronic in this way, it’s harder to release it too. Let’s think of this dog as having a smaller bucket than everyone else!

So, we especially need daily stress management for anxious and reactive dogs. For them, we need to keep the bucket as empty as possible, then work to increase the size of the bucket again.

What counts as stress?

Most of the time, our dogs probably seem pretty chilled out. But actually, a lot of things count as stress – not just the obvious stuff. Visitors to the house – even nice ones – can cause minor stress. As can being left home alone, a new piece of furniture, a different walk, and meeting new dogs, going to coffee shops. Most of these things will go unnoticed, and the dog appears to cope well enough, they might even enjoy it.

Think of the impact of going on holiday. It’s fun, but stress does build up throughout the day as you wait for taxis, stand in queues, search for your luggage, find somewhere for lunch, and worry about all the things that could go wrong. To the outside world, it looks like you’re absolutely fine, even enjoying yourself, but your bucket is filling up. Shopping trips and visitors to the house take their toll on us too. Your average dog will release their stress throughout the day, like you do, so for them none of this stuff matters. When it gets too much, or it builds up too quickly, that might not happen though.

Stress and the rescue dog

Imagine the experience of a rescue dog. For him, EVERYTHING is new. You are new, your home, you routine, rules, visitors, the smell of your home and furniture, your car, TV, EVERYTHING! We know that predictability reduces stress, well nothing is predictable for a rescue dog. We also know that a feeling of control reduces stress – well our rescue dog has no control over anything either. No wonder they chew, cry, and lash out at times – they would surely explode if they didn’t utilise the only outlet they have.

It is well known that there are three stages a rescue dog goes through as they settle into a new home! The first three days are about feeling safe. In this stage they are stressed to the max because they don’t feel safe at all, so they rely on using outlets for their stress. This explains why they are quite unpredictable in those early days. After the first three days, they start to relax as they learn our routines – everything becomes more predictable to them, and they need their outlets less and less. After that three week period, they are now starting to get to know us quite well. They are able to take more control – they can ask for the toilet, beg for attention, and generally communicate with us better. So the next three months see’s them truly settling in to their new home!

The Impact of Training

Any kind of training technique that is designed to suppress a behaviour, or intimidate a dog, will naturally be more stressful than one that celebrates better choices. Dogs that are subjected to aversive methods are often afraid to do the wrong thing so their stress buckets are half full a lot of the time, without the extra stressors the day might throw at them. So non-force free training is a definite no-no when it comes to reducing reactivity, stress, and anxiety.

But even kind training can be stressful when it lacks focus and consistency. Remember, how we talked about predictability, and how knowing what to expect lessons stress. The opposite is also true. If our dogs are confused and unsure about what to expect from us, this makes things worse.

“He’s just so unpredictable.”

I don’t think its a coincidence that many of my clients tell me the most stressful thing about having a reactive or anxious dog, is not being able to predict what the dog will do next. But if you can respond to triggers in the same way, every time, you will become more predictable, and then their their stress lowers.

Check out this blog for some easy ways to be more consistent in your dogs training for less stress!

Setting the stress free

There are loads of ways you can keep your dogs stress bucket empty so they are better prepared for the big stuff. The following are some ideas to keep stress levels low throughout the day, but you can also use them after a stressful event to help reset your dogs anxiety. We know that anxiety stacks so a constant stream of anti-stress activities is essential preparation for the next trigger!

Going for a good, off lead walk is a big one. In fact, you can tick a lot of boxes if you teach your dog a recall so you can let them off lead at the park. He’ll make his own choices and follow his own choice of scents, meet his friends for playtime, and charge about like a lunatic, if he needs it!

In any case, meeting good friends, running really fast, and any kind of rough play works, however you achieve it. Maybe your dog would rather tear up his toys or dig in the garden. It makes me sad when people tell me they take toys away because their dog “just ruins them” – perhaps this was his outlet to release the constant drips! Licky toys are great, as is following a scent in the park. Digging boxes, sandpits, and a fun hobby like barn hunting are brilliant too!

Find the treat…

Or maybe teach your dog some searching skills. You can do this formally in classes. But, I find a couple of rounds of “Find the Treat” can work quite well for most dogs. This is not the same as just scattering food for your dog to find. Instead, start with three treats and have someone hold your dog still while you place them 50cm apart, just out of reach, in front of him. Then release your dog to “find” the treats.

Of course, it’s very easy for him as he watched you place them. Do a few rounds like this, and then on the 5th round place the third treat just out of sight. Your dog knows there are always three treats – the other rounds taught him that. So, this time, he’ll have to search for the last one. He’ll follow your scent to the missing treat, so don’t just toss them away. Instead, make sure you place each one down so he can trace your scent to the hiding place.

“Searching” sniffs are better at releasing tension than “looking” sniffs which is why this game works better than just scattering treats. As he gets better at it you can make it harder by hiding the second and then the third treats too. When he’s good at that, place them in harder to find places. Play this at home, in the garden and on the walk too for a fun, but stress busting game that your dog will love!

What do you do to release your dogs daily stress?